E-Business
IBM Reveals 5 Innovations That Will Change Lives
IBM has unveiled the eighth annual “IBM 5 in 5” (#ibm5in5) – a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and interact during the next five years.
This year’s IBM 5 in 5 explores the idea that everything will learn – driven by a new era of cognitive systems where machines will learn, reason and engage with us in a more natural and personalized way.
These innovations are beginning to emerge enabled by cloud computing, big data analytics and learning technologies all coming together, with the appropriate privacy and security considerations, for consumers, citizens, students and patients.
Over time these computers will get smarter and more customized through interactions with data, devices and people, helping us take on what may have been seen as unsolvable problems by using all the information that surrounds us and bringing the right insight or suggestion to our fingertips right when it’s most needed.
A new era in computing will lead to breakthroughs that will amplify human abilities, assist us in making good choices, look out for us and help us navigate our world in powerful new ways.
“We know more now than any other generation at any time has known. And yet, we struggle to keep up with this flood of increasingly complex information, let alone make sense of the meaning that is inherent in the massive amounts of data we are acquiring at ever faster rates,” said Dr. Dario Gil, Director, Cognitive Experience Lab, IBM.
“By creating technology that is explicitly designed to learn and enhance our cognition we will usher in a new era of progress for both individuals and for society at large.”
The IBM 5 in 5 is based on market and societal trends as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s Research labs around the world that can make these transformations possible.
Here are the five predictions that will define the future and impact us at a personal level:
The classroom will learn you
The number of individuals who don’t have a sufficient education is a major global challenge.
Estimates show that, on a global basis, nearly 2 out of every 3 adults have not achieved the equivalent of a high school education.
What if a student could go through their entire stages of education and master the skills critical to meeting their personal goals in life?
The classroom of the future will give educators the tools to learn about every student, providing them with a tailored curriculum from kindergarten to high school and on to employment.
In the next five years the classroom will learn about each student using longitudinal data such as test scores, attendance and student’s behavior on e-learning platforms, not just aptitude tests.
Sophisticated analytics delivered over the cloud will provide decision support to teachers so they can predict students who are most at risk, their roadblocks, and then suggest measures to help students conquer their challenges based on their individual learning style.
IBM scientists are already getting to work in the classroom. In a first-of-a-kind research project with Gwinnett County Public Schools, the 14th largest school district in the US, IBM will leverage big data analytics and learning technologies for population analysis of longitudinal student records.
The project aims to identify similarities of learning, predict performance and learning needs, then align specific content and successful teaching techniques to improve outcomes for each of the district’s 170,000 students and ultimately increase the district’s graduation rate.
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Buying local will beat online
Shopping online is a national past time. Online sales topped $1 trillion worldwide for the first time last year, and are growing faster than in-store sales.
Online stores currently have an advantage in their ability to learn from the choices we make on the web.
Today, most physical stores are limited to the insights they can gain at the point of sale – and the trend of showrooming is making it harder to compete with online retailers who compete solely on price.
In five years, new innovations will make buying local du jour once again. Savvy retailers will use the immediacy of the store and proximity to customers to create experiences that cannot be replicated by online-only retail.
They will magnify the digital experience by bringing the web right to where the shopper can physically touch it.
In five years, retailers could rely on Watson-like technologies to equip sales associates to be expert about every product in the store.
With technologies such as augmented reality and the recently announced plan to open Watson as an app development platform, IBM is providing shoppers with better in-store browsing and buying experiences.
As mobile devices supported by cloud computing enable individuals to share what makes them tick, their health or nutritional needs, virtual closets and social networks, retailers will soon be able to anticipate with incredible accuracy the products a shopper most wants and needs.
As a result, stores will transform into immersive destinations with experiences customized for each individual.
And given their proximity and multiple footprints, stores will be able to offer shoppers a variety of fast pick-up or delivery options, wherever the customer is. Two day shipping will feel like snail mail.
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Doctors will routinely use your DNA to keep you well
Cancer is a complicated disease and despite tremendous advances in research and treatment, the incidence of cancer has risen more than 10 percent since 2008, striking more than 14 million patients and claiming the lives of 8.1 million every year around the world.
Imagine if treatment could be more specific and precise – where computers could help doctors understand how a tumor affects a patient down to their DNA and present a collective set of medications shown to best attack the cancer.
In five years, advances in big data analytics and emerging cloud-based cognitive systems coupled with breakthroughs in genomic research and testing could help doctors to accurately diagnose cancer and create personalized cancer treatment plans for millions of patients around the world.
Smart machines will take the output of full genome sequencing and scour vast repositories of medical records and publications to learn and quickly provide specific and actionable insights on treatment options for oncologists.
Cancer care, personalized right down to a genomic level, has been on the horizon since scientists first sequenced the human genome, but few clinicians have access to the tools and time to assess the insights available at this level.
Within five years, cloud-based cognitive systems could make such personalized medicine available at a scale and speed never before possible.
