Like every year, Gartner chose some of the innovations that will mark 2017 and the next five years. We already see an increase in online shopping (according to Gartner there are 1.5 billion only buyers and the number will go up to 2 billion by the end of 2019); moreover, by 2021, 1 million people will buy IoT (Internet of Things) devices every hour. Below are some of the Gartner predictions and what they mean for all of us.

#1 By 2020, 100 million people will shop in augmented reality – this comes as no surprise since Pokemon Go took over the world back in and is still going steady – Gartner predicts that the game will be downloaded by more than 150 million people by the end of 2016. While the service might help retailers compete with tech Giants like Amazon, so many people seem a little far-fetched – yes, we are open to new technologies, but since augmented reality will be more expensive, I doubt it will be adopted by so many people in such a short time. However, augmented reality might be more welcomed in fashion, healthcare and flight simulations.

#2 By 2020, 30 percent of web browsing sessions will be done without a screen – this one is very interesting since smartphones and touchscreen devices were welcomed so fast into our lives. Gartner predicts that with services like Apple’s Airpods and Google Home, we will become more likely that our voices will replace our touch.

#3 By 2019, 20 percent of brands will abandon their mobile apps – according to Gartner, the investment in apps ins’t worth it in the long run, so many brands will give up on smartphone apps altogether – considering that apps have to function properly on at least three operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows Phone), be updated regularly with new features and assume the risk of bad reviews (many times a bad review in Google Play or App Store influenced the next thousands potential users), the idea of giving up on dedicated apps for brands is understandable.

#4 By 2020, algorithms will positively alter the behavior of more than 1 billion global workers global workers – thanks to algorithms, we will do our job better and will be more productive (however, there is no mention of the per cent of people that will be replaced by algorithms in the next years). According to Gartner:



“Human beings tend to be emotionally charged and factually drained, causing them to be irrational. Algorithms can positively alter that behavior by augmenting their intelligence with the large collective memory bank containing knowledge that has been socialized and put to the test. This will help workers “remember” anything or be informed of just-in-time knowledge that they have never even experienced, leaving them to objectively complete the task at hand but also to better appreciate life as it unveils.”

#5 By 2022, a blockchain-based business will be worth $10 billion – blockchain is the basis of bitcoin transactions. These types of transactions attato more and more capital so it’s not far-fetched to see a future where we have a network of nodes that have acces to the same transactions instantly.

#6 By 2021, 20 percent of all activities an individual engages in will involve at least one the top-seven digital giants – this is already becoming the norm since in the last years many big companies expanded in other directions slightly different than their starting point. Gartner even names the seven giants that will ‘lead’ the world by 2021: Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Baidu, Facebook, Google, and Tencent.

#7 Through 2019, every $1 enterprises invest in innovation will require an additional $7 in core execution – this is one interesting prediction for the next two years. While innovations are important for the progress in general, if there are no executors, companies fail. Thus, an increase in payments is on the horizon.

#8 Through 2020, IoT will increase data center storage demand by less than 3 percent – Gartner predicts an increase to 21 billion endpoints and most of the stored data will come from businesses and consumers.

#9 By 2022, IoT will save consumers and businesses $1 trillion a year in maintenance, services, and consumables – for many businesses just the simple idea of maintenance brings in more money that initial purchases so it’s no surprise tha businesses that focus more on maintenance and consumables (printers, branded razors, coffee makers with coffee capsules, etc) will increase their revenues.

#10 By 2020, 40 percent of employees can cut their healthcare costs by wearing a fitness tracker – the existence of bracelets that promise to help us stay fit will make a step forward and increase our overall health, and at the same time lower the healthcare costs. Gartner offers more details on the topic:

“Companies will increasingly appoint fitness program managers to work closely with human resource leaders to include fitness trackers in wellness programs as part of a broader employee engagement initiative. Healthcare providers can save lives and downstream costs by acting on the data from wearable fitness trackers that show health risks to the user. Wearables provide a wealth of data to be analyzed either in real-time or in retrospect with the potential for doctors and other healthcare professionals to have access to both contextual and historical information, if the patient agrees to share it.”



The only problem – the invasion of our privacy. In the name of health, we’ll probably give up that privacy too.