Tencent: Top 10 Tech Application Trends Influencing 2022

Trend 1 Cloud native accelerates the IT system into the all-cloud era

Cloud native is an IT technology approach that enables organizations to build and run scalable applications in a cloud computing environment. In the mainstream environment of diversified deployment such as multi-cloud and hybrid cloud, with the continuous innovation and compatibility of key technologies and tools such as containers and serverless, as well as the rise of distributed cloud services, cloud native can more effectively deal with the dynamic changes of business and data. environment, promote a new round of mutual definition and even integrated development of software and hardware, and promote the evolution of the IT system to a new stage of full cloudification.

Of course, cloud native involves the transformation of the entire IT system, and its development also faces many challenges such as visualization, complexity, and security. It is necessary to jump out of traditional IT thinking and use cloud native technology and management mode to systematically respond. In the future, with the continuous development and improvement of cloud-native operating systems, providing consistent cloud computing product services and experiences in multiple scenarios will become the direction of the industry's joint efforts.

Trend 2 Quantum computing NISQ period will continue

2021 is a year of high-profile quantum computing, with obvious scientific research achievements both at home and abroad. The number of qubits has achieved large-scale growth, and various quantum computing hardware technologies have also developed; more and more institutions have begun to develop upper-level software and algorithms, and more and more algorithms have been tested on small-scale practical problems.

In the next few years, quantum computing is still in the stage of accumulating strength. Quantum computing is expected to exceed 1,000 qubits. The progress of quantum error correction is crucial to the realization of available logical qubits. The hybrid computing system combining quantum computing and classical computing may It has become a more effective application solution, and quantum computing is also expected to produce practical application value in the fields of combinatorial optimization, chemical pharmacy, and machine learning.

Trend 3 Artificial intelligence is moving towards a new stage of universalization and industrialization

Artificial intelligence has surpassed human capabilities in some specific tasks, but there are still bottlenecks in large-scale applications, including reliance on a large amount of labeled data, weak model generalization capabilities, low R&D efficiency, and security risks, which limit the further development of the industry. developing.

In the future, a variety of artificial intelligence technologies will accelerate the evolution, the super model is expected to promote the process of general artificial intelligence, the small sample learning technology will solve the problem of insufficient data in the industry, and the one-stop machine learning platform is becoming the infrastructure for artificial intelligence research and development. Algorithm-optimized dedicated chips are expected to be implemented in more scenarios. Coupled with the continuous exploration of trusted and secure AI, AI will be deeply integrated with more industries and move towards a more universal and industrialized direction.

Trend 4 Cloud-network integration builds "connection and dimension improvement"

Through the introduction of cloud computing technology, the core functions of the information communication network will be built on virtual machines and containers, which will make the expansion of the network core network in the future more flexible, convenient, and ready to use. Perception and intelligence will become a new trend in the evolution of network technology, which will promote the upgrading of connectivity capabilities. The integration of wireless communication and wireless perception capability realizes the integration of communication perception, and the network thus has the native perception capability, from connection information to connection behavior, and from interactive cognition to interactive perception.

At the same time, the new wireless AI network architecture and protocol can efficiently capture channel characteristics, adapt to unknown environments, and bring performance improvements at the physical level. In addition, the integrated network of space, space and ground will realize the intelligent full connection between the human connection and the Internet of things, wireless and wired, wide area and near area, space and ground, etc., not only can realize broadband and Internet of things communication in the world, provide users with Ubiquitous communication services can also integrate new capabilities such as enhanced positioning and navigation, and real-time earth observation into network systems.

Trend 5 New demands after the epidemic press the fast-forward button for cloud-native security development

In the post-epidemic era, open network architecture and generalization of technology application scenarios will lead to the superposition of various security risks. The new generation of network attack technology makes the attack more stealthy and fast, and the attack scope spreads from individuals to enterprises and infrastructure, and the damage caused by the attack increases exponentially.

In this context, zero trust will reshape the new security boundary and become an effective security solution in the age of remote office; in the face of more complex attacks and increasing ransom attacks, cloud security defense will become the optimal solution; Threat detection and response (XDR) upgrades across the network, endpoints, and cloud infrastructure will enable more organizations to build “active immunity.”

