brightLET CEO predicts 3 viral terms in 2018

04 January, 2018  |  Imola Tuzson

In our last post, we covered some of the biggest digital and marketing trends predicted for 2018. Our Founder & CEO, Camran Khan commented, that there are 3 particular terms that should be discussed in more detail, as these are the terms you’ll be hearing a lot more of in 2018.

Blockchain

Thanks to Bitcoin, this viral term is not going away anytime soon. Originally, blockchains were devised for the digital currency Bitcoin, allowing transactions or information to be distributed across multiple nodes that make a blockchain. A blockchain is a constantly growing list of blocks, where each block is pointing and linking to the previous one - securely using cryptography. Our Founder believes that this technology is like the new Internet, and makes data very difficult to corrupt, as the technology is decentralised. We believe, that not just financial companies, but more and more companies will invest a lot of money and resources to migrate or implement the blockchain technology infrastructure for commercial/trade deals, financial transactions and sharing data.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The General Data Protection Regulation is Europe’s new framework for data protection laws. The rules are meant to give all EU member states citizens and businesses more control over their data. Basically, the GDPR places legal obligations on organisations to ensure that personal data is gathered and managed legally and under strict conditions. We recommend that companies migrate their data to EU or UK servers now, and check if they are compliant before the enforcements takes place. Camran believes that the majority of business owners are not aware of the legislation, and the huge penalties surrounding it, when failing to comply. Camran recommends and advises start-up companies to get this taken care of right away if you are planning to launch your business in the new year, as you still have time to make this right.

Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR)

Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality have already made waves in 2017, but they’re expected to be even bigger in 2018. Virtual Reality is a way to immerse users in virtual worlds via a headset, or even through a mobile device. What started in the gaming world has now entered the consumer world, with brands advertising their products and experiences using VR technology. AR allows users to move about freely in the real world. Both Samsung and Apple are heavily investing in virtual reality, you will see a lot of apps in 2018 with incredible and mind-blowing AR & VR experiences.

Final Thoughts

We’re excited to see what 2018 brings us with these new technologies and changes. It definitely is going to be an exciting new year. It would be lovely to hear your thoughts on this topic, and to know what other viral terms you think we’ll be hearing more of in the new year?