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Digital marketing agencies are getting increasingly popular, and for good reason. Agencies can really hone in on your digital marketing goals and execute a plan of action that can accomplish them. Here are four reasons why you should consider hiring a digital marketing agency for your company.

SEO expertise

SEO, or search engine optimization, allows your business to climb up the search engine results and position yourself before your competition. If you are having a hard time getting your team to produce content that falls within your SEO goals, an agency may be your best option. Agencies help businesses with keyword research and implementing effective SEO strategies. With the help of such experts, you’ll be in a better position to fully optimize your content.

Another important aspect of SEO is link building. Link building is a strategy that takes a lot of time and effort, which is why it is common practice to hire agency experts for a link building service. If your site is linked in many places, Google will deem it more important than others with fewer links. If Google’s algorithm deems your site as important, it will rank higher and be seen by a larger amount of people. Link building is a tactical way to build your site’s authority.

Creative strategy

Digital marketing agencies have handled many clients with successes and failures. With that, they know a lot about what works and what doesn’t. They can offer clients tips and implement certain marketing tactics that they have seen success through. Whether it is looking at advertising on social media, production, or other forms of content creation, they know how to get certain kinds of creative content in front of the right audience. The agency fee will get you insight along with expertise.

The strategy that digital marketing agencies provide make it well worth the investment. Their ideas could transform your marketing department into the successful team you have been attempting to cultivate. The greatest agencies work as an extension of your team across the board.

Cuts marketing costs

If you have a full in-house marketing team, you have to account for a manager, an SEO specialist, a social media marketer and many more players. There are so many facets that come with being in marketing that make outsourcing the more cost-efficient option. You can hire an agency for an agreed-upon fee that does it all. With the alternative option of hiring six employees with annual salaries, it makes a lot of sense why agencies are the cost-efficient option.

They have the tools, experience, and the speed to create results

Effective marketing requires the utilization of certain tools and resources. Purchasing these upfront will take a financial toll on a business. An agency, on the other hand, will have all these tools readily available. Agencies will be able to use the expensive tools and software for all their clients and bear the cost, because it’s worth it for them.

They also have access to resources that you might not have known you needed. Many digital marketing agencies whitelabel certain services from other companies. This is a way to have them handle all the complicated stuff while you just have one base cost.

Hiring an agency is simpler, cheaper, and more effective. Look into agencies that align with your company needs and demands. You’ll find that hiring SEO specialists and marketing professionals may be the more affordable option that generates better results.

Owning a small business and trying to get the most out of it can eat up a lot of your time. Thankfully, there are ways to help your business succeed that do not take as much time or energy.

Your digital marketing strategy should be high on your priority list. Here’s why you should start implementing ringless voicemail and SMS marketing.

What is ringless voicemail?

Ringless voicemail drops allow your sales team to leave voicemails for potential customers in seconds. Your team won’t have to wait for the phone to ring and can easily drop a voicemail directly into a customer’s inbox. This lets your team leave more voicemails in a shorter amount of time, which provides you with better results.

You also only have to pay for the voicemail drops that are successful, and the more drops you make, the less you pay per drop. Ringless voicemail drops are a great way to reach more customers quickly and you’ll find that the benefits to your business are huge.

What are the benefits of ringless voicemail drops?

Ringless voicemail is a huge benefit to your customers and potential customers. Because their phones never ring, the customers are able to check the voicemail at their convenience and not be bothered by a phone call. Plus, they will never be billed for the voicemail.

You’ll be able to reach thousands of people in very little time. And when you’re busy trying to run a business, you’ll be happier knowing that your marketing is efficient and effective.

What is SMS marketing?

SMS (short message server) marketing is marketing done through text message. Over half the world’s population owns a mobile phone, which makes SMS marketing is a great way to reach potential customers you might otherwise be missing.

SMS marketing is typically used less frequently than other forms of marketing (such as social media marketing, for example), so you want to make sure that when you use SMS marketing, you’re doing it correctly and efficiently. SMS marketing will not cost you much, especially if you’re able to send out mass quantities of texts at a time, so it’s a great way for you to reach both current and potential customers without any extra hassle to you.

What’s the best way to utilize SMS marketing?