IBM is beginning to explore this opportunity, working with health care partners to develop systems that could deliver genomic insights and reduce the time it takes to find the right treatment for a patient from weeks and months to days and minutes.
These systems are destined to get even smarter over time by learning about people, their genomic information and response to drugs – opening up the possibility to provide DNA-specific personalized treatment options for conditions such as stroke and heart disease.
Through the cloud, smarter healthcare could scale to reach more people in more locations, while also giving a global community of healthcare providers access to vital information.
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A digital guardian will protect you online
Today we have multiple IDs and devices than ever before, yet security is highly fragmented, leaving us vulnerable. In 2012 there were more than 12 million victims of identity fraud in the United States.
Traditional approaches to security — passwords, anti-virus or a firewall – are not comprehensive.
These rules-based approaches fall short in several ways – they are designed to recognize only known viruses or known fraudulent activity and typically only look at a single source of data.
In five years, each of us could be protected with our own digital guardian that will become trained to focus on the people and items it is entrusted with, offering a new level of identity theft protection.
Security will assimilate contextual, situational and historical data to verify a person’s identity on different devices.
By learning about users, a digital guardian can make inferences about what’s normal or reasonable activity and what’s not, acting as an advisor when they want it to.
Today, IBM scientists are using machine learning technologies to understand the behaviors of mobile devices on a network in order to assess potential risk.
In the future, security is going to become more agile and contextual with a 360 degree of data, devices and applications, ready to spot deviations that could be precursors to an attack and a stolen identity.
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The city will help you live in it
By 2030, the towns and cities of the developing world will make up 80 percent of urban humanity and by 2050, seven out of every 10 people will be a city dweller.
In five years smarter cities understand in real time how billions of events occur as computers learn to understand what people need, what they like, what they do, and how they move from place to place.
Soon it will be possible for cities and their leaders to understand and digest new information freely provided by citizens, knowing which city resources are needed, where and when, so the city can dynamically optimize around the needs of the citizens.
Mobile devices and social engagement will enable citizens to strike up a relationship with their city leaders.
This concept is already in motion, for example, in Brazil, IBM researchers are working on a crowdsourcing tool that allows users to report accessibility problems, via their mobile phones, to help people with disabilities better navigate challenges in urban streets.
While in Uganda, UNICEF is collaborating with IBM on a social engagement tool that lets youth communicate with their government and community leaders on issues affecting their lives.
These types of tools will become commonplace in helping city leaders identify trending concerns or urgent matters and immediately take action where needed.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has introduced so-called Nigeria’s Certified Cloud Register, regulatory framework developed under the agency’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative to determine which cloud providers are authorized to handle sensitive data, such as banking records.
In effect, from October, NITDA requires banks, fintech companies and other regulated organisations to source cloud infrastructure providers from a national register of certified firms approved to host sensitive financial and government data.
The Certified Cloud Register, is expected to strengthen data sovereignty, improve regulatory oversight and support the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) data localisation policy, which takes effect on January 1, 2027.
Under the framework, banks, fintechs, government institutions and other regulated entities will be able to verify whether cloud service providers, data centre operators, managed service providers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure companies have met NITDA’s certification requirements before entrusting them with critical digital workloads.
The initiative is expected to provide regulated institutions with a standardised process for selecting cloud infrastructure providers that satisfy Nigeria’s technical, security and regulatory requirements.
According to NITDA, the framework establishes “a common national standard, an independent assessment process and a public register of approved providers that banks, fintechs and government institutions can rely on when selecting cloud infrastructure partners.”
The register is expected to become a key compliance tool ahead of the CBN’s directive, which requires all payment transaction data generated within Nigeria to be stored and processed locally, effective from January 1, 2027.
The policy applies to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, payment service providers, switching companies and other financial institutions.
The certification regime is also expected to reshape Nigeria’s cloud computing ecosystem, making regulatory approval a major requirement for cloud providers seeking to handle sensitive data for regulated industries.
Figures cited by NITDA showed that Nigeria’s 10 largest banks spent about N177.91 billion on information technology in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 31 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.
A sizeable portion of the investment currently supports cloud infrastructure hosted outside Nigeria, a trend the new certification framework is expected to address by encouraging greater utilisation of compliant local infrastructure.
NITDA said the certification programme will apply the same technical and regulatory standards to indigenous cloud providers and international hyperscale operators, creating a level playing field for all companies seeking to provide cloud services to regulated sectors.
The agency also disclosed that more than 85 per cent of Nigerian businesses currently rely on cloud services, with the majority using infrastructure hosted outside the country.
It said the new framework is aimed at improving confidence in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure while promoting local capacity and enhancing oversight of critical national data.
Speaking on the objective of the initiative, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director-general of NITDA, said the programme is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy rather than exclude foreign technology companies.
