This year was one in which many organisations have adopted new technologies to streamline efficiencies and meet customer expectations.

A range of software applications have continued to rise at pace to make data analysis an easier endeavour which can help organisations in gleaning insights which improve their operations.

One noteworthy trend has been the growth of e-bikes in the UK, with various partnerships bolstering charging stations and availability throughout London.

To mark the end of what has been a progressive year in tech, the editorial team at National Technology News spoke to a range of of industry experts to find out what their top technology predictions are for the year ahead.

Fresh competitors to enter the VR space

Virtual Reality (VR) headsets have begun to see a meaningful level of consumer uptake over the past five or so years. This is now accelerating, due in large part to investment by market leader Meta and the relatively accessible Quest 2 headset.

According to research house Omdia, Meta current dominates the VR market, with 76 per cent of sales in 2022. Mainstream adoption is thought to be some way off, though, with the analyst predicting just 72 million VR headsets to be in use globally by 2027.

Following its expansion into several new European and Asian markets in 2022, Omdia predicts that ByteDance-owned Pico will enter the VR market in 2023.

“Dominant Meta will be unfazed by Pico’s entrance in US, at least initially,” said George Jijiashvili, principal analyst at Omdia. “ByteDance’s healthy finances (thanks to TikTok) and proven expertise in the tech space makes Pico the top challenger to watch in VR.”

Jijiashvili added that while Augmented Reality glasses and MR (mixed reality) headsets are currently almost entirely used for enterprise applications, more compelling consumer-focused AR and MR headsets are on the horizon.

“We’re expecting more blurring of the lines between AR and VR in the coming years,” he said. “Meta Quest Pro is the best example of the efforts to merge the real and the virtual using the ‘passthrough VR’ feature, but even at $1,500, it still leaves much to be desired.”

Machine learning will become ‘increasingly democratised’

Over the past few years there has been a growing use of machine learning to help with data and sentiment analysis. According to Prashanth Chandrasekar, chief executive at Stack Overflow, 2023 is the year in which machine learning (ML) will move into the mainstream and become “increasingly democratised” with new use cases appearing with ever greater frequency.

He said: “There will be an explosion in data as our ability to harness ML – and cloud services more broadly – allows companies to analyse data at scale and solve key business problems across industries.”

Chandrasekar believes the continuing rise of ML in 2023 will come as a result of “a decade-plus of activity by early adopters”.

Pointing to the Stack Overflow Developer survey, the company’s research shows that Tensorflow, the ML library, doubled in usage from around 8 per cent of respondents in 2018 to almost 17 per cent in 2021. Machine learning framework Pytorch usage rose from around two per cent in 2018 to almost nine per cent in 2022.

“This indicates that, as usual, the developer community is at the cutting edge, and as their work compounds, ML is maturing into an accessible and widely-used tool,” he concluded.

New sectors will begin utilising e-bikes

Zoomo, the e-bike partner of Uber Eats and Deliveroo, foresees more sectors moving towards the use of e-bikes for commercial purposes in 2023.

Lisa Conibear, global commercial director at the company, said that it has been starting to see appetite for e-bikes beyond just grocery, food and parcel, with plumbing, real estate and health care companies all expressing interest into how they can integrate e-bikes into their operations.

She said: “One example is a plumbing company we’re in discussions with. Currently, each technician drives a van around London, their vans are typically only 20 per cent full of tools and parts. Many of those tools and parts are often only used as required, they are carried around just in case.”

She continued: “We are talking about supplying this company with a fleet of e-bikes, supplemented by a cargo bike which would carry all the tools and parts for a catchment area.”

Conibear also pointed out that a move to cargo bikes could help drive efficiencies and help realise cost savings for these companies while cutting C02 emissions.

“These kinds of moves could save businesses of all shapes and sizes thousands per month in insurance, parking fines, time gained and fuel costs,” she said. “Importantly, moves like this will also have a significant positive impact on our environment.”

Cyber security firms will consolidate their tech stacks

Dan Green, head of enablement at IT consultancy JUMPSEC, believes that organisations in 2023 will consolidate their stack of security products and tools in the face of economic pressures.

Green notes that the historical solution for many cyber security problems is to buy new tools to solve new problems, when in reality existing tooling which may be able to deliver the same advantages. As such, he foresees the cyber market having to deviate from its largely product-driven economy.

“In reality, more tooling creates more noise and consequently more work for analysts without necessarily delivering more value,” Green concluded. “The venture funding pumped into many cyber security product areas far exceeds the Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of those areas and many organisations and investors are bracing themselves for a market crash as a result.”

Biometric-based identity verification will become the industry standard

In 2023, digital identity tech firm Onfido expects to see wider adoption of biometric authentication processes which will become smoother and more effective for users.

“Biometrics are not just an effective deterrent against fraudsters which add a layer of sophistication to online registrations, but they also enable reusable identity forms – giving consumers a transportable method of proving their identity,” said Giulia Di Nola, product manager at the company. “This will transform how consumers access online services.”

She added: “While we’re already seeing major biometric growth in industries like gaming, transportation, and delivery services, we’re also finding that the technology is being applied to improve customer experiences in healthcare, retail, and the sharing economy.”

Biometrics are also anticipated to continue evolving protection measures against fraudsters by way of additional fraud detection signals.

Di Nola concluded: “As more fraud detection signals are added — like voice and behavioural models — biometrics will become even more advanced, and in the game of cat-and-mouse with fraudsters, will keep companies one step ahead.”

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