SMS marketing only works if your customers are willing to provide you with their cell phone numbers, which can sometimes be a challenge. Because they are trusting you with this personal information, you want to be sure to only send them texts which will be valuable to them.

Your SMS marketing should be somewhat infrequent and should always provide your customers with important information they would not learn anywhere else. You can provide your clients with exclusive offers only available through text messages, like a discount code or a freebie at their next visit.

This would make your clients feel like they can trust you with their private information, because you are making it worth their time and not inundating them with spam messages. You can also use text messaging to communicate important, personal information to your customers, like the tracking information for a delivery or an appointment reminder.

Ringless voicemail drops and SMS marketing are great ways to increase your business’s potential with little cost and effort. As a small business owner, you want to do everything you can to make sure your business succeeds, and utilizing these techniques will help it thrive.

If you’re looking at purchasing a video surveillance solution, chances are you’ve run into digital video recorders (DVR) and network video recorders (NVR). Both of these security systems offer a centralized approach to video security that seems affordable up front; however, as time goes on, you will likely see increasing costs due to outdated technology and a host of other issues. These are some of the hidden costs of video surveillance systems:

Maintenance and updates

One of the biggest traps you will fall into when purchasing an NVR or DVR security system are maintenance costs. Many NVRs and DVRs use hardware and software that is outdated, and this antiquated approach to video security can wind up costing you as other network and internet technologies continue to evolve. 

In addition to having to manually push through firmware updates, you will likely need a specialized technician to service some aspects of your NVR system — an unforeseen cost many businesses don’t think to budget for. 

The costs of potential cybersecurity breaches

Another result of having an outdated video security system is that it makes your business far more susceptible to cybersecurity breaches. These sorts of attacks can make a major dent in more than maintenance fees, too. Beyond the costs of responding to a security breach, you may also wind up losing vital features of your business as a result of a hacker using your surveillance system as a backdoor to access your network. Since DVRs and NVRs are centralized, this means that hackers can truly wreck havoc on your company, should they find a way in. Especially for larger enterprises, these kinds of risks must be avoided in order to maintain normal business operations.

Expensive in multiple locations

Another weakness of NVRs and DVRs is their inability to scale in an affordable manner. While this may not be an issue if you only have one place of business, school districts and restaurant chains will definitely want to avoid picking either approach when it comes to choosing a surveillance system. As everything will need to be centralized at each location, that means that new equipment and recorders will need to be purchased each time you add surveillance security to another location. 

Beyond material costs, this also costs you time and labor. Ultimately, if you’re looking to expand your company’s reach, it may be more beneficial to pick a different solution rather than incur these costs every time your business needs to grow.

Video security systems that avoid these hidden costs

Thankfully, there are more options than just NVRs and DVRs for security surveillance. One popular newcomer to the field of video security is the hybrid cloud approach, which uses cloud connectivity and onboard storage. This results in a surveillance system that scales easily, receives updates automatically, and is far more secure than traditional surveillance options. Pioneers like Verkada are even introducing features that allow the systems to work while offline, further increasing the value of hybrid cloud surveillance for businesses of all sizes.

As you can tell, even though a surveillance system may be inexpensive, that doesn’t mean that it will always remain that way. Considering how quickly technology is advancing, a system that is only a few years old can still become outdated in a short amount of time. In addition, hackers are becoming more and more sophisticated and having an up-to-date, secure video surveillance solution is in your company’s best interests to combat them. Hybrid cloud video security mitigates many of the above weaknesses of traditional NVRs and DVRs, allowing you to gain peace of mind and save money in the long run.

DUBAI, 24th June, 2019 (WAM) — The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, today announced the launch of the ‘UAE National Cybersecurity Strategy’ during a press conference held at TRA offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The new strategy aims to create safe and resilient cyber infrastructure in the UAE that enables citizens to fulfil their aspirations and empowers businesses to thrive.

Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director-General, delivered an opening speech during the press conference which was attended by TRA cybersecurity officials and directors, as well as journalists and media representatives.

Al Mansoori noted that the UAE is rapidly advancing its artificial intelligence, big data, and fourth industrial revolution tracks, driven by the strong momentum generated by a history of leadership and major achievements. He emphasised on the need for a national cybersecurity strategy as a main element in risk prevention and preparedness for security challenges in cyber space.

