Top Trends in the Technology Sector

IT companies and employers who rely heavily on technology know better than anyone the repeat cycle of learning, unlearning, and relearning. As the most rapidly evolving industry with many changes arriving faster than your progress of the previous shift, the challenges many American corporations saw come with COVID-19 were nothing tech professionals couldn’t handle. However, the new standard of virtual-first companies that aim to stay people-centric begs to question what that may look like for the tech industry’s future.

“CEOs know they must accelerate the adoption of digital business and are seeking more direct digital routes to connect with their customers, but with an eye on future economic risks, they also want to be efficient and protect margins and cash flow.” –David Groombridge, VP Analyst, Gartner.

From the continued developments in Automation, Edge Computing, AI & ML, Cybersecurity, Robotics, etc., to the rapidly increasing hiring needs and remote work shift, we have compiled the ultimate guide to the latest IT industry trends and statistics for 2022.

*Research & statistics are courtesy of the industry professionals at Forbes, Simplilearn, Gartner, LinchPin SEO & more!

These Technology Trends Continue To Surge

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

While AI & ML are far from new, many industries are looking for new ways to grow their resources further to implement these revolutionary technologies. Highly regarded for its excellence in navigation apps and image and speech recognition, AI has made groundbreaking steps in providing critical insights into predicting demand and monitoring resource functions. Machine Learning generates enormous demand for skilled employees across all industries as a subset of Artificial Intelligence. Experts predict the AI market will grow to $190 billion by 2025 (MarketsandMarkets).

Breakdown: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is software designed to simulate human thinking. Machine Learning (ML) is a subset of AI that starts without knowledge and becomes intelligent (Red Marker). Automation is a type of software that follows pre-programmed rules to carry out repetitive tasks without human intervention.

  • In addition to the rise of machine vision technology, low-code and no-code development platforms continue to emerge, allowing more users not to be limited by their coding capabilities.
  • AI engineering’s direct focus on developing ML algorithms to learn, analyze, and predict will help streamline AI delivery.
  • Autonomic systems which learn in real-time from their environments and construct new behavior will advance the capabilities in supporting regulations and situations yet to be seen.
  • Generate AI will compile data to create new, unseen content, helping accelerate research and Development cycles in medicine.

As an AI-centric version of DevOps, AIOps is intently focused on leveraging large data from various IT tools and devices to automatically read and react while still providing historical analytics (BMC).

Along with Automation, AI & ML are expected to generate a 9% increase in new US jobs by 2025 (Forrester), ranging in programming, testing, development, and more. The industry also boasts one of today’s highest salary ranges. Enabling companies of all styles to improve efficiency and reach their goals quickly, continued advancements in automation are well on the horizon.

Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation is a business-driven approach to rapidly identifying and automating as many processes as possible. It is designed to help enhance remote operation and dependability and streamline business procedures.

Autonomic Systems

Autonomic Systems are self-managed physical or software systems that learn from their environments and dynamically modify their algorithms in real-time to optimize their behavior in complex ecosystems. These systems create an agile set of technology capabilities that can support new requirements and situations, maximize performance and defend against attacks (Gartner).

There are many promising developments of AI in healthcare, such as PathAI, dedicated to providing hospitals and patients with accurate diagnoses through deep learning algorithms. ML is also used to speed up drug development by predicting symptoms and infections of patients. Our recent industry guide covering Medical Devices touched on the connection between various technology trends and the healthcare industry.

2. Cloud Computing | Edge Computing

As more companies migrate to cloud solutions, edge computing has emerged as a high-rising technology trend. A cloud is an IT environment that abstracts, pools, and shares IT resources across a network. An edge typically involves large volumes of data being handled at the edge of the network to optimize processing further. While edge computing is used to process time-sensitive data, cloud computing is utilized to process data that is not time-driven. Thus, edge computing accommodates for the shortcomings of cloud computing, IoT being one of the greatest beneficiaries.

