The top tech predictions and trends to watch out for in 2017

The annual exercise of looking forward to all the exciting innovations the next year can reasonably be expected to bring is here once again. Last year at Telegraph tech we predicted 2016 would witness the rise of mobile payments, the creation of smart cities that can think and function autonomously, and the premiere of virtual reality in people’s living rooms.

This year we’ve expanded our horizons somewhat to include moonshot projects, the social ramifications of technology and disaster scenarios. Here are our predictions of the technology events to come in 2017.

Driverless taxis appear in the UK

Self-driving vehicles have arrived more swiftly than anybody thought: Google and Apple have been experimenting with the technology for years, the Autopilot mode on Tesla cars has clocked up over 200 million miles, and every car maker is scrambling to get self-driving software into their vehicles.