Prepare now for the ‘roaring 2020s’ and beyond
- 07 March, 2018 17:16
Astronaut on the surface of planet Mars
What are the future jobs that might be created in your industry? How do you prepare yourself for that future?
Driverless taxis, disappearance of smartphones, humans living in Mars, and a cure for Alzheimer’s.
These are among the key technologies Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, IoT and applications at Cisco, says businesses need to prepare for through 2050.
“It is not far away at all,” he says. He points out his daughter, who is five and a half years old, will be in her mid-30s in 2050.
“If you have kids, 2050 is just right around the corner,” says Trollope, in his keynote at the Cisco Live in Melbourne.
Trollope believes driverless taxis will be launched by 2022, and a prototype has already been demonstrated in Dubai. “This will become a reality.”
On a more immediate impact, he says drones will bring huge transformative opportunities across sectors, like agriculture, mining, oil and gas.
He says smartphones have had a transformative effect on all businesses. But he postures by 2028, one can send ‘text by thinking’.
He says this is already happening for people who have accessibility issues, who can not use a keyboard or a mouse.
Meanwhile, by 2030, expect new jobs like avatar manager, body part maker, vertical farmer, nano medic and climate change reversal specialist, he says.
“What are the future jobs that might be created in your industry? How do you prepare yourself for that future?”
On the health front, he predicts by 2036, Alzheimer can be cured as a result of reverse engineering of the human brain. He says work is being done now on a non-invasive ultrasound technology that can stimulate the brain to restore memory.
We have a great opportunity to reimagine and inspire the next generation infrastructure to support this technology
By 2045, Ray Kurzweil, Google’s director of engineering believes ‘singularity’ will be achieved. This is the moment when computers and AI become more intelligent than humans.
“AI is going to be a transformative force in our industry for many years and will affect virtually every part of our life as we know it.”
And, finally by 2050, there will be a permanent base for humans in Mars.
He says the United Nations predicts there will be 9.7 billion people by 2050.
“How many people can we support in our plant sustainably?”
“We have got to rethink things...we have to be more efficient and sustainable in using resources,” he says.
"Technology will underpin every part of our life in 2050."
"We have a great opportunity to reimagine and inspire the next generation infrastructure to support this technology," he says.
“It has to be intelligent, smart and secure.”
Security is foundational and can not be an afterthought in our architecture.
The number and sophistication of the bad guys is increasing, he says. “Unfortunately it is easier for bad guys to hack into our networks today.”
“We have to be thoughtful about designing the next generation network, how do we embed security in?”
We have to enable our workforce with a radically different experience, he says. You are not going to compete with the likes of Netflix if you are using the same stuff you have been using in years.
“The pace of change in our industry is breathtaking and the future is not that far away. What does that mean for you?”
“You need to get started now.”
Divina Paredes is attending Cisco Live Melbourne 2018 as a guest of Cisco.