• Clouds are places where data can be stored, or applications can run. They are software-defined environments created by data centers or server farms.
• Edges are also places where data is collected. They are physical environments made up of hardware outside a data center.
• Cloud computing is the act of running workloads in a cloud.
• Edge computing is the act of running workloads on edge devices.
(RedHat)

More industries are designating a place for digital information and resources and prioritizing safety in the process. Driven by major companies AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure, cloud computing allows companies to improve work efficiencies in the digital space. According to Forrester Research, the global cloud computing market will reach $482 billion this year. By the end of the year, the global edge computing market is expected to reach $6.72 billion, establishing a wide variety of jobs.

“Though many companies are adopting edge computing and are predicting the end of cloud computing, Bernard Golden points out that this is not substantiated because there is currently no analytical framework to prove it. Edge computing is not the only solution for the challenges faced by IT vendors and organizations and does not handle all applications across every environment, thus, cloud computing will still remain a crucial part of an organization’s IT infrastructure.” – Simplilearn

Another rising form of computing technology, Quantum Computing, is identified as a top emerging trend thanks to its ability to analyze and act on data quickly. QC has made tremendous strides in healthcare through the development of vaccines and in finance and banking through trading and fraud protection. The capabilities that lie within Quantum Computing are marked by experts to be the greatest in computing innovation. By 2029, the quantum computing market is projected to surpass $2.4 billion (Simplilearn).

3. Cybersecurity

While cybersecurity itself is a more routine practice, new threats are constantly arriving, thus demanding that security technologies keep evolving. First seeing a spike in cyber-attacks as a product of the remote work shift, more industries and organizations gathered a better understanding of the threats that accompany their technological developments. From hackers illegally accessing data and finding new ways to invade networks, the importance of investing in cybersecurity is immensely evident. Gartner predicts by 2025, “60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements.” Experts forecast the global security market will grow from $217 billion today to $345 billion by 2026.

Cybersecurity has become immensely relied upon to quickly “verify identity content and policy adherence across cloud and noncloudy environments” (Gartner). Cybersecurity mesh also plays a tremendous role in modernizing organizations’ security architecture by enabling greater scalability, flexibility, and reliable cybersecurity control. “The security mesh enables core distributed policy enforcement and provides convenient composable tools that can be plugged anywhere into the mesh” (10xDS).

Courtesy of Gartner’s IT Contributor Kasey Panetta, check out these Eight Predictions For Cybersecurity in 2022 and Beyond.

4. Robotics

Similar to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the operations of Robotics aim to execute tasks typically performed by humans. Robotics Process Automation (RPA) is another technology automating jobs. RPA enlists software to automate repetitive tasks performed by humans, such as interpreting applications, processing transactions, reading data, and replying to emails (Simplilearn). As is the case with AI & ML, RPA will create many more jobs than it is replacing. By 2030, Experts predict the global robotics market could climb to $260 billion by 2030 (BCG).

Whether by taking the form of a human (physical) or a robotic application (virtual), the functionality of robots made a tremendous leap in 2022. The increased use of robotics in healthcare signifies the high demand for Robotics Engineers. Physical robotics highlight advancements in medical equipment, while virtual bots typically exist in software to automate customer service and sales tasks, overlapping with AI (LearnToCodeWithMe). Chatbots have also made significant improvements in the basic functions of customer service and their ability to resolve certain queries.

Courtesy of Automate.org, check out these Seven Trends and Predictions For Robotics in 2022.

Remote Work Shift –

The remote and hybrid work model is not going anywhere anytime soon. With the high productivity many US employers are experiencing, combined with the preferences of their employees, many organizations’ back-to-office plans have fallen by the wayside. PEW Research reports that 60% of US workers say their jobs can be done from home, while GoodHire found that 85% of US workers prefer job listings with remote work options.

TRUST Goes Both Ways – Employees seek to gain as much freedom and flexibility as possible. For employers wanting to stand out to top performers and highly coveted job-seekers, there is immense pressure to give in to these desires when plausible. In addition to technology growth, companies must prepare to invest in new health benefits, communication strategies, and overall holistic wellness to boost employee performance and retention.

Remote Work is best geared toward the IT & Software industry.

