DATAx presents: 2018’s most exciting data trends | Articles | Big Data

Every year that goes by, we hear the same old statistic thrown around: Some newer rendition of the old adage claiming that we have produced more data in the last two or so years than in all of preceding history. And the more staggering the amount of raw data we produce becomes, likewise, the more incomprehensible it becomes.

However, there are very real consequences to this ever ballooning abundance of information. There is no longer an industry which can claim to be removed from the effects of big data. Even the term "big data" has graduated from a techy buzzword into an all-encompassing description of our present, highly connected world.

This is why Innovation Enterprise has launched its latest tech festival, DATAx. After years of building relationships and networks through a number of international summits within the data and analytics industry, Innovation Enterprise has seen once disparate fields, such as pharmaceuticals and banking, brought closer together by their ever-increasing shared reliance on data. Ironically, a banking executive could now learn from a lot more from a conversation with a crypto startup's CDO than from a chat with another banking executive.

Big data has blurred the lines between industries because it keeps showing us newer and more exciting ways to innovate, leaving the impetus on us to be open and ready to accept the only constant in enterprise: Change.

Hence, in the spirit of all things DATAx, here are some of the most surprising data insights we uncovered in the US this year:

The cryptocurrency market is expected to exceed $6.7bn by 2025

The above figure, cited by Transparency Market Research, is an indicator of these changing attitudes towards cryptocurrency, as the number was largely based on an increase in venture capital investment and increasing demand for quicker and more secure transaction processing.

While the crypto and banking markets have yet to merge in any significant way, society's impression of cryptocurrency has changed a lot in just a few years as the technology continues to make bigger, more meaningful strides into the mainstream.

Other significant moves are being made in the crypto field every day, with cryptocurrency startups even investing in other crypto labs. The dash to be the first company to provide a mainstream, scalable and secure cryptocurrency is on. Many experts believe the banking industry will either have to adapt and embrace the technology or risk missing out on what many are considering to be an inevitability.

Learn more about Big Data & Analytics For Banking

Augmented reality in retail to be $8bn market by 2023

Augmented reality (AR) is one of those recent innovations which, much like cryptocurrency, we hear a lot more about than we experience. However, this has not stopped Research and Markets from predicting the industry to balloon from the expected $1.5bn by the end of 2018 to an $8bn market by the year 2023, at a staggering CAGR of more 47%.

There have been significant advancements in the AR realm, especially by retail companies. Furniture companies such as Ikea and Wayfair have managed to leverage the tech to showcase their wares in a fun, creative and effective way. Some clothing retail stores are using AR technology in smart mirrors, while others are now offering virtual apparel.

The report anticipates that the US will lead the charge in this field, as 95% of all the global investments have been made in this region. And with lower production costs than other newer innovations such as virtual reality, there is more leeway for smaller businesses or startups to enter the field.

Learn more about Big Data & Analytics For Marketing

In 2025, healthcare biometrics is expected to be a $14bn market

Healthcare and pharmaceuticals require constant innovation, yet the margin for error in these fields are also the slimmest. Technology is not only helping to discover new drugs and innovate old, life-saving procedures; it is also helping us find better, more effective paths for preventative medicine.

This is one of the reasons biometrics is slated to be a $14bn market by 2025, according to Million Insights' research. The institutional move to digitize health records and the emergence of electronic general practitioners has opened up the range of possibility for biometrics.

However, it is the new, more rigorous guidelines on patient data privacy which have transformed the idea of large-scale biometrics adoption into more of a necessity. As these regulations intensify, it will become harder for medical practitioners to remain compliant without digital help.

Learn more about Big Data & Analytics For Pharma

AI solution for farming able to optimize yields with 95% accuracy

AI and machine learning is becoming the engine that powers the new wave of technologies, or "industry 4.0". From AI-powered drones surveying construction sites to Google's prototype Duplex capable of fooling people while booking a dinner reservation, the technology is being pushed past expectation each year.

The world has both a food waste and a food shortage problem, which, when combined with ever more mercurial weather conditions, means food production and distribution will need to significantly improve in efficiency.

Taking a step in the right direction is agriculture company Growlink Plant Health AI. Using more than 200 million monthly data points from 2,200 infrared cameras, it is able to effectively track the health of crops to a 95% degree of accuracy. With a more predictable yield, we may begin to start curbing food shortages and reducing waste.

9,600 new jobs were added to the IT sector in June 2018

Due to the overwhelming, sustained explosion of technology we have experienced over the last few decades, many people may feel as if they have missed the "technology train".

A lot of very high profile companies hired their first chief data officer (CDO) in the last 2–3 years. Almost every presentation by a data scientist or cybersecurity expert Innovation Enterprise has increased in the last year has included at least one mention of the dreaded "skill shortage" within their field.

Hence, whileoverall job numbers in the US IT sector are down, as CompTIA senior vice-president Tim Herbert said recently, it really is a "mixed bag of results in tech labor over the past few months, demand for tech talent remains strong".

Catch up on more big data trends and predictions all in one place at Innovation Enterprise’s DATAx, December 12–13, 2018.