Telenor unveils 5 tech trends that will shape 2022

Telenor programme

Dhaka, Jan 25 – Telenor Research, a scientific research unit of Norwegian technology conglomerate Telenor Group, has unveiled the seventh edition of "Tech Trends," highlighting how technology and digitalisation can enable a green transformation which it believes will define the upcoming year.

Grameenphone revealed the research findings at an event in the capital Monday. The five anticipated tech trends for 2022 were revealed in a keynote and an expert reflection session.

The core impression of the predictions for 2022 revolves around global climate change and its impact on the ecosystem.

The trends predict how new-era advanced connectivity, climate-friendly energy-efficient modern hardware, edge cloud, and 5G technology will be more eco-friendly, increased demand for green job skills with institutions and digital learning platforms offering climate micro-degrees, an optimisation war between companies to make devices more energy-efficient and environmental-friendly, a surge in climate aware influencers and taking the next generation's expectations with importance to mitigate potential threats of the "great resignation."

The report also has three tips on how businesses can avoid this threat once the pandemic is over. The trends are primarily influenced by the ongoing global pandemic and its consequences.

Trend 1: Green clouds on the horizon

Due to the immense growth in data usage, there is higher energy demand. Hence, cloud computing has seen exponential growth, and also edge computing is expected to take over by an acceptable margin in the coming year.

"We predict that 5G networks worldwide will have the capability to do local breakout of data traffic to and from Edge data centres," said Bjørn Taale Sandberg, head of Telenor Research, in a virtual keynote presentation."

"Energy-efficient Edge data centres reachable from mobile devices over 5G networks will start popping up, at an increasing rate, in 2022. As a result, energy will also be saved in data distribution networks since part of the data traffic and electricity will be transferred locally only."

Trend 2: Big appetite for climate micro-degrees

With modern careers requiring employees and employers to be climate-friendly, there is a need to adapt to lifelong learning on sustainability. Environmental policy and regulation will also increase the demand for green job skills in 2022.

"A growing number of businesses will implement green micro-degrees and courses as part of their 'curriculum' to slake the green knowledge thirst among employees. The businesses that fail to facilitate opportunities to acquire green online learning credentials on-the-job risk being perceived as less attractive in the eyes of new talent," predicts Sandberg.

Trend 3: Optimise everything

The global need for greater energy efficiency has the chance to trigger the "optimisation of everything" battle between consumer electronic manufacturers.

Devices consuming electricity now outnumber humans by four, and they will become even more dominant in the future. "Since transforming our energy supply will take time, we need to optimise everything – not least the use of energy by our devices," warns Sandberg.

"Going forward, more companies will put enormous sums of money on the table to acquire the knowledge and assets needed to come out on top of the optimisation battle."

Trend 4: Here come the greenfluencers

It has become imperative for influencers to acknowledge the young people's climate engagement, especially through social media. With the recent disappointments from the UN's Climate Conference (COP26) and a grim outlook in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report fresh in memory, there is now an expectation of seeing a new movement shape the world of social media, that is coined "greenfluencing."

"An undergrowth of climate-aware influencers and activists has emerged across niches on social media, and we believe their growing follower bases will be duly noticed by the influencer universe’s established elite," explains Sandberg.

"Influencers who appear oblivious or indifferent to climate challenges will be perceived as outdated. Instead, followers will flock to influencers who demonstrate climate awareness regardless of niche. Marketers will turn their attention in the same direction."

Trend 5: Don't lose out on the 'lost generation'

With work-from-home and such trends reshaping organisational preferences and cultures, companies must take the next generation's expectations seriously to avoid facing great resignation.

During the continuation of the pandemic, it will be tough for the young to establish and grow a personal network and acquire a general understanding of the corporate lingo and culture, as forming new social relations using only digital communication is much more challenging.

"Many companies will in 2022 find that large groups of young employees who never got proper onboarding are likely to struggle – unless good leadership is exercised," says Sandberg. - UNB