The global technology industry is growing at an impressive rate amidst growing concerns about a global economic slowdown as well as international trade issues. As it stands the size of the global tech industry could hit the $5 trillion mark on growing at 4% in 2019, according to data by CompTIA. However, factoring the emerging global issues growth rate could slip to lows of 1.5%.
Tech industry spending By Region
Data by research firm Forester indicates that growth in the tech industry could slow to 3.8% by 2020 from highs of 5% in 2018. The U.S continues to lead the pack on technological innovation as well as investments. This is in part because the country plays host to some of the biggest tech companies in the world, boasting of big hoards of cash that they are using to come up with the next big thing.
The likes of Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Tesla are some of the companies revolutionizing the global tech industry with interesting innovations. Given the number of tech companies in the US, the country’s tech industry is poised to experience a 6.3% increase in tech spending that will hit record highs of $1.46 trillion. The 6.3% growth rate in the U.S tech industry is almost twice the average growth rate of 3.3% for the global tech industry.
The European Union, which is slowly plunging into recession given the economic slowdown in some economic powerhouses such as Britain and Germany, occupies the second spot when it comes to tech spending. While tech spending in the region is poised to hit the $949 million, it will represent the slowest growth of 0.1%.
The Asia Pacific region comes in at third when it comes to tech spending. Initial estimates indicate that tech spending will hit the $769 billion mark before the end of the year. While a fraction of what the U.S is set to spend, China and India tech market will account for the biggest share when it comes to spending. The two country’s tech sector are expanding at an impressive 6% rate, waiting to see if a slowdown in the global economy will have a negative impact.
Top Global Technological Trends
Some of the trends poised to shape the global tech industry include workforce as well as business models. Cloud computing, as well as edge computing and 5G technology, should continue to attract huge investments expected to form the economic infrastructure.
Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence machine learning as well as the Internet of Things should give rise to new opportunities in the tech industry. Companies are also set to start personalizing products as well as service delivery as a way of driving customer experience to another level.
Blockchain Comeback
Blockchain technology is poised to make a comeback in 2019 after tumultuous 2018. Companies and businesses are increasingly taking note of the ledger technology capabilities and synergies. That said investments are slowly streaming in, mostly from tech companies looking to come up with innovation leveraging the tamperproof technology.
Blockchain technology is poised to take over, having become clear it has many applications beyond cryptocurrencies. The technology is already finding great use in enhancing transactions in the financial sector. The technology is also poised to give rise to reliable and effective ways of storing data at a time of spiraling cybersecurity concerns.
Increased Automation
Increased automation via tools and apps is another emerging technology trend that is set to shape the global tech industry going forward. The need to automate people’s lives and make work easier should result in increased automation in various industries.
For starters, automation of process has seen the evolution of the human resource department more so in the hiring of personnel. Some companies have sought to automate hiring processes by leveraging artificial intelligence technology that can filter thousands of applications for the best candidate.
While some positives have come about as a result of automation in HR, so are firms grappling with adverse outcomes key among them being biased outcomes in hiring processes. As automation continues to gain traction, new solutions should come into being, to address some of the issues that have cropped up. In addition, expect companies to invest vast sums of money to get data sets and AI-powered machines to better collaborate with humans for improved outcome in various operations.
Internet of Things
Internet of Things is one of the fastest-growing facets in the global tech industry. The drive to connect all devices to the internet is gaining promises as brands look to find better ways of reaching out to a broader target market.
The connection of devices to the internet should continue to gather pace as firms look to gather valuable information on how consumers engage with products. Right from smart speakers to smartwatches, Internet of Things should continue to shape the global tech space.
Internet of Things will not only change the way people do business but should also give rise to new business models given the amount and type of data collected by IoT devices.
Machine learning
Machine learning is another fast-growing trend in the global tech industry. The ability of computers to learn by analyzing data at hand and track patterns should continue to gather pace as tech companies continue to explore ways of enhancing efficiency.
For instance, social media firms of the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Snap should continue to leverage Machine-learning in a bid to learn more about their target market. It thus does not come as a surprise that powerful computers able to analyze comments as well as shares and likes are increasingly becoming popular.
Big brands such as Google are also increasingly using machine learning in mobile devices to learn more about their target audience even when they are offline. Going forward, the emerging tech should shape the way businesses interact with customers.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
While virtual reality has been around since the 1950s, it is only now that the technology has started having the desired impact as envisioned. Improvement in hardware and software is increasingly paving the way for brands to enhance customer experiences through virtual reality.
The technology is especially poised to revolutionize the gaming industry by enhancing gaming experiences. Â In addition, the technology should also help big companies and brands on their day-to-day interactions with customers. The technology should also continue to gain traction in the education industry as an effective learning tool.
The challenges
The proliferation of new and exciting technologies has, however, given rise to a set of challenges. Intelligence communities around the world have already raised the red flag over the potential impact of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and robotics falling into the wrong hands.
The use of the new technologies has already given rise to data breaches that have sparked a surge in threats and risk to intelligence agencies. According to the former Director of National Intelligence in the U.S Dan Coats, the transformation of the intelligence community with new technologies should revolution rather than evolution. That is the only way governments and security agencies will be able to stay one-step ahead of bad actors.
Focus on Canada Tech Industry
Canada tech industry is arguably one of the biggest in the world, acting as a major driver of innovation as well as economic growth. Right from digital technologies to innovations in aerospace as well as pharmaceuticals, the tech industry continues to grow at an impressive rate. As of 2015, the country’s tech industry generated about $117 billion, accounting for 7.1% of the country’s economic output.
 Toronto has emerged as the country’s tech hub, given the number of tech startups it plays host to as well as the amount of public and private investments it continues to attract. The city is the fastest growing tech hub thanks to its ability to attract the best when it comes to software developers as well as engineers and programmers. The city added over 82,000 tech jobs between 2012 and 2017, more than any other city.
Some of the key growing areas in Canada tech industry include cloud computing and mobile technology. Data by IDC indicates that the country’s Internet of things could be worth more than $6.5 billion.
Uncertain political instability, as well as immigration upheavals in the U.S, has allowed Canada to attract the best of talent. In return, the new talent has gone a long way to spur growth in the country’s tech industry. Multinational tech companies, as well as investors perceive Canada as the best environment for pursuing tech innovations.
Given the rate at which the country’s tech industry is, growing there is fear that there will be a shortage of 200,000 programmers and IT experts by 2020.  However, the Federal government has moved to sort out the issue by making it easy for Canadian as well as multinational tech firms to bring in workers that are more skilled.
The Canadian government has already launched a $1.26 billion Strategic Innovation Fund designed to spur growth and development of products and service, leveraging the latest technological trends. The government is also encouraging companies and businesses to invest more in innovative technology industries.