According to him, the initiative is intended “to redefine the terms under which Nigeria participates in the global digital economy rather than isolate the country from international technology providers.”
The Certified Cloud Register forms part of broader efforts by the Federal Government to deepen digital trust, strengthen cybersecurity and ensure that critical financial and public sector data are managed in line with Nigeria’s evolving data governance and sovereignty objectives.
At the recent Cyber Security Weekend 2026 conference, Kaspersky shared the findings from its survey titled “Cybersecurity in the workplace: Employee knowledge and behaviour” which was conducted among employees from the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region.
The study highlights that everyday IT habits, including decluttering computers and reducing digital fatigue, can have a direct and often underestimated impact on an organisation’s cyber resilience.
The Kaspersky survey points to a growing challenge of digital fatigue in the workplace. 13.5% of employees surveyed in the META region confirmed that they made IT-related mistakes due to a lack of cybersecurity knowledge – a figure that shows the critical importance of continuous cybersecurity training and awareness programmes.
Among other reasons behind IT mistakes, respondents cited being in a hurry (30%), oversight (14%), being tired or stressed (12.9%) and having too many notifications (10%). The constant barrage of alerts, messages, and on-screen clutter is becoming an acute problem that can lead to costly IT errors, overlooked social engineering attacks, and even to cyber breaches.
The survey also examined employees’ digital workspace habits. An overwhelming 44.5% of respondents in the META region reported having between 10 and 20 icons on their desktop, while 30% admitted to having even more – with half to a full screen covered in them.
Meanwhile, 33% of respondents also keep more than 10 tabs open in their browser at any given time. Excessive icons and open tabs do more than distract attention and fuel procrastination – they can slow device performance and, in the case of unused applications, quietly collect data.
Interestingly, most employees regularly disinfect their keyboards and phone surfaces (21.5% have adopted this habit since the COVID pandemic). However, digital cleanliness has not kept pace: 55% of respondents remove needless files once a month or more often; the rest perform digital clean-ups far less frequently – once a quarter, or even once a year.
Managing digital noise is key to staying alert: only essential notifications should remain active, especially during periods of deep focus on critical project deliverables. Regular breaks are just as vital for maintaining both well-being and cyber vigilance.
According to the survey, 78% of respondents spend their work breaks eating or drinking, while 58% chat with friends and colleagues. However, stretching and physical exercise is a more effective way to relieve stress and recharge focus – a habit adopted by only 14% of employees.
“It is important to recognise that digital fatigue is a real and growing stress factor: the constant stream of notifications, cluttered screens, and information overload gradually erode focus and make employees far more susceptible to mistakes and social engineering attacks. Simplifying your digital environment is not just a productivity tip, it is a cybersecurity measure”, says Brandon Muller, senior security consultant for the META region at Kaspersky.
Pan-African digital rights organisation Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has warned that violent extremist groups are increasingly exploiting digital platforms to recruit, radicalise and manipulate young people across the Sahel region.
The organisation raised the concern in a new policy brief titled “Digital Frontlines: Countering Online Radicalisation and Violent Extremist Narratives in the Sahel.”
According to the publication, extremist groups are shifting from traditional recruitment methods to digital platforms, including social media, encrypted messaging applications, short-form video platforms and online financial incentives, to target vulnerable populations.
PIN noted that unemployed youths and people facing insecurity and limited economic opportunities are particularly susceptible to online recruitment campaigns.
The organisation said that although governments have intensified efforts to combat violent extremism, responses to the digital dimension of the threat have failed to keep pace with rapidly evolving online tactics.
It argued that addressing online radicalisation requires more than surveillance and restrictive measures, recommending investments in digital literacy, stronger community resilience, improved early-warning systems and credible counter-narratives.
PIN also urged governments to work closely with technology companies and civil society organisations to disrupt extremist recruitment while protecting citizens’ digital rights.
The report further highlighted the growing convergence between organised crime and violent extremist groups, noting that online propaganda increasingly promises financial rewards, belonging and purpose to vulnerable young people.
According to the organisation, this trend underscores the need for policymakers to prioritise prevention alongside conventional security responses.
Speaking on the findings, Moussa Waly SENE, Programmes Officer for Francophone Africa at Paradigm Initiative, described the digital space as a new frontline in the fight against violent extremism.
“As more young Africans come online, stakeholders must ensure that digital platforms remain spaces for opportunity, innovation and civic participation, not recruitment grounds for violent extremist groups. Protecting digital rights and protecting vulnerable communities should be mutually reinforcing objectives,” he said.
Among its recommendations, the policy brief called for stronger regional cooperation to tackle cross-border online extremist networks, rights-respecting content moderation and greater accountability by digital platforms.
It also advocated expanded digital literacy programmes to strengthen resilience against online manipulation and community-led initiatives that empower young people to identify and reject extremist narratives.
The organisation further urged policymakers to develop security measures that balance national security objectives with the protection of privacy, freedom of expression and access to information.
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