Expert: What’s in store this year for the technology, media, and telecom industries in Houston

Guest column

Trends in the TMT industry were largely driven by the disruptions related to COVID-19, but disruption also brings innovation and opportunity. Photo via Getty Images

As the new year begins, the impact of the pandemic and what it means for the future remains top-of-mind. COVID-19 has been a catalyst that has fostered change in many industries, including technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT). It's accelerated several trends such as the adoption of cloud technology, telehealth, and remote healthcare, and the intelligent edge.

In Deloitte's 2021 TMT predictions report, we highlight how worldwide trends could affect stakeholders and consumers across the globe. Here in Houston, we see the below trends as especially relevant for the year ahead.

Cloud technology and AI’s significant role

The evolution of instrumentation, automation and connectivity have led us to the "intelligent edge" – a new stage where the combination of advanced wireless connectivity, compact processing power and artificial intelligence have converged. Cloud computing, data analytics and AI are physically closer in the intelligent edge so that data can be rapidly analyzed and acted upon.

In 2021, Deloitte predicts the global market for the intelligent edge will expand to 12 billion, continuing a compound annual growth rate of around 35 percent. With this in mind, this type of technology can play a significant role across the industrial sector in terms of efficiencies and emissions reductions; many Houston companies are already leading in this space.

Additionally, Deloitte predicts that revenue growth will remain at or above 2019 levels (greater than 30 percent) for 2021 through 2025, largely driven by companies that are moving to the cloud in an effort to save money, become more agile and drive innovation. The maturation of the cloud industry during the pandemic has demonstrated resilience and we expect companies to continue to rely more heavily on the cloud in 2021.

Athletes by the numbers

Houstonians are some of the country's biggest sports fans, and in this era of the hyper-quantified athlete, data collection in sports is more prominent than ever.

The digital transformation of sports is in full swing and with it comes the explosion of data. Data collection – through video analytics, wearables, and smart fabrics – and how it is used raises new questions about data privacy for athletes. Deloitte predicts that by the end of 2021, multiple professional sports leagues will establish new formal policies around the collection, use and commercialization of player data.

Additionally, as seen in recent years, the use of high tech will also force teams to be more competitive, which may push boundaries and challenge our ideas about traditional sports.

Our new virtual reality

Last year, the pandemic halted in-person teaching and learning for many local educators and students. In addition, some Houston-based companies had to rethink their approach to onboarding new employees and skills training.

Some companies relied on virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality solutions. These digital reality experiences helped simulate an in-person environment, which created a 50 percent spending increase on AR and VR headsets, software, and services. In 2021, sales for enterprise and educational use of wearable headsets for VR, AR, and MR could grow by 100 percent over 2019 levels.

COVID-19 also brought many industries online, including medicine. Deloitte projects the percentage of total virtual doctors' visits will rise to 5 percent globally in 2021. This means more potential business for the companies providing technologies to support virtual visits. We can also expect that the market for pure-play telehealth virtual visit solutions will reach $8 billion this year. And, we predict that more than $3 billion of medical-grade home health care technology will be sold in 2021, which represents an increase of almost 20 percent over 2019. Houston is already home to the world's largest medical center (Texas Medical Center) and we will likely see its footprint soar in 2021.

These trends in the TMT industry were largely driven by the disruptions related to COVID-19, but disruption also brings innovation and opportunity. As the world continues to wrestle in the grip of a global pandemic, there will likely be further implications that may affect TMT businesses and consumers worldwide and here in our hometown, Houston. To keep apprised of the latest trends, follow us on Twitter @DeloitteTMT.

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Nate Clark is the U.S. Oil, Gas & Chemicals Digital Practice Leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP. This publication contains general information only and Deloitte is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services.

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Rice University team develops eco-friendly method to destroy 'forever chemicals' in water

clean water research

Rice University researchers have teamed up with South Korean scientists to develop the first eco-friendly technology that captures and destroys toxic “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, in water.

PFAS have been linked to immune system disruption, certain cancers, liver damage and reproductive disorders. They can be found in water, soil and air, as well as in products like Teflon pans, waterproof clothing and food packaging. They do not degrade easily and are difficult to remove.

Thus far, PFAS cleanup methods have relied on adsorption, in which molecules cling to materials like activated carbon or ion-exchange resins. But these methods tend to have limited capacity, low efficiency, slow performance and can create additional waste.

The Rice-led study, published in the journal Advanced Materials, centered on a layered double hydroxide (LDH) material made from copper and aluminum that could rapidly capture PFAS and be used to destroy the chemicals.

