"The need to capture and manage Big Data is daunting, but not as daunting as the need to understand and analyze all you’ve captured," says Jill T. Singer, CIO of the National Reconnaissance Office and an upcoming speaker at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York. "2013 will see increased emphasis on making sense of Big Data rather than just making Big Data," she adds. And "cloud computing", she predicts, "will be a phrase used by the masses."

1.       2013 will see increased emphasis on making sense of Big Data rather than just making Big Data. The need to capture and manage Big Data is daunting but not as daunting as the need to understand and analyze all you've captured. 

2.       Cloud Computing will not be a "buzzword" or "catch phrase."  It will be a phrase used by the masses, generally understood by the masses, and simply taken for granted as the place where "my stuff" is available.

3.       Significant gains in employee productivity will be realized through a combination of cloud computing, big data/business analytics, and touch screen computer monitors.

4.       US companies will emerge as the leaders in the big data and business analytics fields, increasing US employment and revenues.

5.       Major metropolitan areas will seriously consider innovative automobile solutions to gridlock traffic and fender-benders, including more cars that drive themselves or something like gaited driving platforms (physical breaks between cars to force movement at speed and within lanes).  Meanwhile, corporations and government will remarkably increase use of telework and desktop VTCs to demonstrate environmental responsibility (and, oh yeah, save money).

6.       Large US corporations and large Federal buildings will be required to provide electric automobile charging stations to promote alternative fuel cars.

7.       A significant breach in corporate security will fuel improvements in and expanded use of biometrics for two- and three-way authentication for corporate information access.  Identity theft will drive similar implementations for home computer use.

8.       The US public will grow increasingly frustrated by nation-based cyber espionage events and demand a stronger US stance against such predators.

9.       Credit and debit cards will go the way of paper checks. Payments by mobile phone will surge in 2013 due to electronic encryption and additional user-friendly protections.  Meanwhile, major insurance companies will introduce new products to cover losses associated with our indispensable mobile phones, wrestling basic "device broken/lost/stolen" insurance away from wireless carriers.

10. A sizeable shift will occur in how entertainment content is delivered to the home, marking the first real move away from traditional cable and satellite providers.  On-demand, wireless access to "television" programs at the ultimate convenience of the viewer will be increasingly popular.