“If we want to draw a future perception of the UAE, years from now, we would see the features of the smart city where millions of devices and platforms are connected, producing massive amounts of data, many of which will be at risk of piracy or privacy violation,” the TRA Director-General noted.

He added, “The cybersecurity strategy is based on a well-known reality, that cyberspace provides vast horizons and endless opportunities for well-being, happiness and sustainable development. However, it also provides a gateway for hackers and phishers. It is obvious that the battle between the two sides is a battle of knowledge and technology, a battle of intelligence, perseverance and patience. Yet, in essence, it is a manifestation of the eternal conflict between good and evil.”

The development of the UAE National Cybersecurity Strategy is in line with current developments in the field, which are witnessing an increased number of cybersecurity incidents globally, causing significant losses in global economy. Last year, the number of reported data security breaches increased by 42 percent, while the annual cost of cybercrime reached US$608 billion globally between 2014 and 2017.

A presentation on the main pillars of the strategy was delivered by Mohammad Al Zarooni, Director of Policies and Programs Department. The participants then watched a short film summarising the components of the strategy and its main initiatives.

The new strategy will have a positive impact on all segments of society by enhancing citizens’ confidence to securely participate in the digital world, encouraging innovation in cybersecurity, fostering a culture of entrepreneurship in cybersecurity, enabling SMEs to safeguard themselves against most common cyber attacks, protecting critical information infrastructure assets of the country and building a world-class cybersecurity workforce in the UAE.

To achieve these aspirations, the UAE National Cybersecurity Strategy will mobilise the whole ecosystem to deliver 60 initiatives across five pillars. Among these pillars is enhancing cybersecurity laws and regulations to address all types of cybercrimes, secure existing and emerging technologies and support protection of SMEs by developing essential cybersecurity standard for SMEs, mandating cybersecurity implementation certification for government suppliers, and building one-stop portal for SMEs to enable SMEs to implement the standard.

Moreover, the strategy will enable the ecosystem to capture the huge cybersecurity opportunity and tap into the AED1.8 billion UAE cybersecurity market as well as effectively contributing to the AED18 billion MENA cybersecurity market. It will also work on developing capabilities of over 40,000 cybersecurity professionals, by encouraging professionals and students to pursue a career in cybersecurity, developing necessary cybersecurity capabilities to meet aspirations of the country, and fostering a vibrant ecosystem of cybersecurity training providers.

The strategy will also reward excellence in cybersecurity through a national awards programme, by allocating six awards for entities and same for individuals. These rewards aim to encourage organisations to drive cybersecurity programmes, inspire entrepreneurs to innovate in cybersecurity, support cutting-edge research undertaken by academic institutions and motivate students to pursue cybersecurity careers.

The TRA launched the UAE National Cybersecurity Strategy as the country is entering the fifth generation era. The Authority is developing the UAE’s fifth generation strategy 2020-2025, making the UAE the first in the region to embark on this initiative.

The 3 June 2019 core update has started to rock and roll. It is the second big Google Update in 2019. The Google Update in March 2019 affected search queries that are covered by the acronym E-A-T (Expertise, The 3 June 2019 core update has started to rock and roll. It is the second big Google Update in 2019. The Google Update in March 2019 affected search queries that are covered by the acronym E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust).

This time around, Google wants to be more pro-active with this kind of information and let people know in advance to avoid them only finding out after the update has occurred and then asking lots of questions.

To quote Google: “As with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded.”

“There’s no ‘fix’ for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.”

Early reports indicate that Daily Mail lost over 50% of daily search traffic and so did NFL and Vimeo. The gainers were the Mirror, the Sun, and HuffPost.

The rollout is still ongoing, so these findings are quite preliminary. It’s unclear what exactly was changed to cause certain spikes and drops, but publishers do seem to be feeling the tremors.

The world of SEO is ephemeral. In 2018 alone, Google reported incredible 3,234 improvements to search. So why is this one so significant, you might ask? Largely because it is a core update and changes the search algorithm in terms of ranking criteria that are given more significance in determining search results.