The study was led by Rice professor Youngkun Chung, a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Michael S. Wong. It was conducted in collaboration with Seoktae Kang, professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Keon-Ham Kim, professor at Pukyung National University, who first discovered the LDH material.

The team evaluated the LDH material in river water, tap water and wastewater. And, according to Rice, that material’s unique copper-aluminum layers and charge imbalances created an ideal binding environment to capture PFAS molecules.

“To my astonishment, this LDH compound captured PFAS more than 1,000 times better than other materials,” Chung, lead author of the study and now a fellow at Rice’s WaTER (Water Technologies, Entrepreneurship and Research) Institute and Sustainability Institute, said in a news release. “It also worked incredibly fast, removing large amounts of PFAS within minutes, about 100 times faster than commercial carbon filters.”

Next, Chung, along with Rice professors Pedro Alvarez and James Tour, worked to develop an eco-friendly, sustainable method of thermally decomposing the PFAS captured on the LDH material. They heated saturated material with calcium carbonate, which eliminated more than half of the trapped PFAS without releasing toxic by-products.

The team believes the study’s results could potentially have large-scale applications in industrial cleanups and municipal water treatments.

“We are excited by the potential of this one-of-a-kind LDH-based technology to transform how PFAS-contaminated water sources are treated in the near future,” Wong added in the news release. “It’s the result of an extraordinary international collaboration and the creativity of young researchers.”

Axiom Space announces new CEO amid strategic leadership change

new leader

Six months after promoting Tejpaul Bhatia from chief revenue officer to CEO, commercial space infrastructure and human spaceflight services provider Axiom Space has replaced him.

On Oct. 15, Houston-based Axiom announced Jonathan Cirtain has succeeded Bhatia as CEO. Bhatia joined Axiom in 2021. Cirtain remains the company’s president, a role he assumed in June, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In a news release, Axiom said Cirtain’s appointment as CEO is a “strategic leadership change” aimed at advancing the company’s development of space infrastructure.

Axiom hired Cirtain as president in June, according to his LinkedIn profile. The company didn’t publicly announce that move.

Kam Ghaffarian, co-founder and executive chairman of Axiom, said Cirtain’s “proven track record of leadership and commitment to excellence align perfectly with our mission of building era-defining space infrastructure that will drive exploration and fuel the global space economy.”

Aside from praising Cirtain, Ghaffarian expressed his “sincere gratitude” for Bhatia’s work at Axiom, including his leadership as CEO during “a significant transition period.”

Bhatia was promoted to CEO in April after helping Axiom gain more than $1 billion in contracts, Space News reported. He succeeded Ghaffarian as CEO. Axiom didn’t indicate whether Bhatia quit or was terminated.

Cirtain, an astrophysicist, was a senior executive at BWX Technologies, a supplier of nuclear components and fuel, for eight years before joining Axiom. Earlier, Cirtain spent nearly nine years in various roles at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He previously co-founded a machine learning company specializing in Earth observation.

“Axiom Space is pioneering the commercialization of low-Earth orbit infrastructure while accelerating advancements in human spaceflight technologies,” Cirtain said. “I look forward to continuing our team’s important work of driving innovation to support expanded access to space and off-planet capabilities that will underpin the future of space exploration.”

Among other projects, Axiom is developing the world’s first commercial space station, creating next-generation spacesuits for astronauts and sending astronauts on low-Earth orbit missions.

Houston billionaire benefactors will donate almost entire fortune to charity

Giving Back

Houston billionaires Rich and Nancy Kinder plan to donate an astounding 95% of their multi-billion-dollar wealth to charities, they told ABC13's Melanie Lawson.

The news comes as the Kinder Foundation announced an $18.5 million expansion project for Emancipation Park in the heart of Third Ward. That historic park was founded by slaves in 1872.

The Kinders are one of the wealthiest couples in the nation, worth $11.4 billion, according to Forbes. You've certainly seen the Kinder name on buildings and facilities around the city of Houston.

The Kinders are also among the most generous, giving away hundreds of millions to Houston institutions and charities. Their plan is to give away almost all of their wealth, or more than $10 billion.

Rich Kinder helped build oil and gas pipeline giant Kinder Morgan, but he stepped down as CEO more than a decade ago for a what he calls a bigger cause.

"Well, I think we'd all like to leave the world a little better place than we found it," he said. "And we just felt early on that the right thing to do was to try to give most or all of that away. So that's what we plan to do during our lifetime and after our death."

They found kindred spirits as one of the first couples to sign The Giving Pledge, established by billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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Continue reading the full story, with video, on ABC13.com.

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