Ever since the first computer was created, the wheel of automation as we know in this modern world started moving. The birth of ENIAC (Electronic Numerical integrator and computer) in 1946 funded by US Army for the purpose of creating artillery-firing table transformed the world almost completely over next seven decades. Similarly the invention of airplane by Wright brothers brought unimaginable power in winning the skies by human being in a short span of just a few decades. Examples of innovation are plenty and every time, the innovation has brought immense opportunities and wealth to the masses.
One thing however remains constant. All these innovations were achieved to solve a problem which was limiting the human being in doing what they wished doing. These problems in most cases did not exist initially, but were the result of the needs generated by the previous innovations. The airplane of wright brothers could have been enough to prove the point that humans can fly, but the need and the desire to fly high, longer and usefully fueled the growth of the entire airline industry as we see today. This growth in turn fueled the growth of oil, airports, radar systems, radio wireless and so many more things.
We are now living in the era of information technology. The innovations of this era are fueled to solve small problems caused by the previous innovations. While some are as simple as helping employees do their job better, most of the innovations are in fact reducing the manual efforts and eventually some jobs which were created due to lack of automation being done.
Over next decade we will witness banks without counters, schools without classes, virtual travel, virtual offices and almost any form of combination that will help reduce wastage of time, energy and money. Energy and natural resources will become scarcer and technology will be used to conserve and utilize them efficiently. While all this will happen, technology jobs as they exist today will probably thin out and will focus on specialized areas of internet security, data analytics and visualization, nano engineering and education.
A new branch of technology will emerge out and may become mainstream if the world does not take its lessons soon. Technology to counter terror will probably grow more rapidly. Most of that might be a cocktail of the existing technologies but with increased sophistication and will see massive innovations.