Top 10 Strategic Technologies Impacting Higher Education in 2019

Gartner has identified the top 10 strategic technologies impacting higher education in 2019. The company highlighted the technologies that higher education CIOs should have on their radar this year, especially as they look to enhance their competitive advantage and support emerging business models.

The top 10 strategic technologies impacting higher education in 2019 are:

1. Next-Generation Security and Risk Management

There are a variety of factors, global regulatory compliance, growing IoT landscape, expanding software as a service (SaaS) portfolio, that are starting to force higher education institutions to address security and risk matters with a multidimensional strategy.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Conversational Interface

AI conversational interfaces are a subset of conversational user interfaces (CUIs), in which user and machine interactions occur in the user’s spoken or written natural language. CUIs place responsibility on the machine interface to learn what the user wants, rather than the user having to learn the software, saving user time, increasing student satisfaction, and being available to use 24/7.

3. Smart Campus

A smart campus is a physical or digital environment in which humans and technology-enabled systems interact to create more immersive and automated experiences for university stakeholders. Smart campus initiatives are still in the early stages, but there has been a rising interest across higher education institutions.

4. Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics use historical data to recognize patterns and assess likely outcomes using statistical or machine learning techniques. They can assist in everything from calculating student demand for a certain course or identifying students at risk of failing, dropping out or transferring.

5. Nudge Tech

Nudge tech is a collection of technologies, cloud, mobile, social and data, that work together to achieve timely personalized interaction with students, staff and faculty, such as a just-in-time text reminder for class.

6. Digital Credentialing Technologies

Digital credentials are a natural evolution from traditional credentials in eliminating fraud. The maturity of technologies like blockchain and data encryption, coupled with the evolution of professional networking sites, are driving a change in the delivery of higher education credentials.

7. Hybrid Integration Platforms

Educational institutions are increasingly adopting cloud-based business applications, resulting in a hybrid portfolio of cloud and on-premises systems. Adding to the complexity of the multiple integration capabilities that the hybrid approach requires is the presence of the educational institution’s customer relationship manager (CRM) and learning management system (LMS) tools. A hybrid integration platform (HIP) leverages the best in-the-cloud and on-premises integration approaches, and is rapidly becoming the reference framework for next-generation integration infrastructure.

8. Career Software

The importance of career software has peaked globally as educational institutions become increasingly accountable for their students’ outcomes after graduation.

9. Student Cross-Life Cycle CRM

Student cross-life cycle CRMs create a campus-wide, 360-degree view of a student across his or her major educational phases, beginning with precollege and moving through prospect, applicant, enrolled, graduated and alumni statuses. Historically, most higher education CRM deployments have been driven from the functional needs of individual departments without enabling a single view of the student.

10. Wireless Presentation Technologies

Wireless presentation technologies allow users to project material from a computer or mobile device onto a screen using a wireless network, rather than hard-wired connections like a projector. Wireless presentation technologies are likely to become more important, as higher education institutions move to bring your own device and as the use of mobile technologies, such as tablets, increases.