Big technology trends in 2014(+ examples of small European companies blazing trails)

@robinwauters / founding editor of Tech.eu

A little bit about me

@robinwauters / founding editor of Tech.eu

Trends do not necessarily equal innovation

Sometimes, big companies set the trends(as in: not startups)

Sometimes, startups set the trends(as in: decidedly not the big tech companies)

Accurately predicting future trends in tech is almost impossible ... fortunately

Trend #1- The Internet of Everything

Trend #1- The Internet of Everything

Cisco's definition:

“IoE brings together people, process, data, and things to make networked connections more

relevant and valuable than ever before — turning information into actions that create

new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic opportunity for

businesses, individuals, and countries.”

Trend #1- The Internet of Everything

- 30+ billion connected devices by 2020 (ABI)

- dozens of trillions connections between them

- huge anticipated impact on supply of water and food, education, fitness and healthcare, climate change, and countless other 'things'

Trend #1- The Internet of Everything

Lock8 (UK)

Trend #1- The Internet of Everything

CubeSensors (Slovenia)

Trend #1- The Internet of Everything

Tado° (Germany)

Trend #1- The Internet of Everything

Intellectronics / iSocket (Finland)

Trend #2- Lean Hardware & Robotics

Trend #2 - Lean Hardware & Robotics

- More and more entrepreneurs take the 'lean', agile approach to hardware manufacturing

- using “modern tools of digital fabrication, online collaboration and e-commerce to create

a new way to make and distribute things”

- Minimize waste and risk to maximize chances of success and return on investment

Trend #2 – Lean Hardware & Robotics

Raspberry Pi (UK)

Trend #2 – Lean Hardware & Robotics

Jolla (Finland)

Trend #2 – Lean Hardware & Robotics

Geeksphone (Spain)

Trend #2 – Lean Hardware & Robotics

Kano (UK)

Trend #3- Smart Wearable Technology

Trend #3- Smart Wearable Technology

- Wearable computers, meet ubiquitous computing. Be nice to each other.

- Making technology pervasive in all aspects of life, in ways no other computer would be able to

- Realtime everything: monitoring + recording

Trend #3- Smart Wearable Technology

MuteWatch (Sweden)

Trend #3- Smart Wearable Technology

Now Computing / Stormfly (Spain)

Trend #3- Smart Wearable Technology

ShoeSense (France)

Trend #3- Smart Wearable Technology

Memoto (Sweden)

Trend #4 – Connected Cars & Fleets

Trend #4 – Connected Cars & Fleets

- Car as Internet-connected platforms

- Allowing drivers to connect with their cars via smart devices, even from a distance

- Opportunities for entertainment, data, location and network sharing, etc.

Trend #4 – Connected Cars & Fleets

High Mobility (Estonia)

Trend #4 – Connected Cars & Fleets

Cloud Your Car (Poland)

Trend #5 – Personal Health Monitoring

Trend #5 – Personal Health Monitoring

- Rising 'Quantified Self' wave

- It's not just about 'lifelogging', it's about using data to improve and maintain our health

- Fitness and activity tracking, genetics, personal analytics, sleep monitoring

Trend #5 – Personal Health Monitoring

Runtastic (Austria)

Trend #5 – Personal Health Monitoring

Scanadu (Belgium)

Trend #5 – Personal Health Monitoring

Withings (France)

Trend #6 – Gesture Recognition & Control

Trend #6 – Gesture Recognition & Control

- Interpreting and acting on human gestures via mathematical algorithms

- Will make text and graphical user interfaces look primitive over time (for certain things)

- Opportunities for entertainment but also education, healthcare, and more

Trend #6 – Gesture Recognition & Control

Omek Interactive (Israel)

Trend #6 – Gesture Recognition & Control

SoftKinetic (Belgium)

Trend #6 – Gesture Recognition & Control

PrimeSense (Israel)

Trend #7 – 3D Printing

Trend #7 – 3D Printing

- From digital model to three-dimensional solid object in no time (additive manufacturing)

- Both for mass production, domestic (hobbyist) use - fashion and art

- Applications in architecture, engineering, construction, industrial design, automotive,

aerospace, military, healthcare, etc.

Trend #7 – 3D Printing

Materialise (Belgium)

Trend #7 – 3D Printing

GrabCAD (Estonia)

Trend #7 – 3D Printing

BEEVERYCREATIVE (Portugal)

Trend #7 – 3D Printing

Leapfrog (The Netherlands)

Trend #8 – Collaborative Consumption

Trend #8 – Collaborative Consumption

- 'Sharing economy': shift from ownership to access, both businesses and consumers

- Enables distribution, sharing and reuse of excess capacity in property, goods and services

- Rise of social media usage, broadband penetration and information technology

Trend #8 – Collaborative Consumption

HouseTrip (UK)

Trend #8 – Collaborative Consumption

FON (Spain)

Trend #8 – Collaborative Consumption

BlaBlaCar (France)

Trend #8 – Collaborative Consumption

Carpooling (Germany)

Trend #9 – Digitization of Finance

Trend #9 – Digitization of Finance

- Not just payments, but banking, accountancy, currency exchange, expense management etc.

- Smart connected devices + faster connectivity + financial tech improvements

- Impacting consumers, merchants, large retailers and corporations alike

Trend #9 – Digitization of Finance

SumUp (Germany)

Trend #9 – Digitization of Finance

iZettle (Sweden)

Trend #9 – Digitization of Finance

Paymill (Germany)

Trend #9 – Digitization of Finance

TransferWise (Estonia/UK)

There are many stories left to be told ...

@robinwauters / founding editor of Tech.eu