Forget mobiles and the other stuff that makes you blush when you check your social media account; the juicier stuff - those with seriously wide-ranging effects - are what we're going to check out.

For whatever reason, there is that sensation of looking forward to the new year. And at the tail-end of a 365/6-day cycle, you seem to realise one thing: the past year was like a breeze.
Same goes with technology; blink and you may just miss something.
Forget mobiles and the other stuff that makes you blush when you check your social media account; the juicier stuff - those with seriously wide-ranging effects - are what we're going to check out.

Big data

Well, what exactly is big data? In layman's terms, it basically describes data that's so huge or complex that traditional data processing methods are deemed insufficient - thus, the need for more advanced systems to deal with it. If you want an example, just think of an airline and all its operations worldwide or you bank that crunches all the details of all its customers and their transactions.
And that's just for starters. With the Internet of Things slowly creeping in, it just gets better or messier - depending on where you're standing from.
A recent research from Gartner shows that investment in big data is indeed rising, with over three-quarters of companies surveyed saying that they intend are either investing or planning to invest in it in the next two years. Open-source sharing site Wikibon, meanwhile, pegs the big data market to almost double from this year's $33.31 billion to $60.91 billion in 2020 - an 82.9 per cent leap - and almost 155 per cent up come 2026.

Internet of Things

And speaking of the IoT, have you felt it lately?
In a perfect world, we would love to have everything - everything - in our lives connected; just think of all the benefits it could bring us.
However - as with the concept of yin and yang - there must be adversity. And with the IoT, the biggest challenge is not only to have a seamless connection between things, but to securely do so. Just imagine the damage that can be done if a modestly-savvy hacker gets a needle's-eye route into your system and inject some bad data into it that will disrupt everything.
The McKinsey Global Institute, in its report entitled "The Internet of Things: Mapping the value beyond the hype", says that it estimates the IoT has a potential economic impact of anywhere between $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion by 2025. That's a lot of value to be risked. The International Data Corporation, on the other hand, gets more specific: it sees the Asia-Pacific region at the forefront of the IoT, seeing the industry connecting 8.6 billion things and create a $583 billion market opportunity by 2020.

Smart stuff

The latest James Bond film, Spectre, coolly showed where smart things are in today's world: remember the scene where Q injected 007 with some sort of intravenous tracking stuff and called it "smart blood"?
Smart technologies are everywhere, and probably have been in existence already before the term was coined and was thrust into the limelight.
The great thing about smart technologies is that - much like everything else on this piece - it has the ability to encompass everything, and it's probably the most accessible of the lot (just look at your smartphone, for crying out loud).
In the UK, 100 per cent of new cars sold were fitted with smart capabilities designed to automatically call emergency services in case of an accident. Also, the government earmarked £2.8 billion (Dh15.3 billion) for contracts to create a smart grid. And that's just for starters.

Driverless cars

Which do you prefer - sitting pretty while your car drives you or watching roads filled with self-driving autos? In any case, the driverless-car industry is gaining speed - and it's no secret that it's an ambitious drive, so ambitious that US Transport Secretary Anthony Foxx is very confident that he sees these machines all over the globe by 2025. Gartner, meanwhile, says autonomous-driving-capable vehicles will make up around 25 per cent of the passenger vehicle population to be used in mature markets by 2030.
Which brings the question: will driverless technology make a huge, positive impact on the road? There are both pros and cons, but recent analysis and testing reveal that it is indeed a very feasible concept - and we're not talking about the concept of driverless cars itself, but the idea of these actually blending in with regular vehicles.
Sorry, electric cars; you may have to take a backseat sooner than expected.

Wearables

So you were all impressed with the Geiger counters worn by the Saiyans in Dragon Ball Z, huh? ("It's over 9,000!")
If Vegeta and Co only knew about the potential of wearable technology, they may have left Son Goku alone and shifted to doing business instead of destroying planets because Markets and Markets sees the industry to hit $31.27 billion in five years, a compound annual growth rate of 17.8 per cent between 2015-20. Just look around you and see smart watches and fitness trackers beginning to sprout like mushrooms. And if you think they're just that, you're dead wrong.

3D printing

By now you've heard what this can do for you. As one top industry leader in Dubai alluded to at a major trade event not too long ago, there may come a time when airlines will rid themselves of tonnes of luggage if we can just be able to figure out how to 3D-print travellers' baggages at their destination.
A lot of major industries have already been reaping the benefits of 3D printing, and it's bound to get better: Research and Markets sees the industry to grow at a CAGR of 20.6 per cent from 2014-20 and hit an $8.6 billion value. The one major challenge? Cost for the man on the street.
Everything said, there's a clear indication of what's to come: technology will only get more advanced and better, but at the same time, it will be trickier and more complex. Thus, the need to get everything in harmony and educating users is of paramount importance.
And if I missed anything, I must've probably blinked.
alvin@khaleejtimes.com