Exclusive Feature – Gulf Tech News Creator and Tech Specialist on Trends That Will Shape an Era of Heightened Creativity and Individual Development

The world as we know is changing and the pandemic has accelerated the pace of change. What was new a few months ago, is only made obsolete by new concepts, innovative designs, emerging technology and more. Regardless of how fast the world is changing, there are a few trends that people should take note of if they want to thrive in the forthcoming era where people take control of their future by investing in their own personal development and achieve heightened levels of creativity, productivity, and excellence.

Given this pace of change, people are finding it hard to keep up with what is new, trendy and noteworthy for people. However, there are several platforms, mediums and individuals that are genuinely interested in technology and spend hours to research and filter out to the noise to provide potential customers with all the relevant and necessary details to make well-informed decisions about where to invest next.

One of these individuals is Likee Creator Zaid Salameh (Likee ID: zaidsalameh77). An engineer by profession, Zaid found a passion for technology back when he was a child – taking apart and putting together complex devices such as computers, television and more. With constant repetition and genuine curiosity, Zaid became the go-to person for advice on the latest gadgets, solutions and challenges faced by people in anything and everything related to technology.

In term of technology trends for 2022, Zaid stated that there are many. However, the ones to keep track of are Robots – to help people and factories be more productive; Smart Homes and; Foldable Devices.

Robots

Robots are not new. We have slowly started to incorporate them into our daily lives. Take for example eufy Robovacs where people have now automated a simple task as vacuum cleaning the floors making this chore almost redundant. At Dubai Expo 2020, a robot named Opti that greeted people during their visit and the Tala-Bot robot that helped people order food seamlessly at every Talabat kiosk.

Robots in our lives will increase gradually over time. This year they may be replace small tasks such as cleaning and ordering accurate, but soon, robots can be integrated into your kitchen where they will not only cook world class recipes in your kitchen, but also clean down the surface leaving you filled with nutrition and wholly satisfied.

Smart Homes
Homes are getting smarter, and people are starting to realize it’s true value and potential. It started off by asking Siri or Alexa a question, then it transitioned to controlling the lights and temperature. But the overall objective of smart homes is to unlock the power of connectedness – that is to integrate all the Artificial Intelligence empowered Internet of Things devices together so they can all work together intelligently to do more of the mundane tasks for you.

Soon, people will be able to set specific routines to match their requirements. Such as when they are coming home from a long day at work, one click can turn everything on so that your home temperature, air quality and more. Proactive customer care will also be provided so that customers can get the most value from their products.

Foldable Devices

It’s no secret, phones are quickly becoming commodities with price and brand being the key differentiating factor. Big companies such as Apple are joining the trend to introduce more cost-efficient phones to cater to a wider audience.

However, having said that, Foldable devices are starting to gain momentum as people are opting for larger screen real-estate. Samsung, Huawei, Oppo and more have already introduced Foldable devices into the market with Apple making plans to do the same soon. In fact, foldable phone shipments are projected to reach 27.6 million units in 2025.

Furthermore, Foldable technology is not just restricted to mobile phones. In fact, according to macrumors, there are rumors of the company exploring all-screen foldable macbooks. Given the popularity of foldable devices, it is certainly possible to see full-screen foldable tablets and laptops come to the market very soon – another testament of doing more with less.

Dawn of the Creator Economy

The one thing that Zaid brought our attention to was the rise of the Creator Economy. In the region, governments are making it easier for people to set up their own businesses to make additional streams of revenue.

The GCC region is one that sees the potential opportunity that content creators can bring to the region and is priming itself to potentially become the global hub for content creators.

In fact, it was recently announced that the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority would grant cultural visas with a validity of 10 years to 1,000 creators and artists from across the world in the upcoming phase of the initiative which was first announced in 2019.

The long-term cultural visas are granted to accomplished creative talent in the fields of literature, culture, fine arts, performing arts, and design, as well as those in the heritage, history and knowledge-related sectors as well as intellectual and creative industries.

There are several more initiatives that have been implemented both in the UAE and across the region indicating that this could be the genesis of a new era fueled by a Creators Economy.

The creator economy — the industry of influencers, bloggers, videographers and anyone on social media monetizing their online fan bases — is now 50 million strong, according to a 2020 report by venture capital firm SignalFire. Social media platforms want them, and brands and marketers want to work with them.

The industry is moving on from the days of paid-ads and product placement. The next stage of growth are investors, who say that surging viewership and an increasing supply of creators has led to a gold rush in the creator economy start-up space. Reports have been published estimating that VCs have invested USD 2 billion into 50 creator-focused startups so far this year. Their goal is to help creators make money from their work, turning them into small businesses beyond them acting as a digital billboard.

Having said that, Zaid states that people should invest in a laptop with good graphics capability such as the Apple Macbook Pro with M1 and M2 Chips, the Asus Zenbook and similar. Basically, he recommends something with at least 1TB or memory and at least 16GB of RAM for those who want to start to learn.

No matter what the future holds, technology will change and evolve at a rapid pace. In order for people to keep up, they will need to focus on how to learn and adapt faster as those that do, will be able to reap the benefits of a variety of opportunities that many may not have even thought about yet.