It is easy to forget, as we approach the end of not just 2019 but also the decade, just how far technology has developed over the past 10 years. <\/p>\n
To mark the end of the era, City A.M. <\/em>asked several experts for what they think have been the biggest technological breakthroughs or advancements made in the 2010s.<\/p>\n Whether it is by using facial verification <\/a>or a fingerprint scanner, our personal biometrics are now being used to secure our devices and confirm our identities. <\/p>\n The adoption of biometrics has fuelled the rise of fintechs, as the former can ensure that the right person is accessing the latter. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a result, biometrics, combined with high-speed internet and connectivity, have transformed the way we interact with each other, with governments, and with financial services, according to Andrew Bud, founder and chief executive of iProov.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIn 2010, there were no mobile banking apps \u2014 the first appeared in 2011. Today, some banks don\u2019t offer any other way,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n \u201cSince then, we\u2019ve gained fantastic screens, biometrics sensors and trusted environments on phones, as well as moving swiftly from 3G to 4G (with 5G imminent). This has made life easier and fraud harder \u2014 but not impossible. Biometrics are now vital for protecting us when our phones are broken, lost or changed and are no longer there to safeguard us. <\/p>\n \u201cHuge strides in machine-learning technology have also revolutionised fintech. Face-matching used to work badly, and now it is superb. We can now extract meaning from all kinds of large datasets, to provide advice, insight, and alerts, improving everyone\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Apple may have unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, but the smartphone truly became ubiquitous in the 2010s. Compared to other tech advancements, the evolution of the smartphone has likely had the most significant influence on our day-to-day lives, according to Liviu Arsene, global cyber security researcher at Bitdefender.<\/p>\n \u201cSmartphones have become indispensable to both our private and work lives, growing more powerful in terms of performance and packing a wide range of sensors and technologies, such as cameras that record 4K videos, GPS for navigation, microphones, fingerprint scanners, near-field communication, Bluetooth, and high speed wifi,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n \u201cSmartphones can easily replace a laptop, while offering more mobility, flexibility, and availability, allowing everyone to stay connected and online every second. Activities that required desktops or laptops \u2014 from shopping, banking, email, and social networking, all the way to security authentication, gaming, and photo or video shooting \u2014 are now part of the smartphone experience. Smartphones can even replace your credit card or serve as a second authentication factor for suspicious transactions. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThey have changed the way we interact with each other, the way we work, and the way we consume content.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with smartphones, so too has social media <\/a>become a dominant force this past decade \u2014 though perhaps a less positive one.<\/p>\n In addition to Facebook, which became mainstream in the mid-2000s, we now spend our lives on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Careers can be made (and ruined) based on what someone tweets or the photos they post online. <\/p>\n But Karen Boswell, chief experience officer EMEA of marketing agency VMLY&R, warns that there are problems across social media.<\/p>\n \u201cChat is riddled everywhere with targeted ads within communities across the web. Hate crimes are enabled, beliefs are attacked, trolls and bots run riot, and fake news drowns out real problems. Social media needs governance, just as every other industry. The tiny steps taken so far to reduce abuse are too small, and we need deeper commitment to reengineering the very fundamentals of how a third of the planet is connected through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the like. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re speeding into the fourth industrial revolution, and I do believe tighter rules are needed.\u201d<\/p>\nBiometrics & fintech<\/h2>\n
Smartphones<\/h2>\n
Social media<\/h2>\n
Cyber crime<\/h2>\n