If you had to think of a technology that is likely to change in the future which will also affect your current job, what would it be?
Technology is always changing and there is so much to learn to keep up with it. I am trying to think of something which will change let's say in the next 5 years and how it will affect anyone working in IT.
Any ideas?
I am currently making some research and some opinions will help me greatly.
Thanks.
Jump to Post@pritaeas Ooo, our IQC building is making some headlines.
Post-quantum cryptography is also interesting. In particular, I find research into lattice-based asymmetric cryptography pretty exciting.
I can't imagine to many game changing things happening in the next 5 years to be honest (cheaper prices, more cores, smaller transistors, faster/bigger memory …
Jump to PostCorporatization/monopolization of the internet -> this has already started but I expect in 5 years most uses of the internet will be dominated by a single company, and there will be far fewer start-ups.
Possibly Quantum computing (hard to know if that is 5 or 20 years) from large-scale adoption.
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@pritaeas Ooo, our IQC building is making some headlines.
Post-quantum cryptography is also interesting. In particular, I find research into lattice-based asymmetric cryptography pretty exciting.
I can't imagine to many game changing things happening in the next 5 years to be honest (cheaper prices, more cores, smaller transistors, faster/bigger memory would all be considered 'normal'), execpt maybe convieniences for end users.
Corporatization/monopolization of the internet -> this has already started but I expect in 5 years most uses of the internet will be dominated by a single company, and there will be far fewer start-ups.
Possibly Quantum computing (hard to know if that is 5 or 20 years) from large-scale adoption.
I suspect some more professionalization of programming (eg. self-regulating accreditation bodies like doctors and lawyers)
Probably more secrecy since the US patent system is becoming more strict about what algorithms/software is patentable.
Corporatization/monopolization of the internet -> this has already started but I expect in 5 years most uses of the internet will be dominated by a single company, and there will be far fewer start-ups.
They've been saying that for 20 years...
Possibly Quantum computing (hard to know if that is 5 or 20 years) from large-scale adoption.
Same
I suspect some more professionalization of programming (eg. self-regulating accreditation bodies like doctors and lawyers)
nope. Those are just government granted monopolies to lobby groups.
Doesn't work in an international context.
And as I can hire programmers in Uzbekistan to do my work for me if the ones in my home country are too expensive because a labour union demands they pay tens of thousands of dollars to get a permit from them to do their job, that's exactly what's going to happen (and that's exactly what most all "professional licensing" amounts to).
Probably more secrecy since the US patent system is becoming more strict about what algorithms/software is patentable.
That's been going on for decades as well. In fact in many countries it's illegal to use any encryption at all. And in other countries it's illegal to ship any encryption code to other countries (and/or you need a government license to use such code).
What we are going to see, and soon, is far more control over the internet by governments, far more restrictions on what you can do there, with eventually entire countries being unable to communicate with entire other countries.
Think the Great Firewall of China erected around every country or group of countries, active and passive censorship (all in the name of "protecting morality", "fighting terrorism", "stopping bullying", "preventing muslims from getting upset", etc. etc.).
That's going to affect everyone, obviously. The spread of information around the world we've come to expect and rely on will slow to a crawl, what is spread becoming seen as just government propaganda, and peoples and countries will end up as isolated as they were in the 1950s.
I don't think a "great firewall" for all countries would be easy at all.
1) I do not beleive that governments simply want to be evil for the sake of it. I dout that the entire US govenrment & friends would want to censor the entire internet. True, they might want to monitor forign communications, and true, one government agency might have illigally taken it too far, but that doesn't imply on a whole that the government is like that. I'm not saying that everything they do is right (far from that), but I am saying they're not the "evil bad guys" that everyone says they are.
2) In order to do something so dirastic, it would need to pass through the legal system, and it would need to face critizism. Furthermore, it would need to continue to hold up against said critisism. The NSA was able to get away with what they were doing because there operation were kept secret. Keeping consorship secret without people noticing would be nearly impossible. To get my point across, in order to cut comunications between two contries, it would require a HUGE 360 in the legal system, and it would need to be unopposed.
3) The very design of the internet and counter measures that people can implement makes this very difficult to do in practice. If you wanted to stop people from talking country to country, you would need to physically cut the lines and make an air gap. Also, if you were going to take it that far, you would also stop flights to other countries. In fact, ever country might as well become like north korea.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm saying it's rediculusly darastic, so much so, that you would need a complete 360 in how the country is ran, without opposition.
1) I do not beleive that governments simply want to be evil for the sake of it. I dout that the entire US govenrment & friends would want to censor the entire internet. True, they might want to monitor forign communications, and true, one government agency might have illigally taken it too far, but that doesn't imply on a whole that the government is like that. I'm not saying that everything they do is right (far from that), but I am saying they're not the "evil bad guys" that everyone says they are.
I agree, the spy agencies will continue to harvest tons of data from it, but censorship will be done by private companies in direct response to public outrage (or for their own interests) with minimal if any gov't intervention. We've already seen it in the name of protecting copy-rights (eg. Youtube automatic taking down of videos accused of copy-right infringement), preventing PR or harassment issues that would chase away their advertisers or users (eg. social networks), to extort people who benefit from the service they provide (eg. Amazon preventing pre-ordering of books from a publisher to push for lower prices).
I second the quantum computing.
My field is education. I don't know what 'new' tech will transform learning. We've had white elephants, flash-in-the-pan fads and constant modification / upgrading of existing tech. How to use IT to make learning better? That's difficult as IMO, IT has been a double-edged sword. It has allowed access to an unbelievable amount of information, but that is not knowledge. Likewise IT hasn't done much in the way of developing application of knowledge. This may be a little different at college/uni level, but in most high schools, I think we're beyond the buzz of tablets, interactive whiteboards, online video tutorials and lectures (think Khan Academy or streaming subscriptions), 'learning platforms', remote data logging, data modelling, social media discussion groups etc etc etc. So much time and money is wasted on IT, without much measurable improvement in attainment. Kids aren't wowed by IT any more, and even when they were, it was pretty short-lived. Please no more gadgets or social platforms that turn young people into socially inept recluses.
Legislation and policy may be the biggest change to my sphere of reference. Policing of social media and accountability. The right to privacy and the revealing of certain information connected with online identities.
Outside that, will virtual currencies or new methods of transferring money without being ripped off finally cut into the obscene monopoly of the global financial institutions?
Quantum computing - love the idea of it - but it could take a second or a millennium - or both - now that's a superposition! Doubtless, if it can be made viable, it should change things significantly. I just hope that it doesn't place millions of people on the scrap heap.
The thing about disruptive technologies is that they tend to creep up on you without you actually realising it. The answer to the original question is, therefore, nobody knows...
Who is to say how technology will impact your career. For example, I was a real-time programmer for a major electric utility (generation, transmission and distribution). You may recall a few years back when they had that cold fusion fiasco. As unlikely as it was to be real, had it been real it would likely have bankrupted my company. Even though the distribution network would still be needed, how do you pay off the massive debt incurred by building hydroelectric dams that are no longer needed? The product your company makes today could be made as obsolete as buggy whips by the most unforeseen tech change.
“Technology that will change and affect your career | DaniWeb”, Jim your article is interesting and I have forwarded it to some of my friends. Even if it isn’t saying anything particularly new, what it does say is worth repeating, and is rarely said in such succinct form. It is also nice that it has some emphasis on speculative fiction, something many writing guides ignore completely. I would recommend it.
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