I was asked recently about blogs or websites that discuss emerging technologies especially as related to IT and business service management. Now, when I hear the term “emergent technology” (Is emergent even a word?), the ones that come to mind immediately are engadget.com and gizmodo.com, but those are more for consumer products I’d say. There’s of course, Wired, but again that’s not necessarily related to managing desktops across a company or managing servers for accomplishing business tasks.
For some interesting reading, MIT has a Technology Review website but again, it’s all technology for all applications, not just for IT. Fascinating website, though. The list for 2007 is as follows:
- Peering into Video’s Future – The Internet is about to drown in digital video. Hui Zhang thinks peer-to-peer networks could come to the rescue.
- Nanocharging Solar – Arthur Nozik believes quantum-dot solar power could boost output in cheap photovoltaics.
- Neuron Control – Karl Deisseroth’s genetically engineered “light switch,” which lets scientists turn selected parts of the brain on and off, may help improve treatments for depression and other disorders.
- Nanohealing – Tiny fibers will save lives by stopping bleeding and aiding recovery from brain injury, says Rutledge Ellis-Behnke.
- Augmented Reality Markus Kähäri wants to superimpose digital information on the real world.
- Invisible Revolution Artificially structured metamaterials could transform telecommunications, data storage, and even solar energy, says David R. Smith.
- Digital Imaging, Reimagined Richard Baraniuk and Kevin Kelly believe compressive sensing could help devices such as cameras and medical scanners capture images more efficiently.
- Personalized Medical Monitors – John Guttag says using computers to automate some diagnostics could make medicine more personal.
- A New Focus for Light Kenneth Crozier and Federico Capasso have created light-focusing optical antennas that could lead to DVDs that hold hundreds of movies.
- Single-Cell Analysis Norman Dovichi believes that detecting minute differences between individual cells could improve medical tests and treatments.
Stephen O’Grady, the RedMonk analyst, tags several posts with Emerging Technologies so peruse the archives to your heart’s content. I especially enjoyed the post about Wikipedia being proposed as an aid to help the public prevent, slow and survive a deadly viral outbreak. Yeesh.
It seems that most of the categories for new technology are things like medical applications, travel applications, security, and personal technology. I would say that the concept of BSM itself is an emergent technology but it has matured beyond nascent for certain.
Advancements in security are certainly tied into corporate IT which is why I enjoy reading Jeff Bohren’s blog, The Identity Management Expert very much.
Are there other emerging technologies that solely relate to IT that I’ve missed?