IEEE, a large technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, released the results of “The Impact of Technology in 2022 and Beyond: an IEEE Global Study,” a survey of global technology leaders from Brazil, China, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The study, which included 350 chief technology officers, chief information officers and IT directors, covers the most important technologies in 2022, industries most impacted by technology in the year ahead and technology trends through the next decade.
Which technologies will be the most important in 2022? Among total respondents, more than one in five (21 percent) say AI and machine learning, cloud computing (20 percent) and 5G (17 percent) will be the most important technologies next year. Because of the global pandemic, technology leaders surveyed said in 2021 they accelerated adoption of cloud computing (60 percent), AI and machine learning (51 percent), and 5G (46 percent), among others.
It’s not surprising that 95 percent agree – including 66 percent who strongly agree – that AI will drive the majority of innovation across nearly every industry sector in the next 1-5 years.
When asked which of the following areas 5G will most benefit in 2022, technology leaders surveyed said:
- Telemedicine, including remote surgery and health record transmissions (24 percent)
- Remote learning and education (20 percent)
- Personal and professional day-to-day communications (15 percent)
- Entertainment, sports and live event streaming (14 percent)
- Manufacturing and assembly (13 percent)
- Transportation and traffic control (7 percent)
- Carbon footprint reduction and energy efficiency (5 percent)
- Farming and agriculture (2 percent)
As for industry sectors most impacted by technology in 2022, technology leaders surveyed cited manufacturing (25 percent), financial services (19 percent), health care (16 percent) and energy (13 percent). As compared to the beginning of 2021, 92 percent of respondents agree, including 60 percent who strongly agree, that implementing smart building technologies that benefit sustainability, decarbonization and energy savings has become a top priority for their organization.
Among challenges technology leaders see in 2022, maintaining strong cybersecurity for a hybrid workforce of remote and in-office workers is viewed by those surveyed as challenging by 83 percent of respondents (40 percent very, 43 percent somewhat) while managing return-to-office health and safety protocols, software, apps and data is seen as challenging by 73 percent of those surveyed (29 percent very, 44 percent somewhat).
Determining what technologies are needed for their company in the post-pandemic future is anticipated to be challenging for 68 percent of technology leaders (29 percent very, 39 percent somewhat). Recruiting technologists and filling open tech positions in the year ahead is also seen as challenging by 73 percent of respondents.
Looking ahead, 81 percent agree that in the next five years, one quarter of what they do will be enhanced by robots, and 77 percent agree that in the same time frame, robots will be deployed across their organization to enhance nearly every business function from sales and human resources to marketing and IT.
To learn more about the study and the impact of technology in 2022 and beyond, visit https://transmitter.ieee.org/impact-of-technology-2022/.
IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.
