Sleuthing Out Industry Trends

Computerworld - One key to advancement in the IT field is being one of the first to have information on emerging technologies and trends. Once a new technology or trend catches fire, there's typically no shortage of articles, Web sites and user groups that provide information on it. But how can you stay ahead of the game? Start doing some detective work and be ready to look beyond the obvious sources of information.
You can often gain early industry insights by monitoring which new committees, groups and associations are being formed. Committee formation indicates that people are trying to work on a project or technology that is so groundbreaking, it requires the help of other industry experts. Investigate the experience and interests of the people serving on the committee to get an idea of what type of technology it is envisioning. Monitor group publications, meetings and so on to keep your finger on the pulse of the project. And, if you're interested and qualified, volunteer to participate.
Conferences are another place to find inside information on industry trends. However, to gain valuable insight, you need to look beyond the obvious. Presenters often talk about the projects they're working on, but they usually don't mention those projects overtly (say, in the title of their presentations). Many will allude to their projects within their talks; others address them only indirectly. If you can determine what the presenters are working on, you can often learn about trends about a year in advance.
Slowly, this information propagates into professional magazines and Web sites. If you notice a new trend being discussed in these media, try to familiarize yourself with the related technology. Start by reading the articles to understand why the industry thinks this trend is important, then continue learning about it through the related specifications, white papers, referenced scientific papers and so on. As you learn about a technology, remember my advice from my Sept. 13 column: Start learning about a new technology by considering how it relates to the technologies that you already know, then personally implement the new technology to understand the nuances of what the technology is, how it works and the challenges involved in its development and maintenance.


Seeing the Future
With inside knowledge on the emerging trends, you can start looking for gaps in the market and envisioning which new technologies and solutions will be needed to satisfy the emerging need. You can then spearhead the development of these technologies, or at least explain why and how you think they