1. Listening Beyond the Mainstream

If there’s one thing I can tell you, from the perspective of a tech and gadget fan from the early eighties to the present, it’s that engaging with niche tech communities helps to uncover emerging trends before they hit the big time. It’s obvious advice to follow industry news, attend tech conferences, and engage with online communities but you should also keep across platforms like Reddit and specialised forums where early adopters, inventors, and innovators often talk about emerging trends before they become headlines. Case in point, the UK’s very own www.avforums.com is a great source of in-depth and technical conversation about audio visual technology from phenomenally well-informed consumers and experts. If I was in the AV space with my startup, I’d be knee-deep with these guys. There are also some off-piste tech events in the maker and tinkerer space where you can often see unusual proof of concepts that can inspire your next start-up venture or help solve a product problem. One I remember attending with The Gadget Show is, Kinnernet, which organisers describe as a ‘wild, out of the box, irreverent, bottom-up (festival of) innovation, creativity and cultural unconference created in 2013.’ I seem to remember that this ‘unconference’ insists on ‘radical participation’, meaning that if you attend, you’re expected to exhibit something creative, truly innovative and often funny! I remember when the MC entered the space when we attended, whizzing into the room sat atop a spinning robot! Talk about ‘out of the box’ thinking!

2. Learn from the competition

Ok, so heads-up, that title was a play on words! In my capacity as TV tech face, I’m often asked to host tech innovation competitions. I’ve worked with companies like BP and John Lewis in the past on judging panels for new tech ideas. Some of the ideas have been truly mind-blowing – like the student from India who had invented a new turnstile that only used electricity when you had the wrong ticket to prevent access – rather than opening and closing for every visitor. The energy savings were off the scale. All he’d done was make the turnstile deeper, so that if someone tried to run through, it would have time to close. ‘Not even Usain Bolt could make it through,’ he proudly told me and the judges. I mention this because if we agree that these kinds of competitions, especially those featuring young graduates with genuinely new ideas are the places we see new tech trends and fresh innovation, then perhaps we should think about finding them, sponsoring such events or perhaps establishing our own!

3. Be aware of the ‘cross-over’ factor.

Sometimes the next big trend comes from an unexpected or adjacent industry. For example, advancements in healthcare technology are often influenced by consumer tech and vice versa. Gamification has become a buzzword in UI design circles, largely because innovative thinkers in fields like healthcare and education recognized the crossover potential of their eleven-year-old’s Nintendo Switch experience. By incorporating game design elements into user interfaces, they've revolutionised how we engage with all kinds of services, platforms and technologies, making non-gaming experiences more interactive and enjoyable.

However, that broad approach to innovation isn’t always embraced across all industries. For years, the automotive sector seemed stuck in an oil-and-wrenches mentality, while the rest of the world embraced the internet, apps, and other connected innovation. It’s only relatively recently that car manufacturers have realized their four-wheeled creations are potential hubs for connected leisure and customer service. Cars are now integrated platforms for customer experiences and entertainment ecosystems, finally catching up with the digital revolution that has transformed other industries, gains that for years were missed, because the crossover potential of other sectors was ignored.

Predicting the next big tech trend requires a blend of vigilance, analysis, and curiosity. By keeping a finger on less immediately obvious pulses, you can position yourself to not just catch the next wave but to invent it.

After 20 years of the television show, Jason Bradbury has reunited with Suzi Perry to launch The Gadget Show Podcast, together they cover the latest technologies and gadgets. Listen to it here: https://www.thegadgetshow.co.uk/