8 Mega Tech Trends of 2021

2020 turned out to be a Black Swan event with respect with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and almost the entire year was focused on healthcare predominantly. Remote workforce solutions came a close second in terms of creative technology solutions. Education, that is ripe for disruption, has still a long way to go in terms of new technology solutions.

2021 would continue to see newer tech solutions in both these sectors — healthcare and education apart from figuring out how to create better platforms for people to interact virtually — online conferences, 3D avatars and augmented reality exchanges. We would also be witnessing increased adoption of robots (especially in healthcare), streaming wars in entertainment, and digital first responses from traditional industries like restaurants and fitness.

Here are some high level mega Tech trends of 2021:

1. Healthcare :

There is no doubt that Healthcare was on top of everyone’s mind in 2020 and will continue in 2021 as well.

2021 would continue to see major disruption in traditional primary care physician visits to use of telemedicine and direct-to-consumer lab tests.

As per CBInsights, this is the state of primary care technology solutions:

Some examples include virtual platforms like Doctor on Demand that allow individuals to have live video visits with licensed physicians anywhere, anytime. Startups like Healthy.io, LetsGetChecked, Everlywell, and Base offer direct-to-consumer lab tests that can be performed at home.

2. Remote workforce solutions

While some companies have announced work from home indefinitely, others are waiting for 75% of the population to be immunized. Hence, 2021 will continue the trend of remote workforce, virtual conferences and remote collaboration.

While collaboration tools have gone beyond Slack to Miro, Mural and Monday.com, there is an increased emphasis on culture building using newer generation of virtual solutions such as Assembly, Bonusly, Weekdone etc.

3. 3D / Virtual reality

Since virtual platforms and video conference tools offer asynchronous conversations, there is room for adopting 3D/ virtual reality and augmented reality solution.

Earlier this fall, I gave a keynote presentation using a virtual platform VirBELA. It was so cool to see my virtual avatar take a seat, walk up to the virtual stage and present the keynote.

Other startups like Mootup, Breakroom etc. are also paving the way for an enhanced virtual reality and 3D experience.

Source: Virbela.com

4. Remote learning (Education)

Education, especially university/college, is ripe for disruption and the 2020 pandemic increased the need for distance and online learning solutions. Most teachers/ professors used online tools like zoom but others experimented with e-books, chatrooms and even podcasts. In 2021, this trend would continue as schools would either perform in a hybrid or fully remote learning.

With in-person learning being interrupted, this year would see continued technology and remote learning solutions including micro learning platforms.

For example, a Florida based startup Nearpod helped K-12 teachers create lessons through pop quizzes and virtual reality field trips — offered its services free of cost to schools across the US.

Other technology platforms like Top Hat offers teachers an instruction/class management platform where they can share interactive media, virtual classes, and targeted online lessons.

For more hands on lab experiences, technology solutions using AR/VR are on the rise. Osso VR, Oxford Medical Simulation and zSpace provide VR training for medical education, surgery or science lab classes.

5. Digital first for traditional industries

Industries such as food and beverage are going digital with many of them having QR-code based menus, online platforms for ordering food as well as restaurants that do not offer any physical space but only food delivery called ghost-kitchens.

One movie theater, EVO entertainment, from closed physical theaters to open air drive-in theaters. It established grocery delivery services to expand its revenue streams at this time.

Fitness goes online : While the pandemic brought about closure of gyms, yoga studios and boutique fitness locations, some organizations quickly brought the fitness studio experiences to people’s living rooms. Barry’s, Mindbody and Orangetheory quickly went digital with not just providing online classes via zoom but providing custom digital experiences using instructors as well as offering an outdoor activity option.

This trend would continue especially with online fitness products like Peloton and Mirror making it easy for consumers to get into a fitness regime from the comfort of their homes.

6. Retail goes creative

We have seen quite a few recurring revenue based subscription services whether it is for beauty products (eg, Madison Reed or Birchbox), meal kits (HelloFresh, BlueApron etc.) or even pet food via BarkBox.

As the pandemic has taken off the online shopping trends, many existing retail stores have gone the subscription route. For example, Ann Taylor, Nordstrom and Express have started the clothing subscription boxes similar to StitchFix.

As people’s schedules are unpredictable and are juggling between kids and home offices, subscription boxes provide relief and reduce grocery store runs while retail stores have new revenue models.

Pret a Manger, for example, launched a coffee subscription scheme to lure customers back into spending.

Source: pret.com

7. Streaming wars — entertainment

The streaming wars already began with Disney launching Disney+ in the fall of 2019 but COVID-19 accelerated the shutdown of movie theatres and launch of other streaming platforms like Apple TV+ and HBO Max.

It seems like the end of an era for traditional Hollywood production houses and we saw major productions like “1984: WonderWoman” and “Mulan” release directly to streaming.

2021 would see this trend continue as entertainment is completely shifting to streaming and streaming services produce more original content with diverse voices.

Source: onezero.medium.com

8. Finance

Digital bank adoption has been on the rise but 2020 saw the acceleration of digital money management, digital currency, and cashless payments.

2021 would continue with this trend especially outside the US. Latin American countries are increasingly adopting neo banks — digital banks with no physical branches.

Another example is the introduction of digital first debit card by MasterCard that is backed by a cash management account called Samsung Money by SoFi.

2021 will continue to see consumers moving away from cash and opting for contact-free and digital payments.

In conclusion, we will see acceleration of adoption of technology in non-traditional sectors, increased online shopping experience, subscription services as well as increased digital and cashless payment. As 2021 will continue in quarantine until most of us are immunized, healthcare, education and remote workforce solutions will still take the center stage.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.