According to Sharad Agarwal, CEO of GuestPosts.biz, “Core Updates are Google Updates that do not have a clear specific focus on a certain kind of search query or particular website characteristics. Instead, they make more subtle changes ‘under the hood’. Clearly, Google is giving more importance to backlinks that are established from credible and high traffic sites. If your web pages have good links from related websites, they will rank higher than other pages that do not have these links. It is about quality, not quantity.”

Also, Google continues to reward sites that are ‘Responsive’, secure and quick to download. Content remains ‘King’ and user experience is ‘Queen’.

If you have any questions about improving your site’s visibility in search and attracting more customers, Cyber Gear can perform a website audit and assist you in providing a roadmap for achieving fantastic search results.

Whether you plan to travel with your kids, by yourself, or with friends, traveling can be stressful. But traveling doesn’t always have to be so difficult. Traveling can be a relaxing time for people who do it correctly. 

There are tons of tech tools to help with vacations. These apps help to decrease the stress of planning a trip and even help to plan activities while on vacation. Here are 5 of the best tech tools you need to use when vacationing:

Hopper

Planning flights for a trip can be extremely stressful and expensive. Trying to find good, trustworthy flights for an affordable price can be challenging. Hopper can help decrease the rate of plane tickets and also decrease the stress of getting them. Hopper can predict the best time to fly and when to get tickets at the cheapest price point.

Also, Hopper can alert you when the prices of your wanted flight drops.  But Hopper does not only get you cheap flights. Hopper can give you personalized trip recommendations for trips they think you might be interested in going on. Hopper is a great app and can save you lots of time and money.

Word Lens

When traveling or vacationing internationally, it can be difficult to read things like menus or signs or just writings in general. Word Lens helps with that. Word Lens can translate printed words from one language to another. It can be done extremely fast. All you have to do to be able to use this app is use the camera on your phone to take a picture of what you want to translate. Another plus to this app is that no network connection is needed to use it.

This means you can practically use this app anywhere you would like. Words Lens Supports 27+ languages. Although when traveling internationally, you should have some knowledge of the language of your destination, Word Lens can help when maybe you just forget or do not know.

Uber

Finding ways to get around a new and unfamiliar place can be difficult. When traveling, you may not always be able to bring a car for transportation. Also, renting a car can be very expensive, so just use Uber. Uber bids peer to peer transportation. It operates in 785 metropolitan areas worldwide. 

Not only does Uber allow for you to get rides, but it also allows you to use Uber Eats to get food delivered straight to you. It also can offer Urban Air transportation. Uber is more efficient than a taxi would be because it saves you money, time, and secures safety for you and your driver. Uber is a fast and efficient way to get rides for cheap. You can use Uber tons of places.

Pack Point

Packing can be very stressful. From not knowing what to pack to what not to pack for vacation. You should pack only what you really need, but sometimes it may be challenging to understand what you need. Pack point can help decrease the stress put into packing.

Pack point creates a personal packing list for you based off weather, your itinerary, and activities you plan to do on your trip. It helps you to remember the basics you will need for your trip while allowing you to add more items to your list.  Pack point can help prevent you from forgetting anything while packing for a vacation.

Hotel Tonight

Sometimes when traveling, you may have to book things last minute. Trying to book hotels last minute can be a complicated ordeal. Hotel Tonight helps you find open hotel rooms last minute and also find discounts on the rooms. This app is exceptionally user-friendly and easy to use. It also helps to book rooms fast and efficiently. 

 You can search for open rooms by city, attractions, or on the map. You can see photos and read reviews about hotels before booking rooms. Also, Hotel Tonight has excellent customer service that is offered 24/7. This app works throughout the Americas, Australia, and Europe. This app helps save time by not scouring the internet for last minute hotel rooms at reasonable prices; Hotel Tonight does all the stressful work for you.  

Also, it can give a personalized list of hotels to meet your needs. An example is, if you need a hotel that allows pets, Hotel Tonight will find one for you. Hotel Tonight is a great app and is a necessity for booking hotel rooms quickly and for cheap.

