NI cites trends in two new reports

What trends are you on the lookout for in the year ahead? You might want to check your predictions with those of technologists at National Instruments, which has just released two significant reports: “NI Trend Watch 2014” and “Automated Test Outlook 2014.”

The new “NI Trend Watch” is NI's inaugural effort in this area, and it cites these key areas of significance:

• cyberphysical systems—developing systems that continuously and dynamically interact with their environment through the coupling of distributed computational and physical components (a topic of interest at last year's NIWeek and NIDays events);
• Big Analog Data—connecting IT infrastructures and analytic tools, such as the cloud, with data acquisition systems to make faster decisions on test data (another topic addressed at NIDays);
• RF/wireless—revolutionizing the wireless industry by integrating a range of technologies including software defined radio into RF test equipment;
• models of computation—integrating multiple programming approaches into a single environment to simplify complex distributed and real-time applications;
• mobile communication—using mobile devices as user interfaces in measurement and control systems; and
• STEM education—preparing students with cross-disciplinary approaches to engineering (yet another NIDays topic).

“Automated Test Outlook 2014” represents a continuation of NI's annual issuance of such reports. This year's edition deals with these trends:

• business strategy—improving organizational proficiency through smarter hiring and more investment in training,
• architecture—employing new technologies to enable test managers to lower test costs and maximize uptime,
• computing—using cloud computing for test to alleviate scalability and performance concerns,
• software—relying on scalable test software architectures to maximize longevity and scalability across a product's lifecycle, and
• I/O—developing agile test solutions to address the significant growth of integrated sensors.

I'll have much more to say about both these reports. Meanwhile, you can download “NI Trend Watch 2014” and “Automated Test Outlook 2014“