In 2020 the pandemic bought about unexpected changes in technology across many industries. The need for social distancing and safe distribution has created a variety of new innovations to deal with the crisis. With 5G and AI in the backdrop and IoT in the foreground, tech trends have become a mix of predictable and surprising ground-breaking solutions. Here are nine top tech trends to look for in 2021.

1. Internet of Behaviors (IoB)

IoB was listed as number one by Gartner for top strategic technology trends in 2021. It involves the use of data from digital and physical realms to alter behavior. Telematics is an example of this field of study, in which data monitoring devices from insurance companies can be installed in cars to encourage good driving behavior.

2. Remote Work

The pandemic has raised awareness across several industries that allowing remote work is a solid solution for staying in business and practicing social distancing. The demand for remote work will increase throughout the pandemic and beyond. It will become such a defining solution for cutting costs, telework will grow into the norm. Businesses will use cloud services to schedule work that can be done by employees anywhere.

3. Cybersecurity Mesh

The more a company uses remote workers, the greater the opportunities for hackers to study the network and make plans for penetration. Hackers are constantly trying to outsmart sophisticated cybersecurity systems, but they have a very hard time getting past certain robust security layers. A cybersecurity mesh involves setting a centralized security policy and distribution of its enforcement. It places a security wall around individuals instead of the entire network.

4. Blockchain

As the underlying technology behind cryptocurrency transactions, blockchain has become increasingly more relevant each year in modern digital ecosystems. A major benefit of blockchain is that it provides very strong security, as it involves creating a chain of data that cannot be changed. Look for blockchain adoption to accelerate in 2021 and not just to facilitate online gaming or Bitcoin transactions.

5. Distributed Cloud

When cloud services are distributed to different physical locations, the practice is known as distributed cloud. These cloud services are overseen by the public cloud provider, who hands cybersecurity. Distributed cloud is a strategy for reducing latency and costs that Gartner has identified as the future of cloud technology in general.

6. Hyperautomation

Last year's top trend on Gartner's list was hyperautomation, which is a concept that suggests anything that can be automated should be. IT specialists can help businesses find hyperautomation solutions to gain greater efficiency, efficacy and agility. Within this umbrella is the development of robotic process automation (RPA), which is like machine learning in the sense the software can interpret applications and respond to emails.

7. Intelligent Composable Business

This type of business is designed to adapt to changes in the market, as a solution to go along with fast-changing technology. Organizations must make deep insights easy to access to improve ability to respond to problems. This type of business is flexible and able to shift gears quickly to avoid inefficiency.

8. Privacy-enhancing Computation

This system protects data with a trusted environment, analytics and encryption. Businesses are increasingly using this approach to maintain safe and private data sharing within their networks.

9. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

Managing data in one centralized location is an effective strategy when it comes to data collection from a variety of sources. A CDP is essentially a unified customer database accessible to other systems such as an email marketing platform. It allows different departments within an organization to access a variety of customer data.