2021 Was a Huge Year for Restaurants, Space Exploration, and the Cloud

A lot of our favorite stories from 2021 revolve around the fact that the continued public health crisis have pushed technology companies, consumers, and governments to innovate immensely. In Part 1 of our 2021 Tech Recap, we walk through the big changes that took place in three fields - specifically food & restaurants, the space industry, and cloud computing.

With the food and beverage space, what interested us was how consumer preferences for  ‘take out’ have resulted in a burgeoning online ordering culture across the globe. We deep dived into the trend of Ghost Kitchens or Cloud Kitchens earlier in the year, and data suggests that the demand for these online only virtual restaurants is only rising. Big brands such as Wendy's, Chipotle, and even social media company TikTok are all planning on moving into this space.

Another favorite topic of ours was Space. 2021 could very well go down as one of the biggest turning points in human space flight, as a record number of ordinary citizens left Earth on  spacecrafts built by private companies such as Blue Origin, Space X, and Virgin Galactic. Although, this realm of space tourism is currently permitted only to the ultra ultra wealthy, 2021 was extremely promising for space, as it reignited the collective global ambition of establishing humans as a space faring species. The possibility for an average person to roam the cosmos could very well happen in the, hopefully not so far, future!

Finally, we could not finish Part 1 of our 2021 Tech Recap without the cloud. The ongoing pandemic and surge in digital activity is making cloud computing the absolute centerpiece of new digital experiences and the numbers are mind boggling! The cloud computing market is projected to reach $474B in 2022, up 16% from 2021. But the increased competition could really set up an interesting next few years in the market with new players constantly chipping of the incumbents.

Check out our deep dives in each of the three covered industries from earlier in the year:

• Restaurants Go Online - How Cloud Kitchens are Making Your Food
• Space Exploration is Sexy Again - A New Space Race Is Underway! How Did We Even Get Here?
• Cloud - Cloud Wars: How Cloud Computing Changed Business & Technology Forever