The top 10 technological trends of 2019 include, according to consulting company Gartner, exotic notions, such as “digital germs” or the software programmed by the artificial intelligence. The top also includes relatively better known technologies, such as Blockchain or quantum computing.

Autonomous Things. From robots to drones and driverless cars, these are assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) and, in the near future, they will turn from independent devices to interconnected artificial communities. For instance, an autonomous car could deliver the package to your door, but the robot aboard the car will bring it inside your house.

Augmented Analytics. AI – as Machine Learning (ML) – will intervene also in the presentation and processing of various sets of data and metrics used in marketing, sales or finances. Artificial intelligence will automate and assist the entire data processing phase, which could lead to a so called Citizen Data Science. This means that anyone will be able to access and process complex sets of data, starting from clear research ideas, without having, however, advanced technical competencies.

AI-Driven Development. It may seem something of a sci-fi nature to think that machines could program other machines, but a working environment in which the human programmer is assisted by algorithms and artificial tools already exists. Gartner estimates that by 2022, 40% of the new projects will be carried out by human developers assisted by AI.

Digital Twins. This has to do with digital models or replicas of offline reality in the virtual environment. The “digital twins” has existed since the birth of the computer assisted design, but this kind of virtual replica will proliferate fast given the billions of sensors of the Internet of Things class which has started to come out globally.

Empowered Edge. Edge computing is somehow the opposite of cloud. In other words, it involves data processing as close as possible to the source of the data, to save the effort of sending them to a network. Gartner predicts that to the IoT devices, AI specialized chips will be added over the next few years to be used for the data processing in the vicinity of the source.

Immersive Experience. This is about all technologies in the Virtual Realty/Augmented Reality class, which will create a continuum between virtual and offline world, using all human senses and eliminating barriers such as the screen. If this sounds sci-fi to you, think about the temperature sensors in smartphones or the wearables that measure your pulse.

Blockchain. This has to do with the technology that allows for the decentralized and online keeping of just any kind of lists, under condition of maximum safety. So far, we have seen this work in the controversial field of cryptocurrencies, which replace costly banks by this type of record keeping. However, this technology is a very versatile one and, according to some specialists, Bitcoin and all the other virtual coins will disappear, but Blockchain will remain.

Smart Spaces. It is an extrapolation of the idea of smart cities or houses to just any types of spaces in which the connected devices will interact with themselves and also with human intelligence. More specifically, after smart houses we may have, in the near future, also Intelligent Workplaces. To the wireless printer and other facilities that we currently have, an AI component will be added, consisting mainly in digital assistants and a data structure easy to access and use.

Digital Ethics and Privacy. The European Union has already made the first decisive move in this field with the General Data Protection Regulation, adopted in May 2018, but this issue is of maximum interest also in the USA and Canada or other countries without new regulations. As it can be depicted from the troubles with which Facebook has been faced over the last few years, a part of the data privacy requirement will be carried out by private players, by self-regulation and internal protection.

Quantum Computing. Subatomic particle computers, characterized by different values of truth than yes-no/0-1, will become more than a research topic in the near future. They are a natural asset in fields like pharma, which deals with a complex molecular structure, symmetrical with the logical model on which quantic computers are based.