Since 1985, we’ve used the word ‘app’ to describe any software program that runs your laptop, smartphone, tablet or smart device. Back then, apps simply focused on things like email, calendars and the weather. Powering into the future, apps are catering to a diverse range of tasks from shopping and banking to social networking. It’s easy to see why we’ve already downloaded over 40 billion apps – a number that’s going to grow astronomically by 2020.

As broadband-enabled opportunities emerge, we are set for a proliferation of devices and a change in the way we interact through apps. In fact, Cisco predicts that by 2020 the average person will own six different smart devices connecting us to over 37 billion ‘things’, from cows in the field to our car or our fridge door through the Internet. Because of the transformation and disruption this ‘Internet of Everything‘ will create, Australians need to start planning for a world where more people, information and things will be connected than ever before. It will make networked connections more relevant and valuable – creating new capabilities, richer experiences and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals and countries. As devices evolve and become embedded with sensors, they will gain the ability to communicate. The resulting information networks that form between devices promise to create new business models, improve business processes and open up a whole new world of services.

To help us better understand how these new services will work in our future homes, we’ve released the ‘App-treneur’s Guide to Broadband Connected Services’. It features a variety of perspectives from a number industry experts from organizations including Intel, iiNet, Foxtel, NBN Co, Pottinger and NICTA. As well as showcasing industry trends in the future of broadband-enabled applications and services, the report also outlines some of the innovative application ideas being developed today. Over the next month, we will be posting some of the key trends from the report which bring to life examples of the apps we are going to see in entertainment, media, energy and health.

Check out our video on some of the broadband applications we might see in the future:

Media: Dan Chamberlain. P: +61 2 9372 4491. M: 0477 708 849. Email: daniel.chamberlain@csiro.au