What is technologicalization?
Technologicalization is not a standard dictionary word. TACTQ Insights used it, styled “Techno-logicalization”, as the title of its guide to the technology trends to watch in 2020 [1], to mean the spread of technology into every part of work and daily life: “a world of autonomous operation”, in the words of its infographic above. The ten trends it covers are Gartner’s top 10 strategic technology trends for 2020 [2].
Gartner defines a strategic technology trend as one with substantial disruptive potential that is breaking out of an emerging state into broader use, or is growing fast and reaching tipping points over the next five years [2]. It sorted the 2020 list under one idea, “people-centric smart spaces”: put the people affected by technology at the centre, then build physical environments where people and connected systems interact [2].
The people-centric technology trends
The first five trends are about how technology changes what people can do and how they are treated.
Hyperautomation combines machine learning, packaged software and automation tools to carry out work. It covers every step of automating a process: discover, analyse, design, automate, measure, monitor and reassess [2]. The trend was kicked off by robotic process automation (RPA), but Gartner was clear that RPA alone is not hyperautomation; it takes a combination of tools [2]. TACTQ adds digital twins of the organisation and intelligent business management software to the toolkit [1].
Multiexperience is the shift in how people perceive and interact with the digital world: conversational platforms change interaction, and virtual, augmented and mixed reality change perception [2]. Gartner’s Brian Burke summed it up as a move “from one of technology-literate people to one of people-literate technology”, with the burden of translating intent moving from the user to the computer [2].
Democratization of expertise gives people access to technical or business expertise without extensive and costly training. Citizen data scientists, citizen developers and no-code tools are examples. Gartner expected four areas to accelerate through 2023: data and analytics, development, design and knowledge [2].
Human augmentation uses technology to improve people physically and cognitively. Physical augmentation includes wearables and implants; cognitive augmentation comes through information and applications on computers and new interfaces [2]. TACTQ describes it as a combination of hyperautomation, democratization, edge devices and autonomous things [1].
Transparency and traceability is the response to consumers wanting control of their personal data and governments legislating for it. Gartner said organisations should focus on three areas: AI and machine learning; personal data privacy, ownership and control; and ethically aligned design [2].
The smart spaces technology trends
The other five trends are about the infrastructure that makes smart spaces work. TACTQ’s guide names these but leaves the detail for a second part [1], so the explanations below are Gartner’s [2].
- Empowered edge: edge computing places processing and data collection closer to where the information is produced and used, cutting latency. Robots, drones and autonomous vehicles were expected to accelerate it.
- Distributed cloud: public cloud services run in different locations, while the original provider stays responsible for operating and updating them.
- Autonomous things: physical devices such as robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and appliances that use AI to do tasks people used to do, eventually working together in swarms.
- Practical blockchain: tracing assets to their origin, tracking food through a supply chain, identity management and smart contracts. Gartner said blockchain was still immature for enterprise use because of poor scalability and interoperability.
- AI security: protecting AI-powered systems, using AI to strengthen defences and anticipating attackers’ use of AI.
How the 2020 technology trends played out
Looking back, the list mixed trends that became everyday business tools with some that stayed niche. Automation tools, no-code and low-code platforms, voice assistants and AI-powered security moved into the mainstream, and the arrival of generative AI chat tools from late 2022 pushed “people-literate technology” much further than most 2019 forecasts imagined. Practical enterprise blockchain, by contrast, remained limited, much as Gartner’s own caution suggested [2]. Treat the 2020 list as a snapshot of what analysts expected at the time rather than a current forecast.
Corrections to the figures in the guide
Two of the quoted figures need care. The guide says nearly 70% of organisations would be exposed to personal data archiving by 2020, “a 60% rise” from 10% in 2018 [1]. A move from 10% to 70% is a rise of 60 percentage points, which is a sevenfold increase, not a 60% rise (our arithmetic). The guide also quotes a forecast that by 2025 a scarcity of data scientists would no longer hinder the adoption of data science and machine learning in organisations [1]. That is a forecast, not a finding.
A few labels also differ from Gartner’s: the guide’s “Reaccess” step in hyperautomation is Gartner’s “reassess” [2].
Questions about technology trends for 2020
What are Gartner’s top 10 strategic technology trends for 2020?
Hyperautomation, multiexperience, democratization, human augmentation, transparency and traceability, empowered edge, distributed cloud, autonomous things, practical blockchain and AI security [2].
What is hyperautomation?
The combination of machine learning, packaged software and automation tools to deliver work, covering every step from discovering a process to monitoring and reassessing it. Robotic process automation alone is not hyperautomation [2].
What is a smart space in technology?
Gartner’s David Cearley described it as a physical environment in which people and technology-enabled systems interact in increasingly open, connected, coordinated and intelligent ecosystems [2].
What does people-literate technology mean?
Technology that understands people through speech, gesture and other senses, so users no longer need to learn how to operate the computer. Gartner contrasted it with the old model of technology-literate people [2].
Sources
- TACTQ Insights, Technology Trends to Watch in 2020, the creator’s article with this infographic (Internet Archive copy, 28 November 2021).
- Gartner, Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020, press release, 21 October 2019 (Internet Archive copy).
Last reviewed 2 November 2026
