Technology Futures – Ofcom White-paper: January 2021
Report: Technology Futures – spotlight on the technologies shaping communications for the future
Link to Report
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/211115/report-emerging-technologies.pdf
Technology Futures
Spotlight on the technologies shaping communications for the future
Report published 14 January 2021
People across the world use communications services for a wide range of purposes, and the technology that drives these services is constantly evolving.
As the UK’s communications regulator, it’s important that Ofcom is aware of the new types of technology that are likely to come into use in the near future, and to consider the effects that these developments could have on the communications services we use every day. This helps us to make sure people and businesses get the most out of these services, as well as helping us to protect them from any risks that might arise.
This report shines a light on the innovative, emerging technologies that could shape the communications industry in the future. We’ve selected a sample of technologies based on the responses we received to our call for inputs and the discussions we had with thought leaders in both academia and industry. We will continue to identify other important technologies as they emerge and in sectors beyond those considered in this report.
The spirit of innovation and decades of pushing technological boundaries have led to the creation of every one of the communication services that we take for granted today.
Whether it’s connecting people with fast, reliable broadband so they can work, shop and socialise at home and on the move – or the increasingly diverse range of ways we can now watch high quality broadcast content – technology advances have made what just decades ago would be
considered unthinkable, everyday reality.
But these technologies have deep historical roots. The wireless and fibre networks we use today depend on physical principles first established by James Clark Maxwell in 1861,
and on mathematical limits developed by Claude Shannon in 1948. And it took another 48 years for Claude Berrou to show how engineers could reach those limits using turbo coding.
Technology Futures – Ofcom White-paper: January 2021
