Blockchain, IoT, 5G, 6G, AI, VR are taking off, but will they come together?

blockchain IoT
Image credit | digitalista/bigstockphoto.com

Blockchain, IoT and all the other technologies that have been around for a year or two are going mainstream fast. The question is, will they come together to form the next ecosystem, one that makes our world better.

Recent studies and surveys (of which there are many) all point to technologies from Blockchain to the IoT being given an enormous boost from the pandemic.

The surveys also suggest that this will not stop once the pandemic is under control.

For instance, according to ABI Research:

  • Blockchain will be a market worth $7.5 billion by 2025 (having suffered a downward trend as priorities got shuffled)
  • 60 million cows will form part of the IoT by 2026, as agriculture steps up to the challenge of feeding a fast-growing population
  • Autonomous Mobile Robots will be a market worth over $30 billion by 2025
  • VR and AR markets, just in the entertainment space, will be worth $18 billion by 2025
  • And there will be 1.15 billion 5G devices, also by 2025.

Meanwhile, 6G is due to launch in 2030 and by that time, the whole world will probably be one big WiFi hotspot.

It is easy, when looking at surveys and studies on these technologies, to talk about them in silos (Oh, how we love a silo). The real challenge – and it is a creative one – is to see where and how all these different technologies mesh together to form truly game-changing applications and solutions.

Will blockchain technology underpin a revolution in all sorts of arenas. Will everybody’s medical records be stored in one place, instantly accessible and accountable. Will a doctor combine that with real-time health data and AR (delivered over 5G or 6G or WiFi) to make a diagnosis that would have to have been face to face in the ‘old world’.

Blockchain and the IoT could quickly and easily transform many areas, especially food production and distribution.

Ultimately, could 6G combine with VR and AR to produce something close to the amazing Holodecks on Star Trek.

If this pandemic has one silver lining it is that it has accelerated our digital journey. Almost all of the emerging technologies of two or three years’ ago have our attention. Each will transform parts of our life.

The real question for blockchain, IoT and the rest is how creative people put them together to solve problems, empower people and make this world a little bit better.

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