Don't Overlook These 6 Tech Trends Going Into 2021

With each passing year, tech takes up a bigger and bigger piece of the economic pie. Unlike other trends, however, developments in tech aren't just numbers on a screen: they're having increasingly tangible impacts on daily life as well.

You don't have to be a software engineer to feel the impacts of tech innovation. Cutting-edge technology now informs the direction of every major industry, so ignore the biggest tech overtures of 2021 at your own peril. Here are 6 trends to keep tabs on this year: 

1. Next-Generation Drug Development

Pfizer, BioNTech, and Modern may have given the world a sneak preview at the tail end of 2020, but only in 2021 will the true possibilities of next-generation drug development finally become clear. At least 62 different vaccines for COVID-19 have either been approved or are in development, a pace and volume never before seen in the history of medicine. 

Between new advances in mRNA technology, epidemiology, and protein folding, the wave of innovation spurred on by COVID-19 will spill over into the medical world at large next year. The end of COVID-19 is on the horizon, but the impact of the fight against it will be felt for decades to come. 

2. More Limited Tech

Not all tech advancements involve bleeding-edge software or a critical mass of features. In fact, more and more consumers are looking to pare back the tech they use, focusing only on essentials. This uptick in niche demand has led companies like Gabb Wireless, a business specializing in phones for kids, to take large chunks out of the market. By offering streamlined, user-friendly devices, companies like Gabb are appealing to groups that want to skip the distraction-inducing corners of tech and want a return to the bare necessities. 

3. E-Learning Refinement 

Over the course of a single year, e-Learning has gone from a small but stable component of education to the primary method of teaching and learning across the world. Online course distributors such as Coursera saw a fivefold increase in usership this past spring, and with that kind of meteoric rise comes a few growing pains. This year will see the e-Learning industry working to create infrastructure that can accommodate usership numbers of unprecedented size, as well as making it easier for instructors to make the most of the platforms. 

4. Everything "As A Service"

Software-powered services are nothing new, but the rate at which they're now arriving on the market certainly is. Nearly all entertainment is now delivered on demand, and any small business owner will know that you can't run a company without having a number of different subscriptions hanging around your neck. The reason for this boom isn't just the money involved, though: a study published by Deloitte found that 75% felt using a service model allowed them to offer new solutions and update their products more efficiently. 

5. Telehealth Boom

The challenges e-Learning faces as it grows are faced tenfold by the world of telehealth. Teaching a class online is one thing, but effectively addressing the needs of patients digitally is something else entirely. Healthcare providers need powerful, stable platforms in order to function, and 2020 saw many of those platforms pushed to their limits. While 2021 will hopefully witness the end of the pandemic, it will have torn a path of destruction too large for medical professionals to heal by themselves. Telehealth will see a huge boom in the coming year, but the field is so nascent that the big players could change at any moment. 

6. Remote Work Transitions

Perhaps even bigger than the e-Learning and telehealth booms of 2020 was the rise of remote work, with 58% of employees working from home at least some of the time. The number will not stay that high forever, though: as the pandemic subsides, employers will want workers back in the office and many employees will be happy to go along. Some workers will stay remote, others will leave their home office behind, and platforms will need to go the extra mile to accommodate teams that are comprised of both remote and in-office workers. 

For better or worse, the trend line of tech will continue to follow the lead set by this pandemic. The entire tech world is working towards fighting and adapting to the virus, but once COVID-19 is gone for good, the possibilities are endless.