Top 10 technology predictions for 2012

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Here are my top 10 technology predictions for this year, 2012. I’ve arranged them in no particular order.

1. Mobile Money will become ubiquitous
Believe it or not, mobile money, even though a relatively new concept in Nigeria, will gain a lot of traction this year.

2. E-commerce will boom
There are way too many factors that will ensure the flourishing of e-commerce in the country this year. From the policies put in place by the Central Bank to the introduction of mobile money, this sector is set to take off. If you are an investor or entrepreneur, you must start making your investments and keeping a close eye on this one.

3. Collaboration will be key
One problem we were successfully able to diagnose in the tech community last year is that there are too many people working in silos and the key to our flourishing and ultimate survival will be to collaborate. Enough said.

4. More HTML5 innovation
HTML5 was one of the biggest news of 2011. However, we’ve only began to scratch the surface on what this technology is capable of delivering. Watch out for more innovation this technology will bring. If you didn’t pick up this technology last year, it’s not late yet to hop on.

5. Opera Mini/Mobile will become more HTML5 compatible
Opera’s mobile browsers are awesome and very popular. The only limitation is it’s HTML5 capabilities. This year will see that browser come of age.

6. Data science will become even more relevant
Data science is responsible for the algorithms that enable social networks make relevant suggestions to you. More and more online services will become dependent on the value data sciences provide.

7. We’ll do everything on the cloud
It’s becoming a reality already. The most important software your computer will need will be the browser as our lives move closer and closer to being wholly cloud-based.

8. Decentralized social networks will gain more popularity
Open standards, open APIs and open source will spur the development of decentralized social networks as more people take control of their online privacy.

9. Mobile marketing will become as important and popular as traditional Internet marketing.

10. Android smartphones will gain mainstream popularity
A lot of people will disagree with me but wait until Chinese mobile phone manufacturers switch to using Android, which will be a smart move.

  • Tosin

    Insightful!

  • http://about.me/kizomanizo Kizito

    Hello Tim!

    I find it interesting to pop into your blog once in a while.

    I am not in Nigeria but there are some things I can share on your insight number 1, 7 and 10.

    1- Mobile money has its roots somewhere in here(East Africa) and has been such a popular tool for everyday transactions renderind the monopoly of Debit Cards and their bureaucratic applications useless. MPESA is so popular in here with some going a mile north and pay 'Dowry-price' with it. Somaliland is close to becoming the world's first cash-less society, thanks to MPESA. See http://tcrn.ch/yQU6Eb

    7- I do not know how is our connectivity there in Naija but for most of the sub saharan Africa, cloud sollutions will cost you a fortune due to the type of bandwidth needed for it to be practical. Here in Tanzania, I once told you Tim that I am among those few who have the highest speeds that are often not available even if you can pay for them(dedicated channel). I can hardly play XBox games at home and Streaming from Hulu (Hello! Hotspot Shield) merely workd on HD content.

    10- About Android, I agree with you that once Chinese manufacturers start to use it on their bootlegged hardware it may rise. It is my knowledge that when hardware and software are built to match existing top notch, the price automatically becomes top-notch so as to cover the sunken costs. there are no free or Cheap Tegra 2 chips for the Chinese to use and researching for an altternative is always expensive.

    By the way, here where I am, People have just discovered Blackberry services and are buying them like Whaat!! I always pity them knowing what has become of RIM lately!

    Regards to Solomon Adebayo!
    Kizito

  • http://blog.timakinbo.com/ Tim

    @Kizito thanks for your comments. Connectivity is definitely an issue but that doesn't remove the benefits cloud computing and bring especially on an entreprise level. When my bank is doing reconciliations for the day, their electronic channels are usually unavailable for hours. If these tasks were outsourced to cloud computing platforms, that time can be reduced dramatically.

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  • Chillie B

    I definitely agree with all that has been said here.

    I believe there will be even more activities in the Mobile Money and eCommerce space than last year. There are a lot of companies looking into this because of Central Bank of Nigeria's directive of a cashless society starting with Lagos.

    More collaboration due to the wide acceptance of viral social networks like Twitter. It makes it easier to discover and network with people.

    I also believe the smartphone market in Nigerian will continue to expand. We experience an exponential increase last year and this year is surely not going to be different. People now even have more options than last year with Andriod and iPad acquisition gradually catching up with Blackberry phones available.

    With the blossom in the smartphone market, more indigenous mobile apps will be expected to spring up.

    Also most of the Data science I have heard about in Nigeria are mostly still theories. I will love to see the application in the already established platforms.

    We expected internet access to be more ubiquitous and cheaper last year only to be disappointed :( . With the competition in that space, I believe we should see changes soon :) .

    2011 was a good year for Nigeria as regards IT, I hope and pray 2012 will be a better year :D .