While technology is constantly evolving and improving, the rise of remote work forced technology to improve in new, specific ways, accelerating the global need for technology. As a result, remote-friendly SaaS services, such as Trello and Asana, have taken center stage (Fast Company). One key example of this is the need for enhanced software and hardware connectivity. As hardware struggles to manage high longevity in technology, the decentralization of large office spaces puts added pressure on the countless individual workspaces that need stable connectivity.

Now that AI is more of a mainstream concept, many employers are seeking specific AI expertise in 2022, such as natural language processing (NLP) and automated speech recognition (ASR). Furthermore, 70% of C-level executives prefer that their non-technical employees have some automation and AI skills (LearnToCodeWithMe).

Today’s workforce continues to ask the big question: Are the latest tech advancements causing humans to lose their jobs to robots and computers? Technically, yes, but this shift has created far more opportunities in tech! Machines are not replacing humans; as ITOps teams develop new skills, new roles will materialize. While the World Economic Forum expects 85 million jobs to be replaced by machines with AI by 2025, the same report expects 97 million new jobs to be created by 2025. With the developments in Edge Computing, Software Engineers predictably be the greatest beneficiaries, followed by Cloud Reliability Engineers, Cloud Infrastructure Engineers, Cloud Architects, Security Architects, and DevOps Cloud Engineers (Simplilearn).

Across all industries, the sharp rise of remote work was the source of over 20% of cyber-attacks over the past two years. As a result, cybersecurity quickly became one of the most in-demand jobs and prioritized tech skills in 2022. Hired.com reports that the demand for Security Engineers has increased by 132%. In fact, the number of jobs available in cybersecurity is growing 3x faster than any other tech-related job.

Job-Seekers: Do you have a growing interest in getting involved in tech? The tech industry is desperate for workers in general, leading to many job opportunities opening up to job-seekers with little-to-no industry experience. There are many varying avenues you can push toward!

Statistics, Facts & Growth Projections via Learn To Code With Me:

AI & ML:

Cloud Computing | Edge Computing | Quantum Computing:

Cybersecurity:

Robotics: 

  • LinkedIn reports that with the rise of both virtual and physical bots, the robotics industry has seen a 40% annual growth.
  • It’s estimated that the US will need 12,500 robotics engineers over the next ten years.
  • In 2021, Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical Robotics orders had a 69% growth (RoboDK).
  • The global market size of robots in healthcare will be worth $3.28 billion by 2025.

Learning About NexGoal

Want NexGoal to help you access the often-closed community of passive candidates and start sourcing top-performing employees for your organization? Filling positions in Engineering, Management, Sales, Customer Support, etc. across clients within SaaS, IT Consulting, IT Operations (and more), we are confident in our ability to connect you to proven talent. Contact our CEO, Kevin Dahl, at kevindahl@nexgoal.com to start putting this plan into action.

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Trends To Monitor in the Med Tech Industry

The implementation of digital and remote technologies in healthcare hit its stride well before COVID-19 began, but the pandemic still greatly amplified consumer needs and propelled technology advancements. Not many fields have been as innovative and beneficial as the Medical Device arena over the past few years, and many analysts project continued improvements in the industry. Within continued technological developments, healthcare organizations across the country are streamlining their clinical and workflow management to improve efficiency and safety regularly.

“We need this [rapid technology advancement] to continue beyond COVID-19 and foster the emergence of more essential healthcare solutions, governed by a regulatory establishment that welcomes and supports continuous innovation.” -Claudio Hanna, Web Industries.

From the developments in Cybersecurity, IoMT, AI, and Robotics to the rapidly increasing hiring needs and remote work shift, we have constructed the ultimate compilation of the latest Medical Device industry trends and statistics of 2022.

*Research & statistics are courtesy of the industry professionals at ProMed, Penrod, Demigos, ATL Technology, LinchPin, Medical Design Briefs, & more!

Tech Trends Continue To Climb

1. Increased Cybersecurity

The necessity of enhanced cybersecurity is being prioritized in the healthcare sector, especially Medical Devices. Within the shift towards digital healthcare, strengthened security infrastructure is only natural. With the information exchanged between manufacturers, suppliers, and stakeholders, companies must put forth strong security measures to push back against the continually advancing tactics from hackers.

