The metaverse has received a lot of attention over the past couple of years. While it might not seem to be living up to its projected hype, that doesn’t mean it won’t get there. There’s still plenty of opportunity for this to take off, and when it does, it will bring significant opportunity. Over the next several years, I believe…
Metaverse success will be defined by the user experience. And it is up to the networking industry to define and protect that experience, making the metaverse possible. As the metaverse matures, technologies such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence, digital twins and virtual worlds (to name just a few) will establish an entirely new way for individuals to connect, and for…
2022 was a big year for IoT - the launch of 5G Technology, the Apple announcement that the US iPhone 14 will be eSIM only, resulting in the gradual replacement of branded SIMs in favor of eSIMs, and the introduction of new generation low-cost Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellite constellations to solve the challenge for coverage in the most remote…
#1: A critical part of the digital economy in 2023: the people Labor has traditionally been seen as a commodity and is part of the equation when an employer puts value on an open position. In 2023, this view is looking increasingly anachronistic. One significant outcome from 2022’s unprecedented tech lay-offs is that from today, employers must go beyond commodity…
#1: Widespread roll-out of 5G 2022 saw significant progress and advancements in the availability of 5G. By the end of the year, there were about one billion 5G users across the globe, with the technology moving closer to the mainstream than ever before. The availability of 5G is set to continue to grow over the next two years, with 63%…
#1: Networks evolve to become a source of direct business value Networks will go beyond pure connectivity to become a direct business value. Wireless is moving from a communications technology to become a broader digital innovation platform. The migration to the cloud is driving this. That said, we need to change how we look at the cloud. There are multiple…
The metaverse is blending real and virtual worlds to enable people to get things done better and faster. More than just fun and games, this alternative universe promises to help improve the way manufactures build cars, take people in underprivileged parts of the world to locations they would not been able to go and allow researchers, students and other interested…
The use of Verifiable Credentials will gain real traction this year – so says MEF Board Chair (and Founder & CEO iProov) Andrew Bud. He says: “As the technology converges around this issue, we will see some great solutions that will create a new layer of trust around verified credentials. This will benefit everyone, especially those in developing countries where…
Vincent Washington, Vice President of Customer Experience Management (CXM) Best Practices Group at Sprinklr, shares insights into the evolving nature of customer experience, artificial intelligence, and digital commerce - as well as the most important customer experience (CX) priorities for brands in 2023, and what CX leaders should be considering for their own companies. #1: Closing the gap between customer…
In recent years, the increased connectivity capabilities of massive data aggregation devices have led to a growth in the investment and adoption of emerging technologies and new applications. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), automation, robotics, computing, and the intersection of these technologies have become a focus for many organizations, agencies, and companies across a multitude of industry sectors. IEEE Standards…
It’s only natural for media to focus on the amazing new user experiences the metaverse will unleash. But in all the excitement about immersive virtual worlds, we should make sure we’re not shortchanging the incredible telecommunications innovations happening behind the scenes. It’s Communications Service Providers (CSPs), after all, that will provide many of the core capabilities that make the metaverse…
Change is the only constant. In this ever-changing environment, it helps business and strategic planners to review generally expected technology trends in their industries. While the future remains unpredictable, in this article we’ll provide support for your development of future business and technology strategies by mapping current developments to likely future outcomes. Gartner top strategic technology trends One view…
Much has been made of the metaverse as an emerging marketing, entertainment and gaming channel. A global market valued at $47.48B, the metaverse is expected to achieve a nearly 40% CAGR, growing to an astounding $678.8B by 2030, with some estimates showing growth projections into the trillions of dollars. If you look at Mark Zuckerberg’s version of the metaverse, it…
Strategizing with Digital Service Provider (DSP) CTOs is a critical part of my job at Intraway, and while those conversations typically cover forward-looking initiatives, rarely do they prioritize the “metaverse”. CTOs are true leading experts, so they understand the storylines tied to metaverse technologies like augmented and virtual reality, digital avatars, NFTs DLT, cryptocurrencies, and virtual cities well enough. What…
Digital transformation, privacy, private mobile networks, and real-time, ultra-low latency applications are reversing the trend to a centralized cloud. As companies start to move away from centralized cloud computing, over the next few years the Edge compute market is projected to see significant growth. In fact, Gartner predicts that more than 50% of enterprise-managed data will be created and processed…
If 2022 was all about large-scale 5G deployments and mass adoption of 5G handsets, what will 2023 bring to our industry? A precipitous drop in the price of 5G chips and enhancements in 5G technology will begin to unlock use cases promised, but not previously delivered. Here are five trends IBM expects to see in the year ahead, along one…
