Technology shapes virtually every aspect of the world today - creating opportunities, advancing knowledge and connecting people.

Highlights in 2014 included the transition of wearable devices from novelty to mainstream technology, massive strides in big data, plummeting smartphone prices as well as the unstoppable rise of connectivity, e-commerce and debilitating cyber-attacks as a result.

These trends will continue to develop in 2015 and are likely to have a massive impact on businesses, governments and citizens.

In South Africa, we're hoping to witness a tipping point for the digital delivery of services as citizens become increasingly connected and tech-savvy.

These are some of the trends we expect to see in 2015:

Lowering of public privacy threshold paves the way for more comprehensive, tailored services, delivered online

While people the world over seem reluctant to provide governments with "too much" information, the explosion of social networks has made people more comfortable than ever with sharing a bewildering variety of personal information.

One positive and completely unintended result of this across-the-board lowering of people's privacy thresholds is a new opportunity for governments to roll out more comprehensive, more effective and more tailored services to more citizens.

After all, if people are already sharing what they are eating on Facebook, there is little reason to be uncomfortable with, for example, completing a government survey on the subject, which may help health authorities to improve nutrition or reduce obesity.

The benefits of this information gathering can also extend to schools, for example, as governments are able to better personalise education based on data garnered from students and their work.

Together with increased smartphone and broadband proliferation, this "Facebook effect" could mark a turning point in enabling governments in Africa and around the world to fully leverage the potential of the internet and serve citizens more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Of course, security will remain a big issue with this shift in mind, and identity theft will be a key area to protect against as citizens and consumers extend their presences online.

Broadband increasingly viewed as a universal right

As more everyday activities move online, the consequences of being on the wrong side of the digital divide have never been more apparent.

This tectonic shift in the way people interact with the world is accelerating. More than merely making people feel nervous if high-speed connectivity is not instantly on-hand, many of the things that are now inconvenient without ready access to the internet may well become literally impossible.

This means that the importance of broadband connectivity will grow in direct proportion to the pace at which enterprises and governments relocate existing services and create brand new ones in the cloud.

Indeed, it will not be long before broadband access ceases to be a convenience and becomes an essential and universal right for citizens in every country in the world.

R.I.P. feature phones

The faithful old feature phone is on its last legs. It is being driven to extinction by the inexorable pressure of cheaper smartphones and customers who don't want to miss out on all the modern digital world has to offer.

Few will mourn its passing. Certainly not those on the wrong side of the digital divide – especially the illiterate – for whom an icon-driven smartphone represents a lifeline rather than a barrier.

India's government, for example, is pushing for everyone to have a bank account, and smartphones are a far more flexible and efficient platform on which to offer this service. This, in turn, will fuel a boom in online commerce.

Education gets personal

The driving force behind digital education has always been the dissemination of information.

Today, the challenge is getting the right information into the hands of students, in a form that they are able to easily access and consume at their own pace.

Dumping the curriculum online is simply not enough. The key to success is understanding precisely the end-user student's technology environment – PC or mobile tablet, 3G link or fibre-to-the-home – as well as their academic ambitions, and then tailoring the delivery accordingly.

In-classroom teaching should also be adjusted based on insights garnered from online education. The proliferation of online courses – particularly those that bestow professional qualifications – has also raised the question of precisely who is doing the work. Reliable authentication will become a critical concern going forward.

Connectivity is the foundation of all these developments. Investment in infrastructure, education and effective change management will put South Africa on the right footing to ensure success.