Research, Surveys & Forecasts


Wearable Device Market Expected to Increase over the Next 5 Years

Smart watches, smart earwear, and other wearables are expected to rebound this year after the wearable tech category experienced its first decline in 2022, according to a forecast from International Data Corp. The comeback in 2023 is expected to be modest, with greater growth through 2027.

Zero-Day Exploits Dominate Malware from Web Traffic

In the first quarter of 2023, a massive 93% of detected malware from encrypted web traffic and 70% of malware from unencrypted web traffic came from zero day malware, according to a new report from WatchGuard Technologies. And 51 new ransomware variants were detected.

Innovative Tools to Improve Student Success Take Top Honors at 1EdTech Conference

Nonprofit open-ecosystem collaborative 1EdTech Consortium recently awarded top honors to six higher education institutions for their development of “innovative and bold” ed tech tools that broaden access to personalized and accessible learning.

text reads State of Ransomware 2023 by Sophos and includes figures for recovery costs from the last three years

More IHEs Paid Ransoms in 2022, Even As Average Recovery Cost Fell, Sophos Research Finds

Nearly eight out of 10 higher ed organizations surveyed for Sophos’ 2023 State of Ransomware Report said they were hit by ransomware last year — a 23% increase from the previous year’s results — making education the most-attacked sector in 2022.

AR/VR Headset Market Continues to Decline as VR Sets Plummet

The first quarter of 2023 saw further declines in the AR/VR headset space, following a steep decline the previous year, according to market research firm IDC.

artificial intelligence

The Dark Side of ChatGPT: 6 Generative AI Risks to Watch

Gartner has identified six critical areas where the use of large language models such as ChatGPT can present legal or compliance risks that enterprise organizations must be aware of — or face potentially dire consequences. Organizations should consider what guardrails to put in place in order to ensure responsible use of these tools, the research firm advised.

artificial intelligence

Institutions Must Plan for AI to Go Mainstream, Says 2023 Educause Horizon Report

Higher education technology association Educause recently released the 2023 Teaching and Learning Edition of its annual Horizon Report, forecasting the trends, technologies, and practices that will shape the future of postsecondary education. AI is a significant theme throughout the report, both appearing in the top technological trends for 2023 as well as factoring into the key technologies and practices impacting colleges and universities going forward.

Smartphone Market Continues to Decline

According to a new forecast from market research firm IDC, the already sluggish forecast for smartphones looks to be headed toward a slightly steeper decline this year.

Turnitin logo with logo icons representing OpenAI and ChatGPT

Turnitin: Of 38M Submissions Since April 4, 3.5% Had At Least 80% AI-Written Text

In the first six weeks of educators using Turnitin’s new AI writing detection feature, the platform processed 38.5 million submissions, and the results — as well as plenty of feedback from educators and administrators — led Turnitin to tweak the detector and to further explain the meaning and accuracy rates of the detection scores.

graph shows survey responses from public sector ranking IT security threats

Survey: Foreign States Considered Bigger IT Security Threat Than Ever

A new survey of public sector IT professionals conducted in January by independent research firm Market Connections found that careless or untrained insiders remains the top-ranked threat to higher education institutions’ network security, while the threat of malicious attacks by foreign governments is considered a bigger threat than in years past, according to the survey results.