What are Your 2018 Predictions?

At the recent GeekWire Summit, some of the most prominent leaders in the fields of technology, business and science were asked, “What will be the most important technology of 2018?”

A lot of people, including Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff, Glassdoor CEO Robert Hohman, Greg Gottesman of Pioneer Square Labs, and entrepreneur and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, named self-driving cars as one of the most exciting innovations coming in 2018.

Rascoff says, “It’s going to affect huge sectors of the economy in ways we haven’t thought through yet….” He gives real estate and car insurance as examples, noting that if people can work during their commutes, it will change the face of both of those markets.

Some of those interviewed expect to see in increase in mobile interconnectivity in 2018. Ramez Naam, computer scientist, writer and futurist, held up his smartphone and said, “This is the first screen in most of the world, and I think that is transformative.”

Ed Lu, Sentinel Mission founder and former NASA astronaut, agreed, saying, “…the thing that’s changing people’s lives the most is mobile devices.”

“I think [in 2018] the world becomes massively connected. Not necessarily just at the human level, but at the application level, the system level,” says Steve Singh, CEO of Concur.

Read the GeekWire article in its entirety here.

Quantumrun.com has posted a number of technological predictions for 2018 in their State of Technology “Future Forecast.” Notable technologies set for release in 2018 include Elon Musk’s supersonic Hyperloop train being open to the public, the first car being 3D printed, and Apple’s shift to OLED screens.

What are some predictions you have for 2018?