As hyped technologies go, the metaverse has probably topped most lists in 2022. Indeed, Google’s search analytics saw interest for the term explode in late 2021 – reaching the highest possible score of 100. Interest stayed high throughout 2022, making it into analysts’ top technology trends for 2023 and beyond. By fusing digital and physical worlds, the metaverse presents new…
My recent experience at the Open Compute Project (OCP) Summit was engaging, especially regarding metaverse demonstrations. OCP was instantiated by Meta back in 2011, with the mission “to apply the benefits of open source and open collaboration to hardware and rapidly increase the pace of innovation in, near and around the data center’s networking equipment, general purpose GPU servers, storage…
While the metaverse is still a nebulous concept, experts describe it as the inevitable evolution of the Internet, the future of social media and the convergence of physical and digital realities. Regardless of the exact definition, tech giants, including Google, Microsoft and, of course, Meta, recognize its potential and continue to invest billions of dollars in capitalizing on these emerging…
The Metaverse won’t just be about wearing VR goggles while our legless avatars play online games. It’s much bigger than that. The Metaverse will become the next iteration of the Internet – what’s being referred to as Web3.0. And just like the current Internet, it’s not a single company or product. It will impact everything, and take decades to evolve,…
The term "disruption" has been thrown around a lot in recent years. Changing work patterns have persisted, the economy has been shaken, energy prices have soared, supply chains have been put under intense strain, and we have seen demand for IT skills increase as the pool of available talent has gotten smaller. This kind of disruption is not always good,…
Today, data is at the center of nearly every human interaction and organizations are managing higher volumes of data than ever before. In addition, the speed at which we conduct business has increased causing pressure to transmit that data at increasingly faster speeds. As such, organizations are reevaluating their technology and seeking alternatives that will enhance agility and increase productivity…
The innovations that artificial intelligence (AI) has seen over the last several years have been immense, and 2022 was no different, with continued digital transformation and major contributions being made across verticals –– all in an effort to take the industry to new heights. While we’ve been discussing, daydreaming about, and writing science fiction plots based on futuristic AI for…
The recent pandemic forced companies to accelerate the pace of their digital transformation and adapt to the new way of doing business. We saw companies of all sizes, across all industries, compelled to invest in advanced, collaborative technologies. But perhaps most notably, there also has been a significant increase in investment with respect to network automation, for both enterprises and…
There is no denying that connectivity has become an essential part of our daily lives - at home, at work and everywhere in between. And as we continue to immerse ourselves in the internet, the lines between the physical and virtual worlds are ever more blurry. Welcome to the metaverse... But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Hyper-reliable highway The…
The broadband industry is in an unprecedented era of growth, with more fiber expected to be deployed over the next five years than has been previously deployed in its entire history. With hundreds of billions of dollars in public and private funding flowing into network construction and funding requirements to build and light up networks on schedule, being able to…
In 2022, the U.S. government allocated an unprecedented $42.45 billion toward closing the country’s persistent digital divide through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Adding in the $20.4 billion in the Rural Development Opportunity Fund from 2021, and the prior $1.5 billion Connect America Fund (CAF) II, a little over $63 billion will be flowing into America’s broadband infrastructure.…
As the competitive environment intensifies and the fight for broadband subscriber loyalty gets increasingly tougher, it has never been more critical for telecom operators to go beyond being just service providers. To effectively win the critical battle for subscriber loyalty, it is now more imperative than ever for today’s service providers to become tomorrow’s “experience providers”. Gone are the days…
Even as we move into 2023, and the internet turns 40, the percentage of the world’s population that still does not have access to the internet is surprisingly significant. The majority of those regions without internet are due to the economics and complexity of connecting rural and remote areas with terrestrial networks. And this is something that 5G NTNs –…
Metaverse was a hot topic in 2022 and it will continue to be in 2023 and beyond! The wow factor of Metaverse is its promising ability to reimagine digital experience. Following Facebook’s rebranding to Meta, Metaverse emerged as the talk of the town in no time. While Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta primarily focuses on creating hyper-real virtual reality environments, companies like…
The last few years have shown us how productive we can be working from practically any location thanks to new virtual collaboration tools. And while face-to-face interaction certainly has its merits, the pandemic has shown that in-person interactions at work may not matter as much as we'd initially thought. In other words, "going to work" is no longer a matter…
Bridging the digital divide will continue to be a major theme as we head into 2023, and there is still a lot of work to be done. New research from the United Nations has revealed that there are still over 2.9 billion people around the world that are not connected to the internet. As we begin to view the internet as a…
