With a disproportionately large percentage of microchips used worldwide manufactured in Taiwan, the risk to Taiwan’s independence poses a risk to all industries with microchip applications everywhere.
In the wake of the unprecedented global pandemic, 2021 was a golden year for technology as the use and revenue of online services increased significantly for technology companies. The surge in services has decreased. New vaccines and medical research have helped bring the world back to a state comparable to pre-pandemic life.In 2022, technology has advanced rapidly, from medicine to space technology to digital currency. Apart from this, rare earth minerals continue to be explored and used in new devices worldwide. Moreover, it shows that defense technology itself is extremely important to modern conflicts. This year has been the year of new military technologies in warfare, from drones to cyber warfare. This allowed even small nations to withstand overwhelming conventional forces.
Facebook rebrands to Meta, adding new focus and vigor to augmented and virtual reality. Facebook previously acquired Oculus to enter the virtual reality market. Now rebranded and fully transitioned to a vision of an immersive 3D internet of the future. Meta’s Reality Labs division makes headsets you can wear to enter a new creation of the ‘Metaverse’. The Metaverse is conceived to be an environment where users can play games, start businesses, hold meetings, communicate, and build entirely new parallel virtual beings. Businesses can also build and expand new virtual environments to reach new potential buyers and subscribers for online and offline products.
Cryptocurrencies have been on a roller coaster ride in recent years, and in 2022 they are subject to heavy scrutiny and regulation by governments around the world. High market volatility, increased fraud, and use of cryptocurrencies for questionable activities are forcing governments to regulate cryptocurrencies more tightly. In recent months, there has been a surge of interest in creating their own digital currencies by governments and central banks around the world. These are known as Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDCs. They are issued by national monetary authorities such as RBI, Federal Reserve, etc. Countries such as China, Sweden, the United States, Singapore, and India are in various stages of CBDC experimentation and implementation. India recently issued its own e-rupee.
5G was recently rolled out in India, putting us in a small club of technology-owning countries such as the US, China and South Korea, where 5G is up to 10 times faster than traditional communication technologies. This new lightning-fast technology is a disruptor and a game-changer for several industries. Especially in the case of education, which is now able to reach rural areas of the country through online means. increase.
The push to move to cleaner, greener and more sustainable forms of energy continues unabated in 2022. The move to renewable energy has also been combined with a shift in transportation to electric vehicles (EVs). EVs remain prohibitively expensive for most buyers, but their awareness and adoption will continue in 2023. Consumer interest in adopting cleaner modes of transportation is increasing. EVs will continue to gain recognition and appeal in the coming year as US automaker Tesla paves the way for more adoption. Additionally, Green Hydrogen is just starting in 2022. India’s first fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), the green hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai, hit the roads for the first time this year. Green hydrogen will receive increasing attention in 2023 as it is one of the cleanest fuels on offer. There are great expectations for this technology, which has the potential to reshape the sustainable transport sector. The sustainability commitments made at COP27 in Egypt this year will only accelerate the transition to sustainable transport.
Space research this year saw enthusiastic participation from India, China and the United States. India has launched its first private rocket into space by a Hyderabad-based start-up. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has also launched and deployed 36 communications satellites of the London-based organization. The United States also achieved a notable milestone as NASA resumed lunar missions for the first time in decades through the Artemis space mission. We aim to continue expanding our missions on the Moon over the next few decades. China has only recently completed construction of its space station in 2022, and has placed great emphasis in recent years on investing in space technology to develop its exploration and defense capabilities.
China’s claim to Taiwan has highlighted the important role Taiwan plays in the global chip manufacturing supply chain. With a disproportionately large percentage of microchips used worldwide manufactured in Taiwan, the risk to Taiwan’s independence poses a risk to all industries with microchip applications everywhere. This has forced some countries to consider localizing chip manufacturing. However, state-of-the-art chip manufacturing technology cannot be replaced even with several years of investment. Long-term investment over decades is required. This has huge implications for technology as well as global security.
2022 continues the trend of increasing litigation and regulation against big tech. Meta, Google, Apple, etc. are under increasing scrutiny by governments around the world. They have been targeted for a variety of reasons, from antitrust, to abuse of monopoly positions in some jurisdictions, to misuse of data entrusted by users. and is a central issue for citizens to negotiate. The impact of Big Tech on elections, democracy and social discourse is also increasingly recognized, felt and regulated. This trend of understanding the massive impact Big Tech has on society and controlling its negative externalities is likely to continue through 2023.
In 2023, we will see many of these same trends in technology accelerate for the better. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) can help in areas as diverse as education, better healthcare, space research, and building more efficient manufacturing processes. Building the ethical framework within which AI machines operate is our fundamental task in the process. The trend towards sustainable and efficient transportation continues to provide cleaner and greener fuels and vehicles. In the process, the significant impact of transportation on the environment is minimized. Vast frontiers of unexplored space may continue to be explored, expanding our understanding of space and our place in it. 2023 and beyond has a lot of exciting developments and a lot to look forward to.
Rajesh Mehta is a leading authority on international affairs. Krishanu Ranwan is a Global Relations Consultant.
