COVID-19 & Collaboration: Cuhu’s predictions for Tech in 2021

And just like that, January is over and we now look forward to the rest of 2021 and the unpredictability that the pandemic continues to bring. However, one thing we’ve been certain of for months and something that we continue to be certain of is that this strongly-adopted digital way is indeed the new, and long-lasting, norm.

Nonetheless, joining the debate of what we expect to see more of in 2021, we asked a handful of our tech-enthusiast and industry expert team at Cuhu, what their predictions are for the forthcoming months. 

Tristran, Head of Agency, predicts:

With Covid and the rise of the Internet of Things, we’re going to see some much-needed digital transformation in the construction industry. I predict that smart offices will become a given, not to only protect employees but to improve resource efficiency and enable effective monitoring of where people are to ensure that space is utilised.  This technology will then expand into hospitals and other environments where people congregate, and we’ll subsequently see a rise in apps built to support this.

Again, influenced by COVID and people’s acceptance of wearables, like the smartwatch, I think we’re going to see an even greater number of health-related apps appear in 2021. Some of these apps will work with said wearables, allowing people to improve and monitor their health remotely and perhaps even detect certain issues. Health issues addressed by apps won’t solely be physical, mental health will be addressed to, just like we see with the Orpheus app. Mental health is a hugely important issue too and has become more evident over the past 12 months, and there will indeed be tech that responds to this. 

Dan, Head of Technology, predicts:

2021 will see the wider distribitution of 5G connectivity to mobile decides which will subsequently bring faster speeds, lower latency, and higher data allowances for mobile devices. Therefore, mobile apps will be able to function more efficiently and enable existing technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to perform to their fullest capabilities. The higher speeds and lower latencies will allow us developers to create a richer user experience, allowing apps to be more responsive and immersive.

5G will enable apps to be more cloud-based. Using the cloud for data storage will negate the physical limitations of a user’s device. Processing power or having enough storage space on the smartphone will not dictate whether an app can be used as it will no longer need to physically be on the device.

Ste, Senior Software Engineer, predicts:

I admit that this may appear more of a wish than a prediction but as a consumer with an awareness of the size of Amazon and its dominance in the market, I look forward to an organisation that may challenge it. I believe there is space for an app that could allow for Amazon-like shopping, but fulfilled by local businesses instead. 

With people continuing to work from home and the desire to support local rising, it would give a good opportunity for small, local businesses to continue taking orders online and deliver locally, rather than having to sit dormant due to lockdown restrictions. I predict there will be some attempt at facilitating this but only time will tell of their success. 

Nathan, Web Developer, predicts:

Remote working for as long as we have may have been quite literally impossible without the likes of collaboration and video conferencing apps like Zoom, and I predict that as we continue to rely on such, there will be another app to come along and challenge it. More specifically, I think it’ll be an app that expands on the screen sharing features that Zoom offers a limited number of. 

I found an example of an up-and-coming app that looks especially useful for agile teams in real-time collaboration areas such as pair programming, editing content on another person’s screen, or just multiple users presenting content at any one time. My prediction is that a lot of agile teams will move away from Zoom as the primary video communication software and towards something like CoScreen. The longer we are working from home, the easier we want comms and collaboration to become and people will be looking for options like this.

So…

What do you think, are these predictions that you agree with? For more insight and discussions like this, make sure to check out our Dev By Cuhu Twitter profile.