#1: Hype will continue around topics like 6G and the Metaverse, but 5G will be the real MVP In 2023 we can expect continued excitement and prognostication around the future of 6G and the power of the Metaverse, but the reality for both is far into the future. We’ll see little more than hype this year. 5G, by contrast, is…
Video conferencing exploded in popularity during the pandemic but wasn't a passing trend. Due to its success in facilitating day-to-day business operations and how it has saved employers money on corporate travel, particularly internationally, it has gained momentum and is here to stay. A new study by Fairfield Market Research shows that the global video conferencing market attained revenue of…
#1: Ransomware evolution Ransomware will continue to evolve and research shows that attacks are becoming more harmful each year. According to Mimecast’s State of Ransomware Readiness Report 2022, two-fifths of cybersecurity leaders (40%) have encountered ransomware attacks that use compromised credentials tactics this year, compared to 33% last year. Cyber insurance will no longer be a guaranteed safety net and…
The communications industry is in the midst of a multi-year transformation to secure, dynamic services orchestrated across a global ecosystem of automated networks. This shift is closely tied to the exponential pace of technological change in the hyperconnected digital economy that motivates business leaders to automate wherever possible to remove friction from complex supply chains, boost productivity, compete more effectively,…
Retail, manufacturing, gaming, healthcare, finance, education - for every industry, technology has made a global information economy. It is creating incredible convenience and benefiting people and businesses. Businesses can ride that momentum or be crushed by it. Technology companies have a front row seat to the good, the bad and sometimes doomed ways organizations combine data and tech. Here are…
#1: Start thinking ahead to cybersecurity concerns in the metaverse The metaverse, digital twins, and similar advanced technologies will present new security challenges for organizations and individual users. Artificial intelligence solutions will be needed to validate the legitimacy of identities and controls. When we think of the metaverse today, we often envision immersive gaming environments such as Fortnite. However, the…
Network connectivity is critical to enabling our digital economy and emerging virtual and augmented reality environments, including the metaverse. Supporting increasing capacity demands that continue to approximately double every two years is critical. However, it is also critical for service providers to support connectivity for evolving data center architectures and the latest advances in 5G wireless networks, including distribution of…
#1: In 2023, CSPs will have to step up and play a bigger role in sustainability The growing climate crisis coupled with the dramatic increase in energy costs means sustainability will become a matter of urgency for CSPs and their customers in 2023. From using renewable energy and more sustainable data centers to cloudifying their networks, CSPs have taken many…
The end of 2022 saw a flurry of layoffs and unrest from big tech behemoths such as Meta, Amazon and Twitter. However, I believe the new year will bring a forward-looking mentality from the technology industry and wave of new, exciting innovations that will re-ignite the sector. #1: Mainstream breakthroughs for AI and machine learnings In 2023, we are going…
When we look around at today’s technology and digital transformation landscape, it seems like the Metaverse and related futuristic tools like 5G (or even 6G) and XR have become the poster children for what is hot and where the global trends are headed. It’s true that these eagerly-awaited applications are giving us new glimpses into just how far technology can…
6G will be the talk of the town, AI will extend its applications, the mass roll out of mission-critical communications will help first responders work better and save more lives and cybersecurity will remain one of the hottest technology trends in 2023 and beyond, and we better take it seriously. It’s impossible to look ahead without thinking of the past.…
CSPs can go beyond providing the high-speed networks on which the metaverse runs. Many are developing new 5G led business processes today that can be further developed and fine-tuned to support the business opportunities that the metaverse will open up to CSPs. Key to this will be partners. One CSP who is has an active and successful metaverse platform, called…
Our world in the year 2030 may still be miles away from looking like a futuristic set-up, but it will still have enhanced technologies that look like they came out of the realms of science fiction. While still in a nascent stage, early developments of that future look promising. These developments are also becoming more ubiquitous, with innovators developing Web…
We increasingly hear the term “metaverse,” but what does it really mean, and how will it be used? Some say it refers to an expanded, centralized set of digital worlds that will grow out of the digital environments with which we are already familiar, such as those used for online gaming. Others take a different view, suggesting the metaverse should…
At BroadForward we are at the forefront of multi-technology signaling and innovation in core networks at service providers globally. The following four trends are signaled by our team who are out in the field engaging with our customers on a daily basis. #1: Signaling security. Assessing signaling security in the network will be on the menu of almost every single…
Having been in the telecommunications industry for two decades, I am struck by how much the EV charging industry parallels the early stages of mobile network infrastructure build-out. Although it is clear that an array of antennas and the associated radio base station equipment are different from an EV charging station, there are vast similarities. Both are hardware assets that…