Cybersecurity firm Carbon Black reported 239.4 million attempted attacks against their healthcare customers in 2020, with “an average of 816 attempted attacks per endpoint in 2020, a 9,851% increase from 2019″ (Demigos). Stemming from this data and the reported attacks on vaccine data across the country, the FDA holds Medical Device manufacturers directly responsible for any consequences that arise due to a breach in security.

2. Expansion of IoMT (Internet of Medical Things)

Connecting I.T. with Healthcare – A large part of digital healthcare’s successful integration would not be possible without the continued advancements in connective devices. These devices are used to monitor blood pressure, blood sugar, body temperature, and more. Utilized in healthcare prevention, diagnosis, and therapy, IoMT analyzes complex data that allows sound decision-making and improves operational efficiency. Despite high costs in hardware maintenance and installation software, ProMed projects continued evolvement of IoT towards telehealth and telemedicine technologies. This shift steadily improves remote patient care through applications such as insulin and glucose meters for diabetes and electrocardiogram monitors detecting irregular heartbeats. Digitalized workflows make way for further automation and optimization, allowing healthcare expansion into areas lacking full-time hospitals.

“Healthcare providers are increasingly growing to not just accept but to truly value patient-collected data as an important piece of what goes into shaping their clinical decisions.” -Russ Johannesson, CEO of Glooko.

Hitting a value of $44.5 billion in 2018, ATR projects the global IoMT market to reach $254.2 billion by 2026. Medical Device companies are continually looking to get the upper edge in IoMT technologies, which is an encouraged competition considering improved health is the beneficiary.

3. Wearables, Sensors & Remote Patient Monitoring

Hospitals and patients alike are becoming increasingly comfortable with the use of mobile devices and technology to monitor their health. With the analytical potential of biosensors and wearables through the IoMT emergence, companies can put continued remote health procedures for patients into action. Incorporating A.I. into remote patient monitoring allows healthcare organizations to expand their treatment capabilities by linking live data to real-time decision-making. “Wearables are also in high demand for individuals that do not have a given medical condition and simply wish to improve overall wellness. As demand for more personalized wearables increases, tech companies are busy developing new innovations.” (ProMed)

Biosensors can analyze a patient’s blood and sweat, predict worsening conditions and prescribe clinical interventions. From smartwatches to digital blood pressure cuffs and heart/glucose monitors, these devices provide key benefits from reduced hospital stays, prevention of medical emergencies, and increased freedom for patients and doctors. For example, Demigos revealed a recent example of growing investments in wearables being proven to produce valuable data: “Apple Watch’s ECG feature was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to detect a condition called atrial fibrillation.”

Global end-user spending on wearable devices totaled $81.5 billion in 2021, an 18.1% increase from $69 billion in 2020. (Gartner, Inc.)

4. V.R. (Virtual Reality) & A.R. (Augmented Reality)

Revolutionizing the Healthcare Industry – Within the developments of V.R. & A.R., healthcare organizations are stepping up medical training and capabilities in patient care. Virtual and augmented reality offer simulated ‘real-life’ experiences for medical practitioners to master their skills and for patient therapy treatments in vision, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and physical recovery. Medical Device manufacturers across the country utilize these technologies to collaborate in real-time from remote locations and improve knowledge retention through visuality. Revealing proven results in medical training and patient rehabilitation, V.R. & A.R. are can “reduce ‘skill fade’ by 52% and improve retention by up to 75%, compared with 10% for traditional methods.” (Demigos)

According to BIS Research, the global market for augmented and virtual reality in healthcare is expected to grow to $11.4 billion by 2025.