Conclusion

Traveling can be very stressful. It may seem that a relaxing vacation is not worth all the stress that comes with it. But traveling doesn’t always have to be stressful if you do it correctly. Using these tech tools can help to save you lots of time and money. This ends up resulting in a stress-free fun vacation for you and anyone else. So take that fun vacation you have always wanted to go on and don’t stress, because, with these tools, you can have a stress-free traveling experience.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a painless and non-invasive scan that produces detailed images of organs and body tissue. Its invention was a revolution in medical science, allowing for examination of internal organs without the use of invasive tools or surgeries. Doctors often use mri for cancer detection, but they can also be used for a variety of purposes. Some of these include but are not limited to detecting cysts, identifying joint abnormalities, detecting diseases of the liver and other organs, and evaluating causes of pain. Recent advancements have included new types of scans, simplifications for existing processes, and software solutions. The following are some of the most interesting advancements in MRI technology.

Lung MRIs are possible

MRI scans rely on hydrogen atoms in order to produce their images, which is normally no problem since hydrogen atoms are abundant in water and fat — two things the human body is composed of. Lung MRIs, however, have been difficult because air moving through the lungs means that there is a low density of the hydrogen atoms required for the scan. Because of this, computed tomography (CT) has been the traditional method for lung imaging.

In 2015, Toshiba introduced the Ultrashort Echo Time sequence, which allows for viewing of tissues with short relaxation times that would normally cause signals to disappear before an MRI scan could complete.

Multi-contrast images from a single scan

GE Healthcare’s MAGiC software enables scans to create eight contrasts from a single scan at a faster rate than traditional scanning. This essentially gives doctors the ability to manipulate and study images retrospectively, which saves time and money by eliminating the need to rescan. The more detailed scan also lets doctors make a more accurate diagnosis in a fraction of the time. Clinicians now have the advantages of multiple scans in one.

Greatly reduced brain scan times

The new Siemens Simultaneous Multi-Slice application allows for simultaneous creation of multiple MRI images instead of being limited to a sequence, which significantly reduces scan times. Their GOBrain application allows specifically for faster scan times of the brain. This is increasingly important as 1 in 4 MRI scans are of the brain, and the number is expected to climb.

These technologies allow clinicians to bring the time for MRI brain exams down to those of less complex scans. This is particularly useful for patients who have a low tolerance for longer scans, such as children or geriatric patients.

Cardiac MRI

Up until the past few years, cardiac MRI was extremely limited, making up a mere 1 percent of MRI scans. This was largely due to its relative complexity compared to other scans, as well as its long scan times and high cost. GE Healthcare’s ViosWorks software helps automate the process of creating a full 3D chest scan that includes the full motion of the cardiac cycle. This software manages to bring what would be a 70 minute scan down to approximately 10 minutes. These are high data scans, and the software is paired with a cloud computing service to speed up the process.

Silent MRI

This is a smaller quality of life enhancement for patients but one that is surely appreciated. GE Healthcare has expanded on its noise reduction technology to reduce noise even further during MRI scans. Silent scanning is available with muscular and spinal scans, as well as brain exams, and is compatible with a wide variety of machines.

Technology has advanced significantly since the first machine was invented, and there have been many improvements over the years. The quality of medical imaging has become much more enhanced. Machines are now more comfortable for patients, and studying MRIs has become instrumental in scientific research to explain body functions. 

Atlanta, Georgia had the most call center employees of any US city as of 2017, with an estimated 121,480 workers. Dallas, Phoenix, Tampa, and Houston rounded out the top five. But that doesn’t mean all the call center employees in Atlanta or Dallas are doing the same type of work.

For instance, there are critical differences between telemarketing and telesales. To the untrained ear, “telesales” and “telemarketing” are the same thing, but they require different strategies and different skill sets live casino go. Here’s what you should know about the key differences between telesales and telemarketing.

Telemarketing is broader

Telemarketing covers a wider range of activities than telesales. Someone who is a telemarketer has to do more than just sell something to the other person on the end of the line. They’re also trying to find out as much information as possible about who, exactly, is on the other line. When they do that, they have a better chance of pulling off a successful call.

Let’s use cold calling as an example. Cold calling is a staple of call centers, but it works a bit differently depending on your objective. For instance, someone who is making a telemarketing call might approach the call like this: “Hello, this is (name) with (company). We’re calling to talk about your (service) today.”

