By members of PARC, a Xerox Company

Adoption of 5G and a Harder Look at AI

2020 will be the year of adoption and implementation of both emerging and maturing technologies. Among the emerging tech, 5G will begin to be widely used. And as AI continues into its maturation stage, it's no surprise that in 2020 it will continue to be a driving force across all industries as it continues to advance. Other technologies, such as edge nodes, will tap into recent advances of AI to further develop and enable its own technology. The need for transparency, accountability, and the growing awareness of AI ethics will also become mainstream topics.

Adoption of 5G Mobile Networks & Wireless Systems Across Industries

"We will see more emerging, adoption and implementation of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks and wireless systems across a variety of industry verticals such as automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, smart grid, entertainment and education. What's both exciting and challenging is this technology would be used by people from developing and developed nations (the number of Internet use has now reached five billion). Can 5G component manufacturers, vendors, integrators, network operators and telecommunication service providers provide value and differentiated services to this massive and growing base of users while keeping a cost-effective approach? We will observe in 2020." 

Joanne Lee, Researcher, Microsystems Technology, Electronic Materials and Devices Lab

Tapping Into the Value Potential of IoT with Edge Analytics

"While the advent of 5G and other advances in low-cost communications and sensing have been making it compelling for more and more key assets and smart devices to be brought online through the IoT, there's growing recognition of the need for efficient and secure ways to manage the massive amounts of IoT data while respecting privacy and confidentiality. With edge nodes becoming more computationally capable, recent advances in AI are poised to enable field deployment to derive actionable insights securely at the edge (rather than needing the cloud) in 2020."

Ajay Raghavan, Strategic Execution Director, System Sciences Lab

Advancements in Hyperspectral Imaging, Quantum Computing and More

"With the advent of 5G in consumer electronics, we will experience an enormous enhancement of current capabilities. We will experience further integration of collective knowledge into personal decision making. Autonomous driving will arrive on a broad basis and personalized transportation solutions will mature. Multi-dimensional mapping of the environment (e.g., LIDAR, hyperspectral imaging) with increased resolution will create new product offerings. Finally, it can be expected that quantum computing will outperform conventional computing in selected areas."

Thomas Wunderer, Researcher, Optoelectronic Materials & Devices, Electronic Materials and Devices Lab

Explainable AI, Folding Screen Devices and More

"With AI penetrating almost every aspect of our lives, the need for more transparency, accountability, and explainability will become a mainstream topic. Other Japanese companies, in addition to Softbank, will start making a significant impact on the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, through investments, acquisitions, partnerships, or other. Folding screen devices will become mainstream (starting with the success of Motorola's revamped Razr). Lastly, manufacturing companies will wake up to the power and value of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)."

Aki Ohashi, Director of Business Development

Ethics in AI

"In 2020 we can expect the growing awareness of ethical questions and AI to intensify. Even governments are joining in--the U.S. Defense Innovation Board issued a report warning about unintended harms from AI, and the incoming president of the European Commission identified human and ethical aspects of artificial intelligence as important topics for new legislation to be taken up by the Commission. 2020 will be a good year to continue our work leveraging the benefits of machine learning and artificial intelligence as we focus on minimizing the harmful downsides."

Kyle Dent, Research Area Manager, Machine Learning & Data Science, Interaction and Analytics Lab

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