Hurtling through space and time, the Connected Tech Predictors don their dressing gowns and try to find the meaning of life…

Another year, another Tech Predictor and, well, at least this year has come back to some semblance of normality, at least when it comes to the industry, actually getting out and about and meeting in person again.

After two plus years of talking to each other across a void (Zoom), integrators, distributors and manufacturers were finally able to cast off the shackles, get out and see the world again.

Or at least see it through its respective trade shows that, by all reports, bounced back strongly this year, from ISE in Barcelona, to InfoComm in Las Vegas, CEDIA Expo in Dallas, right down to the
CEDIA Tech Summit in Tweed Heads a few short months ago.

Everywhere you went, there was renewed appetite for innovation and ideas, and that ties nicely into a few of this year’s predictions, a few of which are out of this world.

As always, there are a couple of everpresents on this list – whether they’d have been there pre-pandemic or not is pretty much irrelevant now.

We’ve drained the bath water, but the baby is still sitting there, looking mightily confused and about to cry if we don’t acknowledge that it isn’t going anywhere.

Collaboration and meeting equity is one such trend that seems like it’s growing exponentially – every other week, there’s a new piece of hardware, a new software solution, or a new feature threaded into the ones we already use.

The changing shape of business is another topic that gets mentioned a few times – whether it’s companies working together on projects, or merger/acquisition-type developments, the industry is going through a period of consolidation that will see greater ingenuity and innovation come to the fore.

Hands up, who’s with Optus? Not me, thankfully, although the random text from my provider, about two weeks after the whole fiasco blew up, telling me that my data was safe because they took all that stuff very seriously, didn’t fill me with overwhelming confidence, it has to be said.

Security was never something to be sniffed at, but now, in the aftermath of the Optus breach and seeing just how big an impact it had on people, security is going to be as important as wiring in the power plug.

With large swathes of our lives existing either online or in cloud servers, there is simply too much to lose to would-be hackers.

And speaking of power cables… the question of how we might run the army of appliances and devices that we have, and will have in the future, is becoming ever more pertinent, particularly as we look at the twin challenges of aging power grids and facilitating the switch to more green energy sources.

There’s lots of research going on in this area, and while most of it isn’t scalable just yet, it’s an interesting area to watch for the future.

Another topic of interest has been around the area of recurring monthly revenue and managed services – while the question of ‘how to get paid for something we did for free’ rages in some respects, there’s no arguing that RMR is a valid avenue for income. Truck rolls are expensive, so if something can be fixed from a distance, or, better again, pre-empted and fixed before it fails, there’s huge value in that for both clients and integrators. With a big increase in the use of software, it’s also very scalable and convenient.

The question of interoperability receives a boost this year, too, with the release of the Matter standard. One of the biggest challenges with this technology is getting it all to talk to each other -something the consumer market hasn’t had an answer for. Until, perhaps, now.

It will obviously depend on how developed the standard is as to whether we can suddenly build a smart home with a load of off-the-shelf product but it will be another area to watch in terms of how it develops in the future.

A few other predictions focus on the role of the integrator going forward – it’s not simply a case of picking the right technology and wiring it all together anymore.

Design-centric installations are the buzz phrase de jour, based on an overarching concept of providing technology that has a purpose, rather than ‘tech for tech’s sake’. In this school of thought, the product becomes almost secondary to the function that it provides, the lifestyle that it allows its owners to have.

There’s also a big push towards formalising the title and role of ‘integrator’ with CEDIA driving the change with two new certifications that will help seasoned professionals to showcase their skills,
and give potential new professionals a grounding in the basics of integration, thereby helping with the ongoing challenge of finding and retaining staff.

The Cabling and Infrastructure Technician (CIT) and Integrated Systems Technicians (IST) certifications are the first step towards providing further pathways into the industry, all developed here in Australia.

So read on, for a weird and wonderful list of predictions, a guide if you like (though given our track record, I wouldn’t follow it too closely) to the industry. Don’t leave Earth without it and, whatever you do, DON’T PANIC.

• Anna Hayes, editor, Connected magazine
• David Meyer, technicial knowledge consultant, CEDIA
• Myke Ireland, director of technology, InSight Systems
• Adam Merlino, vice president and general manager – Asia Pacific, Snap One
• Sean Wargo, senior director of market intelligence, AVIXA
• Gordon Isaac, chief marking and strategy officer, Origin Acoustics
• Peter Aylett, partner, Officina Acustica
• Ian Bryant, senior project manager, Premiere SAV