They first want to find out if the customer is happy with how things are going before trying to sell them on something new. It may help to think of telemarketing as a bit like what happens when you walk into a clothing store and someone asks, “Can I help you with something today?” They’re trying to let you direct the call, at least a little bit.

But telemarketers must be careful as well. If they don’t phrase things in just the right way as soon as the call begins, they’re taking a risk. Fewer people are answering their phone because they’re concerned about spam calls.

It’s up to you to prove right away that you have something valuable to offer. If someone picks up an unfamiliar number, you may only have a few seconds to convince them to stay on the line.

Telesales are more focused

You have to stick to a script, at least at first, and this is especially vital with telesales. As you may have guessed, telesales are more focused on selling something.

It’s OK to view telesales as more goal-oriented, because in many ways, it is. You want the person on the other end to hear what you’re saying, but you’re probably not going to say things like, “Can I call back later to discuss this with you?”

With telesales, everything feels more immediate. In a call center, that means you need all your equipment to be up and running. It can’t let you down just as you finally sense the person on the other end is interested in what you have to say and the product you’re selling.

That’s why the best telesales and telemarketing operators have one thing in common: call center integration through an omnichannel platform, like what you’ll find with an Oracle contact center. These contact centers give your operators access to things like real-time statistics.

Real-time statistics are vital when you’re trying to figure out if an approach is working or backfiring. This call center solution can integrate with your cloud to give you more flexibility.

In a call center, you can never lose sight of the person on the other end of the line. That’s true of both telesales and telemarketing. Personalized solutions help you serve your customers better without overwhelming your operators. A call center is always going to be fast-paced, but that doesn’t mean the people who work in them should be hitting a wall or burning out.

Brand Intimacy is defined as the emotional science that measures the bonds we form with the brands we use and love. Top Intimate Brands outperform top brands in the S&P and Fortune 500 indices for revenue and profit. Consumers are also more willing to pay price premiums for Intimate Brands and less willing to live without them, according to the 2019 Brand Intimacy Report.

Brands that are within the ecosystem score higher in emotional connection overall than brands that are not. Ranking 9 out of 15 places, Apps and social platform brands have an opportunity to increase their intimate bonds and emotional relationships with their users given their usage and importance”

Other notable findings from the apps & social platforms industry include:

• 40 percent of consumers felt an immediate emotional connection with the industry.

• 73 percent of users in the 18- to 34-year-old (millennial) demographic felt an immediate emotional connection with Facebook.

• The apps & social platforms industry as a whole ranked #2 for africa casinos industries people can’t live without, right behind Tech & Telecom, which was #1.

• Three of the top four brands in this category this year—WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram—are owned by Facebook.

• Uber ranking went from #5 to #10 from 2018 to 2019.

• Instagram demonstrated solid growth, moving up from #7 to place at #4.

• WhatsApp ranked #1 for the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, males and high income users surveyed.

• GoogleMaps was ranked first among the 35- to 64-year-old demographic and female users.

To download the full apps & social platforms rankings, please click here. To download the full 2019 Brand Intimacy Report, please click here.

With modern science advancing at the current pace, many dreams of early 20th century science fiction writers such as Jules Verne have already become commonplace technologies. As of 2019, we may be just several decades away from megacities, artificial worlds, moon colonisation, digital immortality, and other ideas devised by Douglas Adams, Philip K. Dick, and Robert A. Heinlein. Below are the top 5 technologies from science fiction we can witness in the nearest future.

1. Alternative Medicine and Treatment

Science fiction novels are full of alternative medicine and treatment methods. With the growing scarcity of diagnosticians, general practitioners, and nurses, the Star Trek-style self-diagnosis and self-healing concepts can become a reality of modern medicine. The wide popularity of alternative medicine and treatment is largely substantiated by the accessibility of these methods in many areas of the world where traditional medical services are not available. While their effectiveness for treating serious illnesses is highly controversial, some of them provide good analgesic results. Why not boost their actual effectiveness with telemedicine and remote learning used to transform local alternative practitioners into therapists capable of diagnosing dangerous disease symptoms and calling for a professional intervention? This initiative may also be assisted by such disruptive innovators as Michael Laufer who successfully produce modern pharmaceutical drugs with portable MicroLab pill synthesis laboratories sold for mere $30. So, in some 15 years, an AIDS-positive kid in Africa may walk into a hut of a local healer and come out 30 minutes later receiving an acupunctural treatment for pain symptoms and a pill of generic Daraprim for conservative treatment. However, the new therapy and diagnostic methods will have to be thoroughly tested in order to be covered by national health insurance systems.

