Technology holds the ability to enhance our daily as well as work lives by efficiently managing a diverse range of tasks, from facilitating connections to organizing schedules and more. As we are transitioning into 2024, new application developments are aiming towards innovative transformations. The development sphere is in a constant state of evolution, driven by technological advancements, user’s increasing expectations and security concerns, and emerging market trends. The yearly evaluation reveals the market demand, making it a resourceful process of figuring out the possible future trends. Businesses and developers are equally anticipating and adapting to a variety of trends that promise to shape the future of software creation and impact the business application development costs. In this discourse, we will examine the key areas that are bound to improve the landscape, beginning from various types of transformational trends to their potential impact on the market.
2024 > 2023: HOW 2024 WILL BE MORE INNOVATIVE?
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Leading the Market with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI continues to emerge in new areas for experimentation, reaching a turning point in 2023. Its potential in delivery of value is consistently rising, both as stand-alone technology and as an enabler of other technologies. The Global AI Market size has reached $207B in 2023. Moreover, in the past two years, the computer and electronics sector in EU Firms made the maximum use of AI for up to 18%. Transformative AI is helping business enable new models and will continue to advance further.
A subset of AI, GenAI, has recently captured the imagination of the world, fuelling discussion among businesses and policymakers. AI is bound to improve productivity and decision making. Both AI and GenAI can detect inefficiency of data, allowing humans to make better decisions. Furthermore, organizations that profit from both, are likely to witness an increase of productivity and digitalization. Although with the emergence of GenAI, it might change almost everything about knowledge work, but it won’t replace people. Manpower will continue to dominate the market. Due to rapid acceleration and integration of GenAI into business functioning, AI and GenAI will continue to be hot topics throughout 2024 and beyond.
As another subset of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning has increasing potential for transforming various industries and is a rapidly evolving field. It holds the power to revolutionize the way businesses operate and make decisions. It has the ability to analyse vast amounts of data and make intelligent predictions, becoming an integral part of businesses across various sectors. Features like chatbots, voice assistants, facial recognition, and natural language processing will become more advanced and user-friendly. It’ll automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks along with developing advanced security measures for applications.
Increased Efficiency with Automation
In 2024, automation continues to redefine industries, reshaping our way of working. From advanced robotics like Robotic Process Automation to artificial intelligence, we have witnessed increased integration of automation to boost efficiency. With automation handling routine tasks, workers can focus on creativity and problem-solving. Further, costing will be lower as automation minimizes errors and accelerates processes. According to McKinsey, 31% of businesses have fully automated at least one function. It is estimated that 53.6% of the development projects are based on Business Automation. Enhanced data analytics will empower businesses to make data-driven decisions swiftly. For instance, CFOs facing strategic, ROI and tactical challenges will be able to emerge as modern CFOs or CDOs through AI and automation. It will also strengthen cybersecurity measures, proactively identifying and managing potential threats.
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Creating Intelligent Systems with Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT makes systems more intelligent. According to Grand View Research Inc, the value of the global consumer IoT market gained $220.5 billion in 2022. The market will continuously grow at a CAGR of 12.7%, reaching $555.92 billion by 2030. As of 2023, China has an estimated 5.03 billion active IoT devices. The demand is bound to grow in this decade, with approximately 8.6 billion devices, garnering a revenue of $184 billion.
Today’s IoT has evolved and is about recognizing how the technology will enable data-driven insights, supporting a wide range of use cases — helping drive efficiency as well as business transformation. IoT has transformative potential in asset management and in refining supply chain efficiency and transparency. However, IoT needs equal security management as majority of the companies are depended highly on Information Technology.
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Emerging Ways of Cybersecurity
- Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) – It is a pay-for-use subscription model on the dark web where developers license out malware to other parties to execute targeted ransomware attacks.
- AI Powered Attacks – It uses machine learning to analyse a human or machine target and find techniques most likely to help compromise an organization.