5. Robotics

Accelerating physician and patient assistance in surgery, rehabilitation, sanitization, and automated research, non-invasive and minimally invasive robotic systems have become a key component in healthcare. Key examples include the da Vinci Surgical Robot, the Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot, the Paro Therapeutic robot, and the Gamma and Cyber knife. At the same time, developers are making considerable progress in robotic radiation therapy. Robotic surgeries have gained preference from hospitals and patients alike. “While surgeons enjoy the precision, efficiency, control, and better ergonomics robotics provide, patients favor the smaller incisions, shorter recovery period, decreased blood loss, and reduced hospital stay that these minimally invasive procedures offer.” (Columbus Global)

After reaching $5.5 billion in 2018, the market of robotic delivery systems is expected to reach $24 billion by 2025. (Columbus Global)

The latest addition in medical robotics, nanotechnology, consists of 1-millimeter microbots utilized to “repair damaged tissue or attack dangerous bacteria or diseases, including cancer” (Penrod). Clinical researchers are making significant strides in developing these programmable microbots into a self-servicing pill for patients needing treatment.

Remote Work Shift – A Spike in Job Openings

Being locked down to one location due to a job is a thing of the past. COVID-19 has forced employees from all lines of work into temporary or permanent remote working environments. With all the resources and technologies to virtually connect a nationwide workforce, expectations have dramatically shifted for the future of remote work. As a result, employers and their human resource departments are tasked with the heavy responsibility of staying aware of the latest tech and trends to support their employees. A strong H.R. team is required in these times as it is their role to offer benefits and keep the policies in place that will bolster success and limit burnout, thus ensuring employee retention.

Demand is high within the Medical Device industry, which has led to a wide variety of career professionals looking to ‘get in on the action.’ Despite the plethora of job seekers, employers are admittingly finding it difficult to fill their open positions with the ‘right fit.’ Employers’ ability to adapt to the times plays a significant role in keeping up with competitors and constructing a healthy recruitment marketing model. New technology has allowed many employers to open opportunities to fully remote and semi-remote positions and reach a higher quality of talent recruitment.

The Medical Device industry includes nearly 2 million jobs in the U.S., with Medical Technology directly accounting for approximately 519,000 of these jobs. (AdvaMed)

Courtesy of Talent Culture, here are three tech-based systems easily accessible to employers to streamline the remote work process in H.R.

via Fortune Business Insights

Statistics & Growth Projections via Linchpin & AdvaMed

  1. The amount of medical data obtained increases by 100% about every 73 days.
  2. When collecting data for medical research, studies show that only 40% of patients are willing to share their personal information.
  3. By 2025, the use of extended reality devices is expected to reach $5.1 billion.
  4. It’s anticipated that growth in the IoMT market will continue by 30.8% annually, reaching $159.1 billion by 2022.
  5. The total economic output by the industry in the U.S. amounts to $381 billion annually. The market growth rate is expected to reach 5.6%-6.1% per year from 2021 onwards.
  6. Every $1 billion in advanced medical technology revenue in the U.S. generates an additional $1.69 billion in national economic output, almost 13,000 new jobs, and $778 million in personal income.

Research & Analysis in Medical Sales via Zippia:

  • There are over 137,653 medical sales representatives currently employed in the United States.
  • 46.9% of all medical sales representatives are women, while only 49.5% are men.
  • The average age of an employed medical sales representative is 46 years old.
  • The most common ethnicity of medical sales representatives is White (76.5%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (13.3%) and Asian (4.6%).
  • Most medical sales representatives are located in New York, New York, and Chicago, Illinois.
  • Medical sales representatives are most in-demand in Atlanta, GA.
  • Medical sales representatives are paid an average annual salary of $89,071.
  • The pharmaceutical industry is the highest-paying for medical sales representatives.
  • Seattle, Washington pays an annual average wage of $92,306, the highest in the U.S.
  • A medical sales representative’s average starting salary is $59,000.
  • In 2021, women earned 95% of what men earned.
  • Vermont is the best state for medical sales representatives to live.
  • Medical sales representatives are more likely to work at private companies in comparison to public companies.

Learning About NexGoal

Want NexGoal to help you access the often-closed community of passive candidates and start sourcing top-performing employees for your organization? Filling positions in Sales, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Manufacturing, R&D Design, and more, we would love the chance to showcase how our industry expertise and candidate database can benefit you. Contact our CEO, Kevin Dahl, at kevindahl@nexgoal.com to start putting this plan into action.

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