It is not a fashion but the early use of what has already been successfully tested. An exercise that is performed annually, on many fronts and in companies, is to anticipate the future through trends.

It is not simply to see what is becoming fashionable, but to establish the viability of the early use of what has already been successfully tested, and that through the world of information technology and telecommunications, will allow be a competitive advantage in terms of opportunities, permanence in the respective sector, conquest of new markets, process optimization, cost reduction, source of additional income and greater profitability.

In this article we address the main trends that we will see this year, such as Big Data, IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Cybersecurity, to name a few.

BIG DATA

This trend is consolidated, which consists in the collection and analysis of detailed information, with various applications in Government and in all sectors of the economy for support in decision making, definition of strategies, new products and services, process optimization , knowledge generation, as well as a predictive and support tool in multiple disciplines, such as business analysis, health applications, social, biological and environmental analysis, finance, insurance, meteorology, espionage and the fight against organized crime. For example, in marketing and advertising, there are fewer degrees of error in decision making and the strategies will be more efficient thanks to the accurate knowledge of the audience.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING MACHINE

The use of these technologies is increasing every day. Through mathematical algorithms, they establish patterns on behaviors, image recognition and conversations, to “learn”, gain experience and make decisions automatically, simulating human intelligence. Artificial Intelligence will have an explosion of important solutions and developments in all subjects such as home automation, mobile applications, internet services, smart cities, etc.

DATA CENTER

Among the main trends in the Data Center, those defined and managed by software, with increasingly automated processes, become stronger. The efforts are directed at cost savings, implementation of energy efficiencies and energy cogeneration solutions. Likewise, technology changes will be motivated for the implementation of hyperconvergent solutions, process virtualization and software-defined storage. Companies like Claro will continue to work in their local Data Centers to support all local demand, and developments will be seen applying new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Big Data for application in infrastructure management and operation optimization. Data Center networks will be designed that combine large data centers with large expansion containers or computer nodes smaller and closer to the source of the information (Edge Computing), in order to reduce latency and in response, mainly, to the Processing needs of IoT products and services.

INTERNET OF THINGS

The Internet of Things or IoT (technology), which allows data to be collected and transferred through interconnected systems that facilitate its interpretation for decision making, will continue its growth in the country with different use cases, for example for the care and breeding of animals, such as the one developed by Celotor and Claro to obtain in real time when a cow is in heat. In fact, a study by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan forecasts that the Colombian IoT market will generate revenues of US $ 523 million by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate of 20.8%, in industries such as the automotive, smart cities, the Agriculture and health.

VIRTUAL REALITY AND INCREASED REALITY

These technologies, which combine virtual and real elements that are visualized through devices, smartphones and tablets, allowing real-time interaction, will continue to be widely used in entertainment. But beyond this application, its use in education, architecture, medicine, marketing, advertising and sales support will be developed, among many other applications.

CYBER SECURITY

Due to the degree of exposure that organizations, critical infrastructures and even governments have had, as well as the development and unusual boom of organized cybercrime, new developments in cybersecurity are aimed at taking advantage of new technologies and protecting and safeguarding services. They are trending. Through the CSOC - Claro Cybersecurity Operations Center, for its acronym in Spanish - located in the Triara Data Center, Claro has been working on the importance of following the proactive cycle, to better manage risk, with the support of the parties interested parties including suppliers and users (whether individuals or organizations). For example, internet security of things and mobile communications, including satellites. These networks must be protected against signal blockages, denial of service attacks and false data transmission. Also in cyber defense and protection against incidents in the digitalization of financial services, such as online banking or Fintech services and applications.

In the same way, cyber protection for critical infrastructure services (energy, water, etc.), basic public health (protection of interconnected medical services and clinical information), in public administration services (examples: registration, electoral process and services to the general public). Likewise, the generation of national cybersecurity policies and initiatives, collaboration between governments, among organizations of all sectors and even agreements between companies in the same sector, which may be competition with each other. Finally, the use of Big Data Analytics for monitoring, prevention and detection of fraud in real time and Blockchain technologies integrated to the generation of new developments in the provision of services, as part of security solutions.

'BLOCKCHAIN' TECHNOLOGY

This technology, developed to support and safeguard the transactions of so-called cryptocurrencies, is increasingly used in multiple developments and types of services such as remittance sending, credit systems, digital asset management, electronic voting, auction management, forums of discussion or as a “notary” of contracts through different platforms. Thanks to the multiple ‘blockchain’ applications that are being created, companies of all kinds, including small and medium-sized businesses, can take advantage of great value and security, and they can be lower cost solutions.

ETHICAL PROBLEMS, KEYS IN THE AI OF COMPANIES

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence brings value to companies. This is one of the powerful technologies of the 21st century, says Bask Iyer, CIO of VMware.

However, despite its ubiquity potential, the ethical considerations of artificial intelligence technologies within the company are still in their early stages of development.

How and why does AI make decisions? The data series are so large, unique and complex that, beyond a certain point, the algorithm's function begins including designers. "This is a problem that is already relevant, and it will be much more in the future," says Tommi Jaakkola, a professor at MIT who specializes in applications for machine learning.

If your developers do not know why and how AI is 'thinking', that will lead to a sliding slope as these algorithms become more complex and that is one of the reasons why David Tennenhouse, VMware Research Director, considers Very important is the need for companies to contribute what the researcher calls "explainable AI", which provides chains of reasoning to prove why their decisions are correct.