Technology sector predictions 2023
Following on from our PR sector predictions for next year, it’s time to look ahead to our other great passion – the world of technology. We asked our industry experts to put their names to some predictions for where the technology sector is headed next year, so read on to find out what they think, and feel free to come back in a year’s time to see how we did!
Telecoms
Declan Bradshaw
Senior Campaign Director
“I think I did pretty well last year, predicting 2022 as a year with a lot of metaverse sizzle but very little steak. While it certainly won’t go away overnight, I think we can all turn our attention to other things in telco land for 2023.
“Next year feels like it’s going to be a bit ‘safe’. We’ll see a lot of the trends that have bubbled away this decade move a bit further forward. More operators will launch Standalone 5G networks, the growth of Passive Optical Networks will be, well, not passive, the hyperscalers will continue to explore opportunities to collaborate with (or usurp!) operators, more workloads will move to the public cloud and Open RAN will mature and earn more advocates.
“Predictions are meant to be bombastic, so if all of that feels a bit…meh, I get it, but that’s arguably what the industry needs. 2023 will be a year of getting back to basics somewhat, particularly as the wider tech ecosystem battles with the prospect of a recession.”
Adtech
Niklas Pettifor
Senior Campaign Director
“The downturn in the economy is the lens that will be colouring everything in 2023. Every pound, dollar and euro will have to count more than ever for marketers who, while knowing the theory that cutting spend in a downturn is short-sighted, will face significant pressure to do so. Knowing what is working and being able to accurately attribute activities to sales or conversions will be the challenge they will be trying to solve.
“The cookie will be with us for another year at least, but to a certain extent, this is already a moot point, as most browsing is already done on engines that don’t allow third-party cookies, or by users who have blocked them themselves. And rather than waiting for more decrees from Google, marketers will move to the solutions that are already available for identifying and targeting audiences in a privacy-compliant way.”
Fintech
Cristina Hlinschi
Director
“2022 has deflated the tech hypergrowth bubble, and we’ve seen how some of the mighty have fallen (in valuation anyway), and others have engaged in rounds of layoffs that would have seemed unthinkable even a few months ago. However, I think that this will be treated as a great opportunity to “tidy up” after the first wave of growth at break-neck speed. Now that the age of cheap money is over and funding rounds have visibly slowed down, the mantra of growth at all cost has been replaced by the need for fintechs to build and show a clear path to profitability. 2023 is going to be a year of consolidation. Alliances and partnerships will be forged, and M&As will outshine raises in the headlines.
“I feel very strongly that open banking fintechs are in for another year of growth. In the EU, 2023 is going to be the year of PSD3, bringing order to the ecosystem; in LATAM, Brazil’s Central Bank is opening up its PIX protocols for free for central banks and fintechs everywhere; and with up to 60 countries either having launched or looking to launch their own open banking frameworks and legislation, this will make 2023 the year that open banking account-to-account payments go far beyond domestic or regional markets, and a lot closer to global mainstream adoption.
“And let’s not forget Central Bank Digital Currencies and crypto – several countries have launched or announced pilots for digital currencies, and jurisdictions worldwide are looking at regulating crypto (especially in the aftermath of the FTX debacle). We will see history being made next year, as the very definition of money is undergoing a massive shift. Did anyone say “may we live in interesting times”? Granted.”
Cybersecurity
Ed Cooper
Senior Campaign Director
“When you consider which current world events are likely to have a major impact on the cybersecurity landscape next year, it’s difficult to look beyond the war in Ukraine. The insidious presence of nation-state actors and geopolitics has been creeping into the cybersecurity domain for a number of years now, but outright war in Europe has significantly raised the likelihood of a major cyber incident involving Russian-backed APTs and hacker groups.
“Unless there is a rapid de-escalation of tensions, an attack against one or several of Ukraine’s NATO allies seems highly likely. I would expect this to be targeted against critical national infrastructure, such as power grids or nuclear plants, which would further exacerbate the ongoing energy crisis throughout the winter.
“With these scenarios in mind, it is also likely that we will see a cyber recruitment drive from government bodies, such as the NCSC and NSA. The cybersecurity skills gap has consistently hampered the efforts of the cybersecurity industry to get ahead of hacker groups, but with the prospect of cyber warfare on the horizon and the surging momentum behind ransomware over the last few years, a concerted effort to even the odds is long overdue.”
Enterprise tech
Imogen Thompson
Campaign Manager
“2022 has seen the monetising of subscription-based services sweep the market as some of the biggest tech giants grapple with clawing back the losses made following the latest earnings result. With the likes of Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft having a combined loss of over $350 billion in market cap value, it’s hardly surprising to see brands including Twitter introducing new subscription-based models in an effort to monetise the business. And Twitter isn’t the only one jumping on this hype training. Mercedes Benz recently announced that electric car users can now pay an annual subscription fee of £991 to enable their vehicle to reach 0-60 one second faster.
“As we head deeper into economic uncertainty, it makes sense that businesses will search for a “fast track” route to stay afloat in 2023. With clear benefits like reliable recurring revenue, increased customer loyalty, and the ability to manage financial forecasts, heading into 2023 I think we’re going to see a real spike in businesses looking to further monetise their offerings through subscription-based models.”
Kubernetes
Marcus Hedenberg
Senior Campaign Director
“Kubernetes is always a bit of a nightmare to explain – it’s not the sort of thing that makes for an icebreaker over drinks (except, weirdly, that very thing did somehow happen to me recently).
“What Kubernetes *is* (a “platform for scaling and managing containerised applications”) is far less interesting than what it *does*, which is to help developers modernise the traditional applications we already use – like Tinder, so more of us can enjoy the joys of being ghosted thanks to the improved traffic and scale of data processing afforded by Kubernetes. Ever wonder why Spotify runs so stable nowadays so you can listen to undiscovered classics like Helikopter by Fazlija? (That’s a joke, please don’t look it up.) Kubernetes is the thing that makes handling all those 10 million requests per second possible.
“Literally, everyone is doing Kubernetes these days (well, trying to anyway). Even video game developers CD PROJEKT RED, creators of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, recently did a presentation on how they’re adopting Kubernetes to futureproof player matchmaking for their next-gen multiplayer games. Nothing rustles my jimmies quite like buying the annual instalment of Gruff Military Space Bros but not being able to play what I paid for due to server overload.
“So given that 96% of organisations now use or are thinking about using Kubernetes, I’m anticipating next year will finally be the year when I can look someone deep in the eyes, say the word ‘Kubernetes’ and not get treated like the social reject in school who tried to construct the starship Enterprise with Legos I while the cool kids played football.
“I need a hobby.”
So, that’s us finished with predictions for this (or next) year. Of course, we’ll be here throughout 2023 come what may, offering insight and opinion on the direction of these (and other) tech sectors, and if you’re looking to up your PR game in the new year, do get in touch. Until then, we hope you have a great holiday and wish you all the best in the new year.
Babel
From the Babel team
