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After the rise of artificial intelligence tools and collaborative platforms this year, technology trends in 2024 will be marked by a complex global economic environment, the need to protect data privacy and security, and the desire to limit the use of certain technologies.
„Governments are increasingly aware of the importance of protecting their citizens’ information. This leads them to develop their own technical infrastructure and design policies, tailored to each country’s needs, so that data is not used illegally or unethically.” Says Raju Vegasna, Zoho’s Chief Evangelist. „Furthermore, a possible slowdown due to the decline in trade and the search for profits will force technology companies to compete with lower prices to acquire new customers. Therefore, privacy, policies and price will be key elements guiding technology direction in 2024”.
As part of his predictions, Vegesna thinks governments will be forced to find ways to regulate AI’s bad practices without affecting business use or software manufacturers’ innovation. These are the key trends the tech industry will see in the next year.
- The 'Commoditization’ of AI
AI is at its peak of growth and is expected to be a strong trend in the coming months. This technology will become so popular that it will become a commodity like search engines and email. Those apps that don’t take advantage of this fundamental advantage will disappear, while their utility becomes increasingly obvious to users. Software manufacturers will realize that they don’t make money in advertising, but their value is all in their integration.
- Price and profit
The macroeconomic environment shows a possible global recession in 2024, starting in the US and affecting Europe and Latin America. To the extent that trade declines, a contraction in global GDP is likely.
The tech industry is not immune to this reality and unprofitable companies will not survive. One that makes listed companies particularly problematic, as they may be forced to raise their prices or contract out their operations to maintain the results their shareholders demand.
„In times of economic uncertainty, companies tend to be more careful with their spending. If software companies don’t get new customers, they have to cut prices, otherwise customers will cut costs and go with cheaper vendors,” Vegasna adds.
- Principles and Regulation
With the scope of artificial intelligence and derived technologies, governments will see the need to design policies that regulate its use without restricting the innovation of developers. This trend will be promoted in 2024 and will continue to grow in the coming years.
Australia, China, the European Union, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain and the UK are conducting extensive research into the technology. Some of them already have draft laws or are interested in understanding and regulating AI with the aim of protecting the privacy of their citizens.
In Latin America, Brazil already has a data protection law, as well as legislation on computer crimes and cyber security. Currently, they are exploring regulatory experimentation plans and working on processing a specific bill to regulate AI. For its part, Chile has a National Artificial Intelligence Policy, and although it does not yet have a comprehensive policy, they are implementing three proposals aimed at regulating aspects of AI.
Colombia does not yet have specific regulation for this technology, but there are regulatory inspections and they have a data protection law. Peru stands out in the region because in July it published Law 31814, which promotes the use of artificial intelligence in an ethical, sustainable, transparent and responsible manner, complemented by a law on data protection.
In this way, it is expected that many countries will design policies that respond to their privacy and security needs, encouraging the use and development of new technologies.
- Back to 'on-premise’ and private cloud
To improve the security and privacy of their data, some companies are starting to have their own infrastructure to store and manage information. Therefore, one of the expected trends in 2024 is a return to private cloud and 'on-premise’ software (installed on your own computers).
„The importance of their data, why they need to be looked after and who they give it to, that’s why they demand more control and security from companies and governments. We opened two data centers in Canada this year. Regulations prevent companies from storing information about people who live outside the country. This happens in all countries,” says Vegesna.
- Reduce outsourcing
Elon Musk coined the term 'Idiot Index’, which refers to the difference between the price of the final product and the sum of its parts. For example, if a product costs $100 to manufacture, but its parts equal 10, the 'idiot index’ shows a huge drain on resources in the supply chain.
For this reason, Tesla is the only electric car brand in the US that makes its own engines, glass, audio system, etc. Their intention is to eliminate unnecessary middlemen and maximize profits.
By 2024, many companies will begin following a similar path of removing 'layers’ in their processes to reduce production costs. In this sense, they will look for 'ready-made’ software solutions that allow them to manage and centralize new processes without increasing their costs on expensive implementations.
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