Software Development

These are the top 10 uses cases for AI and IoT technologies, per CompTIA

The nonprofit tech association's new Emerging Technologies List has a Delaware connection.

Emerging technologies. (Photo by Pexels user thisisengineering, used under a Creative Commons license)

You might not know CompTIA, but you probably know the A+ Certification it administers. You might even know its monthly jobs reports tracking hiring trends in the tech industry.

Its latest offering is know-worthy, too: the 2021 Emerging Technology Top 10 List, this year focusing exclusively on top use cases for artificial intelligence and internet of things.

The list has a Delaware connection.

In 2012, partnerships exec Greg Plum was heading up partner development efforts for FreeConferenceCall.com at an industry trade show. That’s where he first learned about the international-facing CompTIA, which promotes growth of the information technology industry via education, training, certifications, philanthropy and market research.

When he received an invite a few months later to serve on the nonprofit’s newly formed Telecom Advisory Council, charged with bridging the gap between telecom and IT partners in the tech ecosystem, he jumped at the chance to get involved. In addition to his work as a channel strategy advisor (currently working with Delaware-based Markee), Plum is also board member for the Technology Forum of Delaware, and saw the opportunity to impact the local technology ecosystem.

Greg Plum headshot

Greg Plum. (Courtesy photo)

“CompTIA is a major proponent of small business technology initiatives,” he told Technical.ly. “Thanks to Senator Coons’ championing of technology initiatives, Delaware is well regarded in the tech space. My goal is to cross-pollinate between these CompTIA and the Technology Forum of Delaware, bringing the emerging technology findings to our local group, and evangelizing the innovations coming out of Delaware to a global audience.”

The hope is that Delaware’s place in the global technology community will grow.

“It’s funny, despite being a dynamic and innovative environment for technological advances, I feel like Delaware is woefully underrepresented in the larger tech space,” Plum said. “Just having the ability to raise awareness for our region’s developments with a larger audience is a unique and exciting opportunity. Our work is just beginning.”

CompTIA released its 2021 Emerging Technologies List last week, and Plum, who became chair of the executive council of the org’s Emerging Technology Community in December, played a major role in putting it together.

“This year, the executive council and I discussed ways to make the list less of a novelty and more of a practical guide for our global membership,” he said. “The result was a focus on the technologies that consistently topped the list since inception” — that is, AI and IoT. “So our top 10 has morphed into the top 10 applications for these two leading technologies. The evolution helps us deliver on our goal of taking the conversation ‘from promise to profit.'”

Here’s the new and improved top 10:

Top AI use cases

  • Predictive sales and lead scoring
  • CRM and service delivery optimization
  • Chatbots and digital assistants
  • Cybersecurity threat detection
  • Marketing automation

Top IoT use cases

  • Asset tracking
  • Industrial monitoring
  • Smart badges
  • Fleet management
  • Smart buildings
See the explainer

Plum notes that technologies classified as “emerging” are currently making an impact in various industries, including cybersecurity, sales, marketing and manufacturing.

“It is also interesting to note that these two technologies are not ‘sold’ as standalone features, but are incorporated into various services currently delivered to personal and business customers,” Plum said. “AI and IoT are also tightly connected in that IoT generates massive volumes of data — data that is analyzed and quantified, more efficiently than ever before possible, by artificial intelligence.”

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

The person charged in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

From rejection to innovation: How I built a tool to beat AI hiring algorithms at their own game

Where are the country’s most vibrant tech and startup communities?

The looming TikTok ban doesn’t strike financial fear into the hearts of creators — it’s community they’re worried about

Technically Media