The IT savvy workers of the 21st century are constantly expanding and sharpening their skills-by necessity if not desire- making sure they’re staying up to date with current technology trends. Staying ahead of the game and keeping a steady eye on the future of tech will keep you in the know on which skills you’ll need and what types of jobs you want to be qualified to do.
The evolution of technology is happening at such a rapid pace that the prediction of annual trends quickly seems out of date before they are consistently discussed. This evolution enables even faster, more productive change and progress, causing significant acceleration until it becomes exponential. Careers driven by technology don’t transform at the same speed, but there’s no doubt that they do evolve, consistently adjusting the roles of IT professionals.
Here are the top seven technology trends to keep you eye on in 2019, and the type of jobs that are being created for these skills.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence has stolen the show over the years, and continues to be a rising trend revolutionizing on how we live, work and play. In fact, five out of six Americans use AI in one form or another every day, including search engines, smartphone personal assistants like Siri, navigation apps, streaming services and ride-sharing apps like Lyft and Uber. Outside of artificial intelligence powering customer use, AI is used to scheduled traffic lights, train stops, improve energy efficiency, assess business risks and predict maintenance.
AI plays a major role in automation. In previous years, there was a lot of fear that automation was going to lead to potential job loss. Although this is true, automation is also creating job in the field of AI. Gartner predicts that jobs in artificial intelligence with reach 23 million by 2020- including jobs in programming, testing, support, development, maintenance, and more.
To learn more about the power behind AI, download this FREE Definitive Guide on How AI is Changing Business.
Machine Learning
Machine Learning is a discipline of computer science that explores the development and study of algorithms from data. Computers are programmed to learn how to do things that they are not initially programmed to do by observing patterns and insights from data. These algorithms operate by building models based on input that’s used to make predictions or decisions, outside of programmed instructions. There are two type of learning; supervised and unsupervised.
Machine Learning a subset of Artificial Intelligence, but there are also subsets within the domain of Machine Learning, including natural language process (NLP), neural networks, and deep learning. These subsets provide space for specializing in a career field that continues to generate jobs. Jobs in Machine Learning rank among the top emerging jobs on LinkedIn, with about 2,000 job listings posted- including engineers, developers, data scientists and researchers.
Edge Computing
Cloud computing was a former technology trend to watch that went mainstream with companies like AWS (Amazon Web Services), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure leading the market. Although the adoption of cloud computing is still growing, Edge Computing has become the new tech trend.
As the amount of data downloaded each day continues to increase, edge computing is designed to bypass the delays caused by cloud computing and getting data to data centers for processing. It is used to process time-sensitive data in remote locations where there is limited connectivity to centralized locations. Edge computing then acts as data centers that will increase the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The global edge computing market is projected to reach $6.72 billion by 2022 creating job demand, specifically for software engineer.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology is broadly associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but Blockchain offers security that benefits in many areas. It can be described as data that you can add to, but not change or take away from; making a chain of data. Not being able to adjust previous blocks of data is what makes Blockchain so secure. This eliminates the need for a third-party to validate or oversee transactions.
The level of high security is why Blockchain is used for cryptocurrency and protecting information like personal medical data. Ultimately, Blockchain could be used to improve the global supply chain and even protect assets like art and real estate.
As the use of any technology increases, so does the demand for skilled professionals. According to Techcrunch, jobs related to Blockchain are one of the fastest growing, with 14 vacant jobs for every one Blockchain developer.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation is a technology that is designed for job automation. RPA is software that automates business processes like replying to emails, dealing with data, interpreting applications and even processing transactions. But these are just the basic tasks that can be done with RPA; most of the office tasks we do can be automated, including tasks of doctors, financial managers and CEOs.
There is fear of RPA automating jobs and resulting is job loss for workers, but McKinsey & Company estimates that less than 5 percent of occupations can be completely automated, but around 60 percent can be partially automated, ultimately creating job while adjusting existing jobs. Robotic Process Automation offers career opportunities for IT professionals, including project managers, developers, solution architects, and business analysts.
Interested in pursuing a career in RPA, the Introduction to Robotic Process Automation (RPA) course is the place to start.
Cyber Security
Cyber security has been around for many many years and will continue to evolve just as other technologies are, to protect business against constant new threats. Vicious hackers will never give up trying to illegally access data and will continue to find ways to squeeze through even the toughest security measures. Therefore, new technology is being adapted to enhance security with hardware authentication, cloud technology, deep learning, data loss prevention and behavioral analytics.
If hackers are around, cyber security will continue to be a constantly evolving emerging technology. The number of cyber security jobs is growing three time faster than other tech jobs and the demand is outgrowing the supply. It’s predicted that there will be 3.5 million unfilled cyber security jobs in 2021 with roles ranging from security engineer to chief security officer.
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Internet of Things (IoT)
In most aspects, it’s safe to say that Internet of Things (IoT) is the present and the future. Most “things” are now built with WiFi connectivity, making them capable to connect to the internet and each other. All IoT devices, including, medical devices, cars, home appliances and more are connected to the internet and exchange data. As consumers, we benefit rom IoT daily- we use remotes to lock our doors, track our fitness goals on our Fitbits, ordering shared rides with Lyft and Uber, and even turning on the air conditioning before we get home from work. Businesses in all industries can benefit from better safety, decision making, expedite medical care, improve customer service, predictive maintenance and efficiency as data is collected and analyzed.
The number of IoT devices will continue to grow exponentially; reaching 8.4 billion in 2017 and anticipates a reach to 30 billion devices by 2020. However, despite the growth in adoption of IoT, ITProToday.com suggests that we’ll need 200,000 more IT workers to fill jobs and the industry’s biggest obstacle to growth is employees with inadequate skill levels. Skills needed include IoT security, cloud computing knowledge, data analytics, automation, understanding of embedded systems, device knowledge, and more.
Technologies are constantly emerging and evolving around us, and these seven territories offering great career potential on today’s job market and the foreseeable future. Being such profitable domains in the IT industry suffering from a shortage of skilled workers, there is plenty of opportunity to make your way up the ladder and position yourself for success.