- Supply Chain Attacks – It is a type of cyber-attack that targets organizations by focusing on weaker links in an organization’s supply chain.
AI continues to emerge in new areas for experimentation, reaching a turning point in 2023. Its potential in delivery of value is consistently rising, both as stand-alone technology and as an enabler of other technologies. The Global AI Market size has reached $207B in 2023. Moreover, in the past two years, the computer and electronics sector in EU Firms made the maximum use of AI for up to 18%. Transformative AI is helping business enable new models and will continue to advance further.
Security is a need that never fades. And technology is both critical and sensitive regarding data that always needs strong protection from cybersecurity threats. With the increasing frequency and cyber threats severity, cybersecurity will strengthen itself as an even more crucial concern for advancements in 2024. Organization will be able to implement robust encryption, access controls, and continuous monitoring. Solutions like Application and Infrastructure Security, Vulnerability Assessment and Data Security and Privacy are some of the must-have cybersecurity solutions. These platforms offer real-time analysis of potential vulnerabilities and proactively prevent attacks.
Three emerging areas of Cyber Security Technology in 2024 are Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), AI Powered Attacks, Supply chain attacks.
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Working 5X smoother with 5G Technology
An anticipated development in the field of mobile is the expansion of 5G Technology. Aiming for supercharged connectivity, 5G will bring faster data transfer speeds, reduced latency, and support for higher-resolution content. 2023 statistics claim that the forecasted number of 5G global subscriptions will rise to 3 billion by 2025. An advantage from 5G will allow delivering of smoother video streaming, enhanced augmented and virtual reality experiences, and more secure mobile payment options. Furthermore, the expanded capabilities of 5G will introduce entirely new app functionalities and experiences.
- Realm of Extended Reality – Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
As XR technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality become more accessible, the developments will focus on integrating immersive experiences into applications for advancement. In software development in 2024, we’ll witness growth in XR-powered training platforms, interactive customer experiences, and collaborative work environments. The power of extended reality will revolutionize industries such as education, healthcare, e-commerce, gaming, and design. It will transport users, organizations into a digitally transformed world. Its staggering realism could transform employee and customer experiences and companies’ everyday operations, along with increased customer engagement. Augmented Reality is rapidly growing for enhanced customer experience, to support training, education, design, and visualisation.
IMPACT ON THE MARKET – HIGH OR LOW?
By 2025, the Internet of Things (IoT) is projected to encompass more than 75 billion devices worldwide, an instant threefold increase from 2019. Additional 18% companies are planning to adopt cloud computing solutions where nearly 69% have already embraced it. Organizations will be increasingly addressing these “emerging trends” which aim to bring unprecedent transformation and growth. With multiple issues surfacing within different domains of work annually, they need to pay attention to certain specificities to overcome the challenges and increase productivity. With this opportunity and innovation, business application development companies across sectors will be able to assess and effectively manage these technologies, utilizing its maximum potential and achieve greater goals. Since transformation is a never-ending cycle, it is a continuous process, and companies will need to consistently evolve their programs to meet customers’ changing expectations.
Final Thought
Transformation of business and industry are no longer powered by technology, they are only evolving because of emerging trends in technology. These technologies bring new challenges and opportunities to help businesses evaluate direction of their strategic investments. Applications meeting user’s expectation will position today’s businesses to face future uncertainty more efficiently. With multi-system integration, we will see a rise in opportunities, unlocking new business solutions and greater capacity to work better and smarter. IT will need to demonstrate an ability to focus on an organization’s digital transformation priorities. As always, it will be required to do more, faster and better.
About Author
Pankaj is a Software Applications Expert with more than 25 years’ of experience in IT Industry. Pankaj has created over 100 applications and has led the practice of the application in Wipro. Pankaj has extensive experience in Application development, application management and application modernization. He has an in-depth experience in low-code / no-code platforms as well.