Trend 6 Multi-path parallel evolution promotes the twinning of all things

In the process of digital transformation of industries, digital twins become middleware for understanding and optimizing physical entities. The digital twin has various capabilities such as real-time perception, virtual-real mapping, and human-computer interaction, which can help people understand and optimize the real physical space by observing and interacting with the virtual space. With the breakthrough and cross-integration of single-point technologies such as 3D modeling, physical simulation, imaging technology, and real-time rendering, various digital twin tools are blooming.

Among them, the game engine provides a new path for the industry digital twin. Through the integration of industry knowledge and emerging technologies, the functions and performance of digital twins have been further improved. From equipment, production lines to factories, from streets, regions to cities, from cells, organs to the human body, the construction of twins in various fields is accelerating. 

Trend 7 Hardware Iteration Drives the Inflection Point of the Extended Reality (XR) Industry

The development direction and ideas of hardware technologies such as VR optics, display, positioning and interaction are relatively clear. Ultra-short-focus optical design, Micro-LED, and lighter interactive controllers will be the future directions. The AR optical module is the core of AR products, and it is still evolving. The technical routes such as free-form surface BirdBath and optical waveguide have their own advantages and disadvantages, and will still coexist in the short term.

In the future, the development of VR requires high-quality content and ecological support for the popularization of hardware on the consumer side. However, under the constraints of computing power and battery, AR devices need to further optimize real-time environment recognition, positioning, virtual and reality interaction and other algorithms. In addition, the Internet platform will continue to integrate with the virtual reality industry, and in-depth cooperation in content distribution, virtualization of high-quality ecological resources, and the original concepts and scenarios of virtual reality will make the real world richer and the virtual world more real.

Trend 8 Multimodal fusion drives complex task service robots into family life

Driven by demand such as consumption upgrades, home service robots are expected to become a new blue ocean. With the breakthrough of core technologies such as multi-modal fusion perception, unstructured scene AI analysis and flexible ontology, the ability of home robots to perceive, understand, and control will be further improved, so that they can more freely perform complex tasks in unstructured home environments .

In terms of perception, breakthroughs in tactile sensing technology and the iteration of multi-modal perception fusion technology will improve the precision and accuracy of the robotic arm’s work, and realize the grasping and pushing of objects of different materials, shapes, and soft and hard properties;

In terms of understanding, based on the advancement of computer vision and NLP technology, the robot's understanding of complex service tasks and home environments will be further deepened;

In terms of control, the continuous progress of flexible and bionic robot ontology technology will significantly improve the experience and safety of human-machine interaction.

In the next 3-5 years, home service robots are expected to achieve more natural human-computer interaction, complete more complex operation tasks, and gradually become life assistants in sub-scenarios such as housekeeping, entertainment, education, and companionship.

 
Trend 9 The dual carbon goals force the development of the energy Internet to accelerate

With the development and maturity of new energy technology and information technology, the energy Internet has become an important solution for the transformation of the energy structure in the context of dual carbon. It is foreseeable that there will be major changes in the source, load and storage ends of the power grid in the future: on the source end, fluctuating clean energy will be connected to the grid on a large scale and at a high proportion; on the load side, a large number of users will participate in power generation and The "new identity" of energy storage; in terms of energy storage, the development of a large number of electrochemical energy storage technologies, especially hydrogen energy storage technology, will greatly reduce the cost of energy storage and transportation.

These changes will bring major changes to the development of the energy Internet: at the energy layer, a comprehensive energy system with multiple energy and complementary energy will be built to match the changing energy supply and demand; Network, etc., to achieve smart energy management and control; at the value level, the construction of energy Internet needs to explore the energy sharing economy, guide the participation of the whole people, and achieve co-construction, sharing and win-win.

Trend 10 Star-ground collaborative intelligence opens the era of "big spaceflight"

As the embodiment of the country's comprehensive competitiveness, aerospace science and technology is evolving from a state-led development model to a joint development of the state and enterprises. Satellite-ground coordination, intelligence, and popularization have become new trends in key technological breakthroughs in aerospace science and technology: satellite-ground coordination has enabled satellites to flexibly call ground data center resources; artificial intelligence technology has accelerated intelligent processing of on-board data and deep mining of satellite data; aerospace Services are "sinking" to mass users, and new species such as suborbital travel, private customization of satellite images, and digitization of spatiotemporal information are accelerating.