This article reffers to a summary of predictions of top ICT related trends for 2020 according to  Neeco Global ICT, selected according to their impact on the ICT industry what is expected to happen this year. 

In 2020 the world of Telecoms will see the introduction of the the highly-anticipated 5G. The 5G network aims to be 100 times faster than the current 4G network and will offer low latency and improved data rates. 5G will be massively transformative, enabling Telecoms to offer their services as both tech distributors and service providers.

But it’s not just smartphone uses who can look forward to the benefits of 5G. The 5G experience will also roll out across industry sectors such as IoT technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality. Looking beyond 2020, the advent of 5G is expected to serve as the foundation on which smart cities will be built, making us more connected as a society than ever before.

We are living in exciting times. The age of intelligence has given way for us to work more efficiently and autonomously. The field of AI is one of the fastest growing industries and already deployed in many Telecommunications business areas. AI offerings such as Virtual assistants and Chatbots are becoming increasingly commonplace because of the increased levels of autonomy they provide businesses.

In 2020, consumer engagement will become more efficient and human-like, due to the advancement of NLP (natural language processing). 2020 will also greatly boost the credibility of AI.

Faster connectivity will improve the experience of real-time customer interaction, increasing the reliability of accurate datasets. Predictiveanalytics will also help to this end.

2020 will continue to see the rise of Robotic Process Automation in the workplace, and it is clear to see why.

RPA is a highly innovative process automation solution for business workers. Unique business logic inputs can be configured and applied to previously mundane ways of working. In turn, this frees up a huge amount of time and energy which can be invested towards more valuable areas of business.

RPA is low-cost, highly scalable and has the ability to adapt to a changing business environment. All this makes it an attractive business solution in 2020 for Telecomunications and customers alike.

According to Mark Jeffries, author and former NBC presenter ‘’2020 will be a year when people talk more about the concept of “Augmentation” rather than “Automation’’.

Human Augmentation, also referred to as Humans 2.0, is the technological enhancement of cognitive and physical abilities in humans. This includes eyeglasses, hearing aids and prosthetic limbs as well as more modern enhancements such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR).

This begs the question - what impact will Human Augmentation have in the workplace? Daryl Plummer, an Analyst at Gartner states that, ‘…virtual reality, and other new technologies will triple the number of people with disabilities employed by 2023 — leading to a brand new workforce.’

This is good news for representation and diversity in the workplace. But it also suggests that automation won’t necessarily replace the human workforce entirely.

2020 trends in the workplaces are predicted to include some of the
following:

● Remote Work or Virtual Workplaces
Out-of-office could take on a new meaning in 2020. Thanks to 5G, increased
connectivity will allow more and more staff to work off-site, leading to a growth
in remote teams both locally and globally. However, the need for effective
support at the top level, in order to better manage their remote employees, is
something not to be overlooked.

● Specialised job roles for software developers
As we move through 2020, the role of developers is set to become increasingly
specialised. In recent years, it has been difficult to define what exactly the role of
a ‘full-stack developer’ encompasses. With the constant emergence of AI
advancements, there is no end to a developer’s learning. This means the role of
a developer will continue to become segmented into various specialisms. As a
result, this will greatly improve the experience of the end-user.

● Adoption of Self-service for workers
2020 will see continued growth of self-service systems in the workplace. Better
technology means that workers can manage their HR admin through the
introduction of self-service apps, which can be accessed from smartphones.
Employees can monitor things such as their sickness, pay and holidays all
without the increased assistance of HR or IT departments.

Computer Vision refers to the technology that enables cameras and sensors to verify people, places or things via visual identification.

Smartphones with built-in Face Recognition password technology is a good example of this.

As we head into 2020, we will see Computer Vision technology expand into the Automobile industry.

Cameras equipped with Computer Vision technology will be enabled in production lines to identify any faults or failures.

In 2020, ‘The edge cloud service market will grow by at least 50%.’ as predicted by Abhijit Sunil, an Analyst at Forrester.

Edge computing bridges the gap between centralised computation and individual sources of data storage, greatly reducing latency and improving network security.

Investment in edge computing will jump in 2020 as organizations look to handle AI-related computing demand.

The growth and investment in Edge Computing can be attributed to the introduction of 5G in 2020, the advancement of AI and the increased development of Edge Computing technology.

Forrester also predicts that the biggest benefits organizations will seek from edge computing in 2020 will include flexibility to handle present and future artificial intelligence demands and the fact that computing at the edge avoids network latency and allows faster responses.

There will be no escape from IoT in 2020 as it will be taking center stage across a number of different areas.

These include medicine and healthcare where IoT will have an impact on health and fitness monitoring apps as well as medical CRM systems.

Cities will become smarter with IoT enabling increasing advances in safety through better CCTV surveillance, as well as improved traffic and utility management which in turn will have a positive impact on emissions and the environment.

In 2020 IoT will creep ever more steadily into the home, with an increased presence in audio and visual appliances, thermostats and security systems.

According to Gartner, data and analytics have become an integral part of how companies serve customers, hire people and optimize finance and supply chains.

The trends which will start to edge into use in 2020 include augmented analytics which will enable greater insights from data. Data management tasks will start to
be reduced thanks to machine learning and automated service level management, according to Rita Sallam, Gartner analyst and VP.

Natural language processing will provide non-data experts with a new interface into queries and insights. Sallam predicts that by 2020 50% of analytical queries
will be generated by search, NLP or voice, or will be automatically generated.

Cloud Computing is an online infrastructure of data storage, servers and
applications. The data can be accessed anywhere and anytime and can
help to free up or provide additional storage space.

According to Forbes, 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by
2020.

The Cloud Computing network can be accessed via various endpoints
such as smartphone, tablet or laptop.

The arrival of 5G in 2020, coupled with technological improvements in AI,
could see many businesses migrate to Cloud Computing.

Public cloud spending is forecasted to reach $411 billion in 2020, as observed by Statista.

Cloud computing is scalable, flexible and efficient, making it an attractive investment for businesses. But with increased investment comes increased demand.

Developers with specialist skills in Cloud Computing will see more
opportunities available to them in 2020.