What Are the 10 Tech Trends Shaping the Post-Pandemic Era?

Alibaba DAMO Academy released its 2021 Top Ten Technology Trends, the third annual forecast since its founding, emphasizing how foundational technologies will evolve in the post‑pandemic era.

Trend 1: Third‑generation semiconductors (GaN, SiC) spark an application boom

GaN and SiC offer high‑temperature, high‑voltage, high‑frequency, high‑power, and radiation‑resistant properties. Recent advances in material growth and device fabrication have improved cost‑performance, leading to uses in 5G base stations, new‑energy vehicles, ultra‑high‑voltage transmission, and data centers.

Trend 2: Post‑"quantum supremacy" era focuses on quantum error correction and practical advantage

2020 marked the first year after achieving quantum supremacy, with growing investment and diverse platforms. In 2021, the focus shifts to demonstrating practical value, achieving quantum error correction, and solving scientific and engineering challenges to reach useful quantum advantage.

Trend 3: Carbon‑based technology breakthroughs accelerate flexible electronics

Flexible electronics retain performance after bending, stretching, or folding, enabling wearables, electronic skin, and flexible displays. Recent progress in carbon nanotubes and graphene provides high‑quality, large‑area carbon materials that outperform silicon in comparable sizes.

Trend 4: AI boosts drug and vaccine R&D efficiency

AI is widely used in medical imaging and record management, and is now advancing into vaccine and drug development by accelerating compound screening, disease modeling, target discovery, lead optimization, and reducing time and cost.

Trend 5: Brain‑computer interfaces help humans surpass biological limits

BCI enables direct communication between the brain and external devices, offering precise control for patients who cannot speak or move, and supports applications such as robotic arm manipulation.

Trend 6: Data processing achieves autonomy and self‑evolution

Exponential data growth strains traditional processing with high storage costs and complex management. AI‑driven automation—such as intelligent tiering, anomaly detection, auto‑tuning, and workload generation—reduces operational costs and enables self‑optimizing data systems.

Trend 7: Cloud‑native reshapes the IT technology stack

Cloud‑native architectures leverage distributed, scalable cloud resources, allowing developers to focus on application logic while abstracting infrastructure, ultimately lowering costs, accelerating iteration, and expanding the reach of cloud technologies.

Trend 8: Agriculture enters the data‑intelligent era

IoT, AI, and cloud computing integrate with agriculture to provide real‑time field data, enabling precision breeding, resource allocation, and traceable logistics through sensors, big‑data analytics, and blockchain, moving farming away from reliance on weather.

Trend 9: Industrial internet shifts from point intelligence to global intelligence

Improved digital infrastructure and pandemic‑driven digital resilience push manufacturers toward end‑to‑end intelligent decision‑making across supply chain, production, assets, logistics, and sales, especially in sectors with strong IT foundations.

Trend 10: Smart operation centers become standard for future cities

Smart cities have improved governance but revealed gaps during COVID‑19. Future urban operation centers will harness AIoT, spatial computing, and digital twins to provide real‑time, fine‑grained services and become core digital infrastructure.