Scientific, Technological Innovations And Business Opportunities To Watch Out For.

Don Okereke

INFORMATION REVOLUTION with its inherent exponential implications is in all probability the greatest revolution of the human race. Advances in the fields of Cloud Computing/Thin Client, Quantum computing, Tele-Presence, Nanotechnology, Genetic engineering etc are revolutionizing the status quo. I undertook to research and do this treatise because of my unrelenting passion for innovations and gadgets generally.

For those still in the cloud about the hullabaloo of ‘’Cloud Computing’’, lets bring the concept home. Cloud Computing is ‘’a model for facilitating convenient, on-demand network access to a shared collection of configurable computing resources (e.g. Networks, Servers, Storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly deployed and released with nominal management endeavor or Service Provider interaction’’.

On the other hand, Quantum Computing will to a great extent lead to faster computing, for some kinds of problems, chemical modeling, new materials with programmed properties, theory of high-temperature superconductivity and super fluidity.
Cloud computing has the propensity to transform our current computing experience. Inter alia, it will boost efficiencies and save cost for businesses and individuals. Instead of buying say, 200 System Units (PC’s), software’s etc, an organization (School, Government departments/parastatals, Cyber Café etc will buy just one system (the Server) and share resources across the network with the aid of ‘’Thin Clients’’. This write-up will not dwell on the drawbacks, especially security of Cloud Computing.

In the near future, some organizations may even decide to outsource the whole gamut of their computing operations to a Cloud Computing Operator or Provider. This is the future of computing. This is a precursor to Computers being obsolete sooner than later. Technological advancement is good news to some people and bad news to others. This will be bad news because some careers and businesses will be jeopardized as a result of these innovations. I will do a sequel to this Piece that will highlight ‘’Businesses, Technologies and Careers on the Verge of Extinction’’.

Again, if you are the type that rushes to buy the latest gizmo, perhaps it’s high time you changed your orientation because no sooner than you have acquired the latest gadget, a newer and better version of it will be released into the market possibly at a cheaper price than the earlier one you just bought.

For the business savvy individual, being a step ahead of competition is no doubt an advantage. For those of us that are gadget aficionados, it’s cheering to know that the beautiful ones are not yet born. Some of these terms are not yet in our dictionary, my computer kept underlining ‘’memristor’’ with a red line, connoting it’s a wrong word.

Here is a run-down of emerging technological innovations and business opportunities to watch out for:
1. Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) chips will help organizations to keep track of all incoming and outgoing products. This will also have applications in healthcare and checking illegal migration. This technology (RFID Chips) led to the hottest hullabaloo, gobbledygook and conspiracy theories linking President Obama to antichrist and the infamous ‘’mark of the beast’’ (666). This was such a big deal/news in Nigeria that so many people vowed they will never travel to the United States. Time will tell.

2. 3D/Quantum dots, OLED, Flexible displays, Laser Video displays and Interferometric Modulator Displays will replace current CRT and LCD technologies. With flexible displays a time will come when we shall have foldable phones, Laptop or tablet PC’s.

3. ‘’Electronic Nose’’ will displace current X-ray and MRI scan technologies for detecting cancers, chemical weapons etc.

4. Memristors and graphene will replace current integrated circuits and other electronics devices and silicon-based integrated circuits. Memristors will give rise to Smaller, faster, lower power consuming storage devices.

5. Shale Oil and Gas, Biofuels, airborne wind turbines, concentrated solar power, electronic double-layer capacitors, fusion power etc will be alternative sources of generating energy/power.
6. Wireless energy transfer will replace current power cords, plugs, batteries etc. With this technology; one can wirelessly power/charge laptops, cell phones, electric cars and other gadgets.

7. Long Term Evolution (LTE)/4G Cellular Communication will substitute current broadband technologies. This will enhance faster internet browsing experience and pervasive computing.

8. In the field of military technology; airborne laser, antimatter weapons, case-less ammunitions, electromagnetic weapons, and particle beam weapons will be the in-thing.

9. Magnetic levitation and refrigeration will replace conventional refrigeration technologies. This will lead to refrigeration without the need for compression and more energy efficient.

10. Mobile collaboration will replace existing video conferencing technologies. This will increasingly make video conferencing feasible in hand-held devices in real time over secure networks. This will have wide ranging applications- academics, manufacturing, healthcare etc

11. Aerogel will displace current insulation and glass technology and will have applications in Oil pipelines, aerospace, high-heat and extreme cold environments.

12. Maglav Train, Vactrain (Trains with very high speeds) will replace conventional locomotive trains. E.g. is the Shanghai Maglev Train Limino. With this, it will take a couple of hours for one to travel from Lagos to Maiduguri or from Lagos to Abuja.

13. Biometrics locks is already replacing conventional keys. One does not have to carry a bunch of keys about these days. Just store your fingerprint or that of your house hold or the entire staff of an organization in a biometric lock and all of them can have access to the premises with ease.

14. In the field of medicine, Stem Cell transplants and Vitrification or cryoprotectant will enhance treatment for a wide range of diseases/injuries and organ transplantation.

15. Voice Recognition and Motion Hand Signal Technology will replace current Remote controls. Microsoft is said to be working on Kinect for Xbox 360, a gaming component that responds to motion.

16. Multi-function structures will trade Composite materials with applications in self-health monitoring, self-healing morphing etc.

17. Scramjet (Hypersonic aircraft), Space Plane and Supersonic airplanes will replace conventional jet engines and airliners.

18. With the prospect of 3D Printing, Claytronics and Molecular Assembler becoming vogue, sooner than later, we can start printing customizable gadgets at home.

I hope you enjoyed this. Please feel free to add your own list of innovations that will shape the future. Thank you.

Don Okereke

donnuait@yahoo.com
+2347080008285