Five technological trends that will mark 2023 – CMHS Radio Caibarien

As we love everything that has to do with technology and from time to time we are told that we are half visionaries; Here we bring you the five technological trends that, according to the Petabyte team, will mark Cuba and the world by 2023

2023 arrived and, definitely, “brought a robotic bread under his arm.” Excusing the bad joke, it is no less true that the technologies of recent times have revolutionized our entire existence —speak of the action of turning “upside down” how much scientific, philosophical and even ethical conception gets in the way— and for that they have emerged; to show us the need for change, adaptation and evolution of the human being in the face of a not too distant future.

During the past year, technological advances were made known that, according to analyst Bernard Maar, will constitute the basic means of life in a couple of decades; although, from now on, they mark a before and after in the history of human inventions.

2023 does not aim to be different. For example, what is related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) is once again present in all the predictions of technological trends that will mark this year. Controversial as it is, this topic is already something to talk about among the scientific and academic community. Why? Well, bad practices like plagiarism and academic fraud are exacerbated by the emergence of tools like ChatGPT —an extremely powerful text AI that can basically condense much of the knowledge present on the internet and make it extremely accessible to humans. In addition, the boom of the always remarkable graphic AIs and their eternal dilemma about whether they symbolize the end of human art or not continue.

And for Cuba?

This, our island, will always be a special case when we refer to this issue —and to all of them— because we live blocked, not only economically, but also cybernetically. A large percentage of Internet sites are not available to Cuba and not to mention the little or no access to purchase online services and tools.

On the other hand, only well into the 21st century did access to the internet begin to be promoted on a massive scale in the country. In other words, we are a couple of decades behind in terms of computerization.

The pandemic came to change our way of working, thinking and living. He pondered the digital space and the internet became increasingly accessible and necessary. Likewise, sectors that needed to be strengthened were detected if a healthy development of technologies was to be achieved without failures. For example, cybersecurity, another absolutely important trend for all types of users.

In addition to these —and among many others— we want to place special emphasis on fields of science and innovation that, in our opinion, will set the tone in the development of the country and the world in this coming year. And who knows? It may be that later we will delve a little into each of these topics. In any case, stay close.

1. Technology for sustainability

According to Abishur Prakash, co-founder and Center for Future Innovation (CIF) in Toronto, “The entire field of sustainability, underpinned by technologies, will play a monumental role in 2023. Clean energy projects, such as those that bring electricity generated by solar energy from Africa to Europe, will advance in 2023, adding a new dimension to global energy development.

In Cuba, these sustainability projects, in addition to contributing to ecological well-being, constitute a great relief to the economy. Undoubtedly, clean and renewable energy and “eco-friendly” projects will give people something to talk about in the coming year.

2. Social networks and communication

Social networks have become the most crowded space for interaction between people in history. Although they have been among the most used technologies for years, they are far from their decline. Quite the contrary, last year was loaded with controversies in relation to social networks. From the famous purchase of Twitter by the South African tycoon Elon Musk, to the dawn of the metaverse that, according to its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, promises to change our way of viewing the internet.

At the national level, social networks have served as a stage for sociopolitical discussions, transmission of information —and misinformation—, commercial promotion and social expressions of all kinds. Learning to manage the networks optimally and take advantage of all the advantages in terms of communication that they offer, constitutes one of the main challenges for the Cuban institutions and media in this coming year.

3. Metaverse

According to Gartner.es, the metaverse allows people to accurately reproduce or amplify their activities in the physical world. This can be achieved by moving or extending activities from the physical world to a virtual one or by transforming the physical world. It is a combinatorial innovation, made up of multiple themes and technological capabilities.

“The metaverse can offer us the next great evolutionary leap of the Internet… or come to nothing because it fails. It is still very early, and companies like Facebook are only beginning to create the infrastructures and the first concepts that lead to a future where there are devices capable of taking us there. So it’s more of a concept, a blank canvas, than a reality that we can connect to today.” Explains Yúbal Fernández, a journalist specializing in technology.

4.Blockchain

Although the world of cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Blockchain technology in general are going through very dark times; many analysts envision a restructuring and resurgence of these technologies in other focused ways, above all, in the business sector. For example, according to Forbes, energy giant Shell has revealed a blockchain-powered initiative that they use to ensure the provenance of sustainable energy entering their network. Initiatives like this promise to restore confidence in this technology this year.

5. Internet accessibility

Breaking down the technological barriers that separate human beings should be the order of the day for everyone. Hopefully this will be a year in which internet services for Cuba become more accessible. This will undoubtedly bring an enormous advance for Cuban men and women.

Because it is a fact that technologies are necessary for the efficient, sustainable and competitive development of our society. To achieve that goal, it is crucial that walls and blockages -internal and external- be broken down; After all, as the science fiction writer William Gibson said: “The future is already here; It only remains to distribute it equitably”.