The Covid-19 outbreak seriously affected the business world. We can predict that changes in consumer preferences and business models will take longer than this outbreak. As consumers get used to new digital or remote models, it will be a situation where new technologies and approaches are expected to permanently change people's expectations. At the same time, we will see rapid changes in technological and commercial innovation based on the experiences of people during the epidemic.
When we look at the efforts to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, we witness the clues of the first orientation. It is understood that the year 2021 will lead to revolutionary transformations in drug development as well as the fight against Covid-19. Covid-19 caused a major shock to the pharmaceutical industry, making drugs trials faster and easier. Researchers have suspended many traditional clinical trials or moved to a virtual structure by conducting online monitoring and consultations and collecting data remotely. Remote clinical trials and other changes can significantly change the development of pharmacy.
In the limited and limited living conditions created by the epidemic, computers and the Internet have become indispensable for life. This situation gives hints that remote working and video conferencing experiences will increase through information tools and virtual platforms in 2021 and beyond. This area has seen rapid growth during the epidemic and will likely continue to grow in 2021.
Zoom, which started out as a sprout enterprise in 2011, became a well-known and widely used software application during the epidemic. Other enterprise tools such as Webex (Cisco), Teams (Microsoft), Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting and BlueJeans (Verizon) also facilitate remote work around the world by providing technological video conferencing systems.
Meanwhile, many new initiatives are emerging in the telework industry. Bluescape, Eloops, Figma, Slab, Tandem etc. such initiatives provided visual collaboration platforms that allow teams to create and share content, interact, monitor projects, train employees, and conduct virtual team building activities. These tools also help distributed teams track shared tutorials and documents. It provides the opportunity to create a virtual office that facilitates collaboration by allowing colleagues to communicate and collaborate effectively with each other. Also IdeaBoardz, LucidPark, Miro etc. Such software offers the opportunity to perform many idea development activities virtually.
With the rise of Covid-19 risk, another trend has developed as contactless transportation and delivery. Various industries, especially retail, have developed different contactless application options on a global scale.
Contactless delivery is a development under the new normal fish, one of the concepts of the new era. DoorDash, Postmates, Instacart etc. on a global scale. Initiatives such as offer different applications to minimize physical contact. In our country, initiatives that offer such applications as a service feature to their customers have started to emerge.
The use of service robots for contactless delivery is becoming widespread in developed economies. We are watching that such autonomous vehicles are supported by artificial intelligence software in China and the USA.
With the Covid-19 outbreak, fields such as medicine, biotechnology and genetics came to the fore. With new and evolving technologies, fields such as tele-health and tele-medicine seem likely to attract more attention and work in 2021.
Especially institutions in healthcare services are working to reduce the direct interaction of Covid-19 with patients and employees - to reduce the risk of contagion. Many different applications, such as doctor-patient video virtual communication, artificial intelligence-based diagnostics and contactless drug delivery, have already begun to be implemented in healthcare organizations, which are also pioneers in technology. I think that many people, starting from developed economies, will benefit from virtual diagnosis and care services in the upcoming period.
Tele-health services are attracting more and more sprout startups on a global scale. Among the organizations that focus on this field, there are initiatives in both public and private sectors in different countries. Beyond telehealth, we can expect to see more studies, products and services on health in general in 2021. In addition to the developments in biotechnology, we can say that machine learning - an artificial intelligence subfield - will attract more attention to support diagnostic and robotic healthcare services.
The education-training approaches we have experienced until before the Covid-19 epidemic are going towards a renewal. Schools had to be closed during the epidemic; this has affected a large number of people and organizations all over the world. Meanwhile, terms such as online education, learning, and e-learning have started to be used more frequently.
Significant opportunities have emerged in schools, universities and even coaching centers in the field of giving lectures through video conferencing. Although current online methodologies, techniques and tools are not yet sufficient, there is a lot of serious work in this field all over the world. The software industry has found a new enterprise area with the contributions of Industry 4.0 technologies. Serving communities during the epidemic –Udacity, Coursera, Age of Learning, Outschool etc. such as - numerous online learning platforms have emerged. We can predict that the number and diversity of these will increase starting from 2021.
