A recent study by Virgin Media Business has offered readers a glimpse of what life in Britain might be like by 2025, with mobile technology and superfast networks at its heart.
The Generation IP:2025 study, carried out by Virgin Media in conjunction with The Future Laboratory, shines a light on how data and connectivity will determine the way people interact.
"In 2012, businesses already have the opportunity to deploy a more agile and mobile workforce with fast secure networks transferring data safely and at lightning speeds," said Virgin Media Business in a statement.
We no longer morph between business people in the day and consumers in the evening.
"Soon, it will be time to make way for 5G self-organising networks and multi-antenna transmission arrays, which will connect UK cities faster than ever."
Speaking to IT Pro, Mark Heraghty, managing director of Virgin Media Business, said, in less than five years time, he expects most pieces of street furniture will have a device on, offering data connectivity to people wherever they are.
"Cities desperately need to become super connected," he said. "The challenge [in this] is enormous...you have to have the willingness and active participation of the town and city council, because otherwise it just takes too long."
The economic benefits garnered by pushing ahead with schemes like this are many, he added, particularly for the healthcare and education sectors.
"With the right services and the right interface, people will start to get used to technology in healthcare...you'll see a lot of smart monitoring being done for elderly care," he claimed.
"I see a world where the increasingly aged population could have a much more long-term solution to stay in their own homes...rather than bundling them off to nursing homes."
He also predicts that, with better connectivity at their disposal, more classrooms might go through the "gamification" process, whereby learning becomes more interactive and technology-led.
"It's not unusual now for school children to develop apps and, in some cases, bring them to market and make quite a lot of money from them," he added. "That could never have happened [before]."
Office life will also be radically different in the future, because workers will have the capability to be more mobile than ever before.
"You and I no longer morph between business people in the day and consumers in the evening. Those boundaries are being blurred...and the evolution of technology will put more people in control," explained Heraghty.
However, he admits some people might view the study with some scepticism because they are uncomfortable with the prospect of technological change.
"There were lots of luddites in the 19th century who were very resistant to change and we will always have a section of society that is uncomfortable with change," he explained.
"The difference this time around is technology is being made more human."
