IT industry analysts Gartner published their 2008 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies. It looks like this-
So what does all this mean?
Gartner, Inc. has identified 27 emerging technologies and predicts that eight of these will have a transformational business impact and should be strongly considered for adoption by technology planners in the next 10 years.
Are there any nuggets of wisdom for us in PR here?
Web 2.0, although placed in their Trough of Disillusionment now, is tipped to emerge within two years to have a transformational impact on business as companies steadily gain more experience and success with both the technologies and the cultural implications.
Virtual worlds, which are suffering from disillusionment after their peak of hype in 2007, will in the long term represent an important media channel to support and build broader communities of interest.
Technologies and trends at or around the peak of the Hype Cycle in 2008 that will reach the plateau in two to five years are:
Social Networking platforms – the MySpace, Facebook model. Companies are examining the role that these sites, or their enterprise-grade equivalents, will play in future collaboration environments.
Microblogging – The Twitter phenomenon has caught on among certain online communities, and leading-edge companies are investigating its role in enhancing other social media and channels.
“Following the trend of the last few years, many of the new entries on this year’s Hype Cycle, including microblogging, social networking platforms and cloud computing, are making their impact in the consumer world before they hit businesses,” said Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner Fellow.
We’ve certainly seen the impact of some of these technologies in the consumer world. And it has changed the practice of PR. Gartner predicts they will have an impact on the entire enterprise in the years to come.