2. Education

The rapid development of VR devices can make ‘Ready Player One’-style classrooms a reality in the next 10-15 years. This would fully disrupt the current classroom system (which is not necessarily a bad thing) transforming the world into a real ‘global village’. A virtual yellow school bus may gather Angolan, Spanish, Argentinian, and US learners in a single educational environment reducing the need for excessive transportation or building new schools in rural areas. Remote learning resources such as Khan Academy can also facilitate the students who cannot access the ‘virtual classroom’ during specific hours. This may also be convenient for increasing the number of PhD students in developing countries and poor environments. With the launch of the global Starlink Internet programme by SpaceX in 2020, young talents living in rural Africa may get the possibility to submit their dissertation drafts for review to academic tutors from Oxford or the MIT. You can only imagine what boost this may provide to global development programmes.

3. Health-Aiding Implants

While cell-like nanorobots replacing human T-cells and fighting cancer tissues and bad cholesterol still remain a thing of the future, internal monitoring systems may well become a part of our reality before the 2050s. The regular measurements of arterial pressure, artery plaque buildup, and other critical indicators of our physical being are very important for preventing heart attacks or blood clotting. However, the main question posed by some scientists is whether we should monitor these things from the outside. Installing small devices with wireless charging under our skin may provide for accurate measurement results and unlimited methods of using the collected data. Imagine that internal sensors located close to your heart can send emergency signals to a nearby hospital minutes before your organism gets into an acute condition. They can also provide longitudinal diagnostic data to your doctor on a daily basis. Some of the presently developed solutions may even include small adrenaline containers or shock devices to kickstart your heart in the case of heart failure.

4. Neuromancing and Advanced Bodyhacking

The previous idea is perfectly in line with the concepts of bodyhacking, artificial organs, and neural implants described by the cyberpunk genius William Gibson. In 2017, scientists at ETH Zurich learned how to 3D-print artificial body tissues and even human organs such as the heart. Imagine replacing your old blood vessels with molecularly superb ones preventing cholesterol plaques or blood clots accumulation. Do you want a heart that does not have a beat and will last you 150+ years? Or would you prefer a Heart 2.0 with several performance profiles fine-tuned for office hours, sports activities, and night recuperation? Besides the competition for ‘body upgrades’, these technologies can also make the waiting lists for organ donors obsolete. The invention of Autodoc medical systems from late 80s sci-fi movies makes the cyberpunk ideas of installing a new retina for augmented reality on your way home or selling an extra liver to pay for your rent perfectly realistic.

5. Transhumanism and the Mars Colonisation

The capability to purchase new organs and prolong your life through advanced body management inevitably brings the questions of transhumanism to the table. With late XXI century geriatrics, a 40-year old person has good chances of becoming as physically adept as his 20-year-old counterpart. Or, would you say, competitor since he is already ahead of him or her with 20+ years of skills and industry experience. In this context, expanding into other planets of the Solar system can become a cure for unemployment rather than a science fiction dream. Luckily, SpaceX had this humanity dream covered as well with its SpaceX Mars programme. While the most optimistic results promise a first colony set on Mars by 2050, the development of new materials and technologies may speed up this process.

While driverless vehicles and medical advancements do not look especially gruesome, we should also think about the negative outcomes described by the great visionaries of the past. The brave new world may put us one step closer to a utopia but charge its price in terms of social consequences. However, with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and increasing pollution levels, the main dilemma of humankind progress is still, “Can we not be running all we can do, to merely keep in the same place?”.

Author Bio

Anna Clarke is the owner of online writing company 15 Writers. She is a successful entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in freelancing, academic dissertation writing consulting, specialising in Business, Economics, Finance, Marketing and Management.