Tech Trends Continue to Shape How We Live, Work and Learn

Susan Anable is vice president of Government and Public Affairs for Cox. She oversees media, community relations, government affairs and internal communications in Arizona and Nevada. She is the Immediate past chairman of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board.

Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. The largest private telecom company in America, it serves six million homes and businesses across 18 states. The 3,100 Arizona employees of Cox are proud to have topped numerous J.D. Power and Associates’ studies of customer satisfaction and for many years top “Ranking Arizona-Best of Arizona Business” list.

Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a familyowned business founded in 1898 by Governor James M. Cox. cox.com

The pandemic has been a technology accelerator

by Susan Anable

This time last year, most of us were hunkered down in our homes under stay-in-place restrictions. Little did we know it would become a global pandemic that would bring about broad-sweeping change in so many facets of life — technology included.

The pandemic has been a technology accelerator for businesses, municipalities, schools, healthcare and homes. As such, those of us at Cox Communications who provide internet, telephone, security and video services to thousands of Arizona small and regional businesses and more than three million connectivity products within homes across the state have seen a few interesting technology trends that we believe will continue through the rest of 2021.

PROVIDER ADOPTION AND INVESTMENT IN TELEHEALTH GROWS

Finding ways to connect virtually with one’s doctor is getting easier, too. According to a Cox Business survey, only 28% of respondents said that their healthcare service provider offered telehealth before COVID-19. Providers, too, gave telehealth a thumbs up, with 57% viewing it more favorably than before the pandemic and 64% feeling more comfortable using the technology.

Further, the same report shows up to $250 billion of current U.S. healthcare spend could go virtual — up from $3 billion pre-COVID-19.

SMART COMMUNITIES KEEP GETTING SMARTER

From waste management and water meters to street lighting, parking and public safety, communities are getting smarter by the day.

In Arizona, Cox is partnering with ASU students and faculty to design the next wave of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions focused on projects pertaining to smart and connected products that will empower citizens, students and local government teams to live and work more efficiently and enhance the quality of life. At the Cox Connected Environments Collaboratory, the ASU team is looking at urban redesign, augmented reality and the workforce of the future as well as fleet management, health and wellness and public safety.

Smart communities are increasingly becoming a priority nationwide — and worldwide. The pandemic has accelerated smart city tech, and citizens are more open to smart community tech than ever — which is unlocking doors to rapid growth that will continue. Going smart enables municipalities to make more effective data-driven decisions, decreases inefficiencies and streamlines and automates processes. It also enhances citizen and government engagement, improves infrastructure and provides new economic development opportunities.

And the trend toward just-about-everything-smart is taking place inside the home as well. According to Statista, North America in 2023 is expected to have 40% of the worldwide market of consumer spending on smart home systems like smart assistants, smart speakers and smart door locks and light switches.

THE CLOUD MOVES CLOSER TO THE EDGE

Greater demands on bandwidth and latency issues have placed a greater spotlight on edge computing — or, as Gartner defines it, when information processing is located close to the edge where things and people produce or consume that information.

Analysts last year forecasted that edge computing would experience significant growth, especially since cloud vendors deployed more edge servers in local markets while telecom providers moved forward with 5G deployments.

Before COVID-19, Forrester predicted that the edge cloud service market would increase by a minimum of 50%. IDC’s worldwide IT predictions for this year include that the pandemic’s impact on workforce and operational practices will