Whether you work in the tech industry or your business uses any kind of technology, keeping up with the latest developments and trends is vital. Things move pretty quickly in the world of tech, and if you’re not careful to follow what’s happening, it could all pass you by. You could be a business owner, a tech expert, or just someone who’s interested in how technology can be used in business. If you want to stay up to date with what’s happening in various tech sectors, there are multiple ways you can ensure you get the information you need. Have a look at some of these options to avoid getting left behind.
Subscribe to Industry Insiders
Whenever you want to stay up to date with anything, you should always turn to the experts first. There are sure to be plenty of people who know a lot more than you, have their finger on the pulse and perhaps are even the innovators and influencers in the industry. The first thing you need to do is find the people you want to follow. This will depend on what sort of tech you’re interested in. You should look for lists of the top people to listen to on the topics that interest you. When you find these people, you can often subscribe to what they have to say in a number of ways. They might have a blog or newsletter, for example, which you can subscribe to so updates come straight into your inbox.
Curate Your Social Media
Social media is the tool to use if you want to find many people to learn from, ranging from big names to people like you. People use it to share their opinions and to have conversations, as well as to market their businesses. Curating the people and pages you follow on social media helps you to find the information and opinions that you need to stay up to date with the latest technology. For example, on Twitter, you can create a list of your favorite people so that you can see what they all have to say on one page instead of sifting through everyone else you follow. You can find a wide range of useful people to follow on different social networks.
Listen to Podcasts
There are lots of different types of media you can enjoy if you want to keep up with the latest developments in technology. Some people prefer to read, while others like to watch or listen. Podcasts can be especially useful for anyone who is often busy or on the move because you can listen to them while doing other things. If you find it’s hard to have the time to keep up with everything, a podcast can help you consume what you need to while driving or sitting at your desk working on a project. Many tech experts now have a podcast, and they’re often completely free.
News Aggregation Sites
Getting the news that matters to you can sometimes be difficult. There’s a lot of information out there, and it can be a struggle to filter through it all and find what you really need to know. One of the tools that can help you out is news aggregation sites, which will pick out the most important news stories for you. You don’t have to search across a range of sites or go through all the material you’re not interested in. You can use sites like Techmeme to help you find what you’re looking for. You’ll get the top stories presented to you, without the need for any time-consuming digging.
Attend Conferences and Events
Not everything you do to keep up with the latest tech needs to be online. Getting out in the “real world” is just as important. Attending events and conferences is one way to meet real people, hear people speak and learn a lot from your experiences.
You can find conferences about devops, green technology, home appliances, IT, and just about any tech field you can think of. A conference could last a single day, or it could be an event that lasts a week. Consider attending both large events and more local ones, which can both offer different opportunities to learn new things.
Get Involved with the Local Tech Scene
If you live somewhere populated enough to have a local technology scene, getting involved can be a great idea. You might need to live in a larger city to find a business networking group that will be useful for you. However, you don’t necessarily need to find anything too specific. Many startup groups have a keen interest in technology and how they can use it to further their businesses. You might find that your local tech or business community organizes events you can attend or can keep you up to date with news via newsletters or even a regular publication, such as a magazine.
Keep Up with the News
Generally being aware of what’s happening in the news around the world is an important way of keeping up with what’s happening in tech. Whether you like to follow the news by reading a newspaper or articles online, listening to the news on the radio or watching TV, you can find out lots of tech stories just from generally paying attention to what’s happening in the world.
Many news sites will have tech sections if they’re not specially dedicated to technology. You can also set up RSS feeds and use other useful tools, like Google Alerts, to receive more relevant news.
Undergo Training
If you’re interested in a particular field and you want to keep your skills and knowledge current, going on a training course sometimes can help you to stay on top. If you’re employed, you might be able to get your employer to send you on some training exercises to help you develop your skills. If you’re a business owner or self-employed, you should weigh up the benefits of paying for a course that could teach you new and profitable things. You don’t necessarily need to go away to attend a course or be in a classroom. You can learn online using various materials and media, from webinars to tutorials and educational documents.
Watch Consumers
Many technologies start off as being important on the consumer side before moving into business. For example, mobile technologies grew in importance for consumers before they started becoming more relevant for enterprise.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to technology, you should look to consumer technology to see what is performing well and growing. Of course, it’s also useful to listen to what the experts have to say. Not every technology that does well on the consumer side will be relevant for business.
Explore Other Industries
Although it’s important to be aware of what’s happening in your specific industry, it’s also useful to look outside of it. Some industries can be far ahead of others when it comes to developments in technology. It’s worth looking at other sectors to see how they are using different technologies and whether it could be something that you could use in your own industry. This is one of the reasons it’s a good idea to network and try to attend different events so that you can learn about a broad range of things and avoid being too insular.
There are many things you can do to keep up with the latest tech developments both in your industry and elsewhere. Find the methods that work for you to stay in touch with what’s happening.
