tech trends new year

81 tech trends (yes, 81!) you may see next year

Figuring out the hottest tech trends is tough. You never know what might happen if one particular trend really takes off and then spawns a series of sub-trends. For example, ambient assistants like Siri and Google Now are really taking off so many companies are designing their apps to closely integrate with these new services. Perhaps those companies would have been spending their time on something else rather than adapting to ambient assistants?

In other words, the trajectory of the future is always in flux. It’s ever-changing and will making going ‘back to the future’ like Doc Brown challenging to say the least.

So how can we identify some of the key tech trends for the upcoming 2016? The folks at Webbmedia have assembled 81 (yes, 81!) different trends that you may see in the near year. They range from the aforementioned ambient assistant to bots (like in Slack) to net neutrality to drone lanes.

Wait, what’s a drone lane, you ask?

It’s a designated flight path for drones to do things like deliver packages (Amazon) or to take some particular photographs at specific locations. Drones are quickly turning into a more mature market thanks to FAA regulations requiring registration and somewhat more adept users. Somewhat. Google ‘drones for Christmas’ and see what you get…

The Dozens Of Tech Trends We MIGHT See Next Year

In any sense, below is the embedded document of the different trends. Do any of these particularly surprise you? How many have you actually heard of? Weigh in by chatting with us @DailyGenius on Twitter or by joining us on Facebook anytime.

Download the PDF to read later (great for zooming in and getting higher-res version of text and images)

The trends are all in the below presentation. You should click the ‘fullscreen’ button for the best viewing experience.

About The Report

Via the Webbmedia Group:

The future isn’t something that just happens passively to us. Rather, we are creating it in the present tense. And so, with the right framework in hand, is possible to anticipate new technologies and their impact in order to map what’s yet to come.

At the end of each year, Webbmedia Group Digital Strategy applies our forecasting model to surface the most important emerging trends in digital media and technology for the year ahead. We’ve just published our annual Trend Report, and it features 81 notable trends and more than 100 companies and people to watch in 2016.

Mapping the future for your organization begins with identifying early signposts as you look out on the horizon. In order to chart the best way forward, you must understand emerging trends: what they are, what they aren’t, and how they operate. Our 2016 Trend Report helps ensure that your organization is better positioned to understand changes and proactively plan for what’s past the horizon. You can use it to identify near-future business disruption and competitive threats while simultaneously finding new collaborators and partners. Most importantly, it should spark new ideas and opportunities to help your organization innovate and grow.

Written by Jeff Dunn



Jeff is an education and technology lover who has worked in far too many industries to count. Okay, like maybe 5 or 6. Jeff can indeed count that high but it’s not recommended. Jeff also likes to write bios in the third-person.

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