In recent weeks, we’ve spoken a lot about Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the trends specific to Dynamics and productivity. With Christmas and the new year on the horizon, however, we wanted to pull out a little bit and explore the landscape a little more broadly, looking at the big picture of what Microsoft have in store. Here, we look at some of the core aspects of Microsoft’s plans for 2017 and beyond.
Instant data visualisation
Microsoft has invested heavily in its plans for data visualisation in technologies like Power BI and Dynamics CRM for Marketing. One of the largest problems that society currently faces is that we have lots of data but our tools for sorting it are woefully under powered. In 2017, the key technological advance of data analytics and visualization will be in smart data discovery, with interactive, intuitive and instant insights at its core. This means that users will be able to complete their analytic tasks more quickly and with less effort.
IoT for agriculture
2017 will see the phenomenon of the Internet of Things reach the world of agriculture. With ubiquitous sensing, computer vision capabilities and cloud storage to maximize machine learning and analytics, farmers will be able to analyse, diagnose and monetise their farms to the required level of detail. Ultimately, this means more applications for Microsoft Dynamics tools as well as more roles for Dynamics professionals.
Probabilistic programming
Another of our core problems with data is that our computer models don’t know how to predict results from chaotic or complex behaviour. Progress in the world of probabilistic programming isn’t easy, but developers are currently creating models that estimate the real world and explicitly reason about uncertainty in data and computations. If properly integrated with the IoT, this could lead to our world more readily being able to understand what we want before we even know it.
Autonomous AI
One of the most serious areas of change in 2017 could come from video games. Researchers in Cambridge have been working on building
AI that can essentially understand the world it exists within to help produce more complex, realistic characters on screen. They’ve built their autonomous AI on top of Mine Craft, but this has much broader application. Imagine if your mobile AI assistant could make creative suggestions pro-actively?
These are just four ways that 2017 could change the world of technology for everybody. The repercussions are broad and far-reaching, and they certainly will all facilitate change in the world of Microsoft Dynamics.