Among the annoying images of every workplace and hospitality environment, there are scattered cables. With the increasing development of 5G infrastructure, new applications and utilities, it seems that physical spaces, especially factories, will get rid of the "cable problem". On the other hand, the demand for higher speed Internet and the transition to quality connected homes, smart cities and autonomous mobility are driving the advancement of 5G-6G Internet technology. We will frequently see new technological infrastructure, utility or application development updates in 2021 and beyond.
There are important studies for actual applications of all over the world. In the world's major economies such as the USA and China, the 5G network has become widespread. Among the companies working in this sector, we will hear names such as Verizon and Ericsson more often. There are more than 400 operators currently investing in 5G. More than 35 countries have already launched commercial 5G services.
5G technology will help transfer data over greater distances. In the meantime, local governments and local organizations will benefit from 5G in subjects such as lighting networks, smart city applications and monitoring settlements with sensors. 5G will make significant contributions to seafloor research, which attracts attention for reasons such as fault lines and water pollution, but also experiences difficulties at the same rate.
On the other hand, 5G technology is an invaluable aid for the existence of unmanned autonomous vehicles - on land, in the air or at sea. The Internet of Things, which will enable every object to be connected to each other via wireless networks, will gain new gains with 5G. In the meantime, I must add the satellite technologies - satellite sets - that will enable every corner of the world to be connected to the Internet at all times in order to contribute to the above and mobility.
In the technological field, artificial intelligence, robotics, Internet of Things and industrial automation applications are rapidly diversifying and multiplying. In 2021 and beyond, we will see an increase in demand accompanied by rapid growth in artificial intelligence and industrial automation technologies. As technological applications increase, the need for qualified manpower in this field will also increase. In this context, the importance of enterprises and companies in the robotics sector in every country will gradually increase.
With virtualization, we are witnessing more and more of the increasing importance of visualization. The use of virtual reality (SG) and augmented reality (AR) technologies is increasing in all areas. New applications and tools are constantly being developed in these areas. The Covid-19 outbreak, with its compulsions requiring less contact, encouraged robotics on the one hand, and paved the way for virtual and augmented reality applications on the other hand. These engaging technologies have become a part of daily life in many areas, from entertainment to business work. Indeed, the arrival of Covid-19 has led to more adoption of these technologies as businesses turn to a collaborative remote working model.
Virtual and augmented reality technologies have virtually become a fresh source for a surprising transformation in all industries. With these technologies, applications such as indoor virtual navigation and positioning, remote assistance, integration of artificial intelligence with SG and AR, mobility, virtual sports events, eye and face tracking will become more widespread in 2021 and beyond.
The easy development of these mentioned technologies depends on getting rid of the cables of technological devices, which we can consider as "shackles". 5G technology is the leading development that will provide this. With 5G, communication will both intensify and accelerate, and it will be possible to get rid of indoor wiring to a great extent. Thanks to the growth of the 5G network, easier communication will be possible with the expanding Internet bandwidth.
The concept of mobility includes many different elements. New ones will be added to devices such as smart mobile phones, tablets and portable computers that can connect to the networks we use and the Internet. It will be easier to connect remotely to business and home systems. The variety and number of applications used for this purpose will increase. New distance working and learning systems will be developed.
Vehicles operating on land, air and sea are increasingly connected to networks and the Internet. Meanwhile, with the ecological transportation trend, the use of electric bicycles and motorcycles in many settlements is increasing. These vehicles have started to be seen as suitable transportation alternatives that also meet the social distance conditions related to Covid-19. This market, referred to as micro mobility, will continue to grow. In addition, the number of enterprises working on such tools, which can also be network and Internet connection, has started to increase.
Accompanying electric vehicle design and manufacturing, we will see great advances in autonomous driving technology in 2021 and beyond. Major automotive companies have announced that they will mass-produce autonomous vehicles that will not require any driver intervention under certain conditions. The inclusion of fully autonomous devices in traffic will wait for the appropriate redesign of transportation systems. The development of autonomous vehicles in railway transportation can find opportunities more easily.
The first quarter of 2020 set off with the rise of new and evolving technologies. The Covid-19 outbreak negatively affected this rapid development to some extent - in terms of the shrinkage of the market due to the epidemic.
However, I think that science and technology will continue on their way from where they left off, with the relief of the epidemic on the one hand, and the emergence of work and life styles suitable for new conditions on the other.
The way I see it, teleconferencing and blockchain technologies will play very massive roles in our lives in the next few years.