Technology That Has Changed The World

Technology is evolving at a breakneck pace. Products and capabilities beyond the wildest dreams of innovators just a decade ago are now commonplace realities -- and the rate at which technology develops only seems to be getting exponentially faster.

(Martin Leissl/Bloomberg)
Tech advancements have significantly influenced the business and consumer spheres over the last several years, from 3-D printers to self-driving cars. Ten members of the Forbes Technology Council each shared what they believe to be the most impressive piece of technology from the past five years.

1.Self-Driving Vehicles

I've been a car enthusiast for most of my life, and the past several years have been an exciting time for the intersection of technology and personal transportation. Having personally experienced a self-driving Tesla along with the accident avoidance features in my own car, I would be remiss not to appreciate the minor and major artificial intelligence accomplishments in the car industry. - Tim Maliyil, AlertBoot

2.Voice Interface Technology

Voice recognition is changing user experience and how we operate our daily lives. For example, I use Google Home every waking hour. That is what the power of a new and drastic shift in user interface and user experience can do to help users complete the simplest tasks. -Tyler Shields, Signal Sciences

1. Blockchain

Blockchain is the technology underlying Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin's launch in 2009, no one has been able to counterfeit it. This shows the robustness of Blockchain technology. Blockchain provides a network that enables various stakeholders to transact with trust, security and anonymity. It provides a single source of truth. -Ravi Chamria, Biz2Credit

1. 3-D Printers

I've been most impressed by the rise of consumer 3-D printers. We have gone from complex, costly, single-purpose industrial devices to inexpensive, general-purpose desktop machines that anyone can use. Being able to design and fabricate parts in your own home/shop is liberating and has spawned a resurgence in the DIY movement, encouraging young tech hopefuls to pursue a career in STEM. -Chris Kirby, Voices.com

1. Microservice Architectures

Microservice architectures, based on container technology, have dramatically changed the app lifecycle. Rather than taking months or years to build monolithic apps, developers can now rapidly build them using containers to create manageable microservices and deploy them across private and public clouds. This significantly improves the pace of app rollouts and supporting infrastructure options. - Ranga Rajagopalan, Avi Networks

1. Infrastructure-As-A-Service (IaaS)

It's astounding to consider the breadth, depth, low cost and accessibility of infrastructure-as-a-service tools. Infrastructure expertise and scalability have become commodities, not differentiators, thus fostering competition and the creation of better products and services. - Aaron Rankin, Sprout Social

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1. Big Data Tools

Some impressive technologies are the NoSQL databases and the MapReduce model, both widely used in big data. NoSQL solves the problem of storing gigantic amounts of data. MapReduce provides an algorithm for its efficient analysis. Big companies use these pieces of technology to store and analyze huge data and use it for precise user targeting, machine learning, optical recognition and more. - Ivailo Nikolov, SiteGround

1. Artificial Intelligence

From facilitating semantic data extraction in legacy digital assets to aiding the customer experience with more tailored information, artificial intelligence is the single biggest revolution in technology over the past five years. We've sat on enormous stockpiles of data for the past several years. AI will drive how we consume, learn and execute on this data. - Peter Shankar, Mission Capital

1. Machine Learning

Although machine learning has been around for many years, it's only been over the last five years that it has become available and democratized to all. ML is completely changing the way we process and understand data, from self-driving cars to recommendation systems to intelligent diagnosing tools and advisors to natural language processing. - Paulo Marques, Feedzai

1. RFID Tags

I am a big believer in RFID (radio frequency identification) tags that store information and transfer it to a nearby reader through radio-frequency electromagnetic fields. There are multiple applications for this in virtually every industry, from offshore drilling to retail. - Jeff Bell, LegalShield