The Gartner Hype Cycle is an analytical framework created by IT research and advisory firm Gartner to help people understand the maturity, adoption, and social application of technology innovations. Each year Gartner releases the list of technologies they believe are emerging, peak in hype, and then enter a plateau of productivity.
The Gartner Hype Cycle for 2021 includes the following nine technology and service topics:
AI-Driven Development Platforms: This technology includes AI-driven platforms that support the development, deployment, and management of applications across a range of contexts.
Augmented Analytics: This technology uses intelligent automation, machine learning and natural language processing to prepare and analyze data.
Autonomous Things: This term refers to the use of self-driving, semi-autonomous and connected devices that interact with the physical world.
Digital Twins: This term refers to digital replicas of physical systems that provide data that can be used to analyze and predict performance.
Edge Computing: This term refers to the use of distributed computing resources located closer to the user to improve latency and bandwidth.
Hyperautomation: This term refers to the combination of automation technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and content management.
Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: This term refers to the use of technologies and processes to protect consumer data from unauthorized access, tampering or theft.
Quantum Computing: This term refers to the use of quantum algorithms and hardware to speed up computation and solve problems that are intractable on classical computers.
Technology Convergence: This term refers to the combination of various technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud computing to create more advanced applications than could be created independently.
It is important to note that the Gartner Hype Cycle is a changing framework; as the technology industry continues to evolve, the topics that appear on the Hype Cycle each year often change as well.