Cities have always been hubs of technological experimentation, shaped by the people who inhabit them and the tools they use. We can still see the marks, both charming and garish, from technologies of years past -- from old aqueducts to telephone booths to the damage done by cars. The next wave of real-time technologies that will define the next decade are software (rather than hardware) upgrades to the city that will nonetheless transform the way we work, play and live in our physical environments -- our "brick and mortar" cities. And these technologies, each transformative in their own right, when used in combination to develop new products and experiences, will have a multiplying effect on the rate of change we see in urban environments. Demands on networks are doubling every year.

The world currently seems very full of two-letter acronyms, all surrounded by a huge amount of hype. But which will actually change the world, and which will turn out to be niche interests, best left to serious gamers or programmers? Read any kind of predictions article for 2018, and you are bound to find at least one two-letter acronym. There is, of course, considerable overlap between these four, and they can also be used in combination to produce new experiences for consumers or customers. But for the moment, let's keep them separate and consider how each one could be used in business, especially in retail, over the next few years to'change the world'.

Colin O'Donnell is the chief innovation officer of Intersection. Cities have always been hubs of technological experimentation, shaped by the people who inhabit them and the tools they use. We can still see the marks, both charming and garish, from technologies of years past -- from old aqueducts to telephone booths to the damage done by cars. The next wave of real-time technologies that will define the next decade are software (rather than hardware) upgrades to the city that will nonetheless transform the way we work, play and live in our physical environments -- our "brick and mortar" cities. And these technologies, each transformative in their own right, when used in combination to develop new products and experiences, will have a multiplying effect on the rate of change we see in urban environments.