Are you interested in a career that helps technology help people? Want to be on the forefront of an industry that is already making waves, and that promises to create a tsunami of progress over the next decade or so? Today, a career in technology can mean much more than simple web development or writing software. Join us to take a look at three tech industries that are on the verge of becoming huge.
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Business Analytics
What the heck is business analytics? It’s a complicated, complex field already, and one that is growing by leaps and bounds each year, so it is difficult to give a succinct answer that will help you understand what business analytics involves. But for now, suffice it to say that business analytics uses data to create insights that drive business decisions.
In other words, it’s the process of scrutinizing the facts and figures related to a company’s past actions and applying the knowledge that is gained to help that company make better decisions in the future.
Your life is already heavily influenced by business analytics, even though you might not know it. Have you ever gotten an email from Netflix, suggesting a new documentary, drama, or comedy that you might like? What about suggestions of products to buy on Amazon?
Some of the subcategories of business analytics include:
- Data visualization
- Data management
- Data mining
- Forecasting simulation
- Forecasting optimization
- Predictive modeling
- Market research
This isn’t a degree program for dreamers or those who like to make decisions based on hunches or intuition. In order to succeed at business analytics, you have to have a mind that is built for — well, for analysis. This field requires a good head for crunching numbers, logical reasoning, and superior information technology skills.
As you can imagine, business analytics is one industry that’s exploding. In fact, the global market is expected to be worth a whopping $71.1 billion USD by 2022. If you’re technologically and/or mathematically inclined, and want to put your talents to use in the business world, this field of study deserves your serious consideration.
Artificial Intelligence
It’s hard to believe that Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated film A.I. Artificial Intelligence hit box offices way back in 2001. Nearly two decades later, artificial intelligence and machine learning are an integral part of our daily lives. Yet the advances we have made in this industry are really only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, with machine learning and AI spending expected to reach $57.6 billion USD by 2021.
Furthermore, there is virtually no industry that doesn’t stand to benefit from the implementation of machine learning strategies. From healthcare to the food and beverage industries, and social media marketing to the stock market, AI and machine learning are revolutionizing the way we live, work, and play.
Perhaps one of the most unexpected, and therefore interesting, industries which AI is disrupting is agriculture. You might think that farming is about as far removed from technology as is possible, but that’s simply not the case anymore.
Large-scale farms, in particular, are using data and predictive tech to decrease waste, improve yield, mitigate the damage done by pests and adverse weather conditions, develop superior plant strains and hybrids, take better, more humane care of livestock, and optimize efficiency from the furrow to the silo.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Virtual reality has been around for a while now — multisensory entertainment experiences date back to at least the mid-19th Century, when inventions like the Sensorama Simulator and Smell-O-Vision seemed to foretell an immersive future. Yet it’s only in the past few years that technology has become sophisticated enough — and somewhat affordable — to make virtual and augmented reality dreams come true. Just ask the millions of Pokemon Go players who took to the streets in 2016 in search of a Magmire or Blastoise
What’s the difference between these two “realities”? Virtual reality is a total immersion experience. Using an Oculus Rift headset or other device, users shut out their current circumstances entirely and head to an alternate reality, where they can relax on a tropical beach, ride a dragon, or travel to Antarctica to party with penguins.
Augmented reality uses a smartphone to add layers of complex interactivity to an audiovisual experience. This is what happens when you play Pokemon Go. Or if you have ever added one of those animal-face lenses to your Snapchats, you’ve used augmented reality.
According to Statista, the AR/VR industry was worth just over $14 billion USD in 2017, with its CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) estimated to soar as high as 80% in the next few years.
Moreover,VR and AR aren’t just used for gaming applications or silly social media posts. They are providing previously unimaginable hope and help for sufferers of PTSD, by offering a safe and effective means of treating patients through exposure therapy.