Nobody calls up an MSP or solution provider and says “Hi, I’d like to buy some more blockchain and internet of things please.” And yet both technologies increasingly are the foundations for innovative solutions capable of solving a multitude of customers' business problems. Which means they represent a big opportunity for tech companies who can integrate the technologies into their current portfolios.
There’s been a lot of activity lately around both blockchain and IoT within businesses, and even more is expected this year. With that in mind, we asked members of CompTIA’s Blockchain Advisory Council and IoT Advisory Council for their thoughts on what to expect in 2022. Here’s what they had to say:
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NFTs Evolve to Represent More Than Digital Art
“Next year, we’ll see the evolution of NFTs. Today, people are thinking of NFTs as digital art and its metadata. This is just the start, NFTs can represent any unique digital asset. So, what does this really mean? It means everything from birth certificates to property deeds will be stored on a blockchain [providing an immutable record of these unique assets].” – Barry Mosakowski, blockchain architect
IBM
Extended Reality Innovations in IoT Improve Collaboration, More
“In 2022, I expect to see accelerated adoption of extended reality (XR) technology in the realm of IoT. Digital transformation driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, massive XR investments from companies like Meta, and the rise of 5G have unleashed the potential to implement immersive solutions at scale that many thought were far away just a few years ago. It will be exciting to see all the ways XR solutions that incorporate IoT data will enable a wave of innovations bridging the real world and digital world to improve collaboration while unlocking new experiences and efficiencies. Expect to see accelerated use of the combined technologies in areas such as training, construction, field service, healthcare, and smart cities.” – Brandon Fuhr, co-founder and CEO, XReps
Energy Companies Will Mine Cryptocurrency to Counter Market Volatility
“Next year, I'm looking forward to the increased synergy of Bitcoin mining and the energy sector. States like Texas and Wyoming are leading the way in making energy production more efficient by using cryptocurrency mining operations as a buffer against the volatility found in carbon and renewable energy sources.” – Eric Powell, founder of Rylet Industries
IoT, AI Innovations Continue to Transform Healthcare
“Medical devices are becoming more connected and smarter. The pandemic accelerated the demand for remote healthcare monitoring, both by the medical community and by consumers. Huge advancements were made in 2021 in diabetes technology and continuous glucose monitors (CGM). These will continue to grow as the FDA catches up on their backlog of approvals. And we'll see this expand in Invitro (IVD), cardiovascular, and ophthalmic devices.” – Kathleen Glass, founder and CEO, Oinkodomeo
Evolution into Web 3.0 Includes Ownership of Digital Assets
“Look out for accelerated evolution toward Web 3.0. If Web 1.0 was ‘read only’ and Web 2.0 was ‘read + write,’ then Web 3.0 can be described as ‘read + write + own.’ Watch out for more adoption of decentralized ownership of digital assets, personal data and self-sovereign identity.” – Adam Lesh, Founder and CTO, The Maker Foundry
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UI/UX Evolution Spur Voice Recognition and Control Enhancements
“I believe that in the next year we will witness a larger evolution of user interface/user experience (UI/UX) technology to be more natural for users. Specifically in the realm of voice recognition and control as well as gesture commands leveraging lidar and machine vision. We’re starting to see more use cases and more interest, which is in turn driving new innovations too.” – Robert Forget, CTO, Aware360
Blockchain, NFTs Used to Support Global Passport Validation
“I see non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on a central blockchain ledger becoming a central mechanism of a global passport validation program. It’s a lofty goal, but I expect it to happen soon. To accomplish this, I also see blockchain and NFTs becoming a centralized system in national governments.” – Raja Krishnasamy, engineering leader, Microsoft
More Technology Education Requirements for Licensed Attorneys
“I do predict that many states will add a technology category to the types of courses that lawyers will be obligated to take to fulfill their continuing legal education (CLE) requirements in 2022. The Continuing Legal Education Board of New York State is soliciting the public for comments on a proposed amendment to their CLE regulations that would require all New York-licensed attorneys to complete one credit hour in a ‘Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection’ category. Florida and North Carolina have already implemented technology requirements as part of their CLE curricula. The Rules of Professional Conduct in many states require general competence in technology, as do the American Bar Association Model Rules, but I predict that more states will follow New York and make it mandatory for attorneys to attend at least one course in technologies such as blockchain in order to maintain their licenses. – Lisa Spiegel, associate executive director for continuing legal education, New Jersey State Bar Association
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