tech trends

The swift rise of smartphones, smart TVs, and dependable high-speed internet is greatly enhancing access to video streaming services, allowing viewers to experience uninterrupted, on-demand entertainment whenever and wherever they choose. This trend is supported by the International Telecommunication Union’s projection that approximately 5.5 billion individuals, making up 68 percent of the global population, accessed the internet in 2024, underscoring the massive potential for streaming services globally.

The Binge Effect: From Schedules to Sessions

Viewer preferences are shifting toward flexible, on-demand streaming, with traditional broadcast schedules giving way to binge-watching culture supported by expansive content libraries and full-season releases. Reflecting this trend, in 2025, NASA+ expanded its offerings with a FAST channel on Prime Video, delivering on-demand content on space exploration, aeronautics, and science. Accessible across major platforms, it underscores growing demand for digital video services.

Smart Streams: AI Knows What You’ll Watch Next

AI is crucial in influencing user experiences by providing customized suggestions and specific content exploration. Streaming services utilize AI-powered insights to comprehend audience behavior, improve engagement, and optimize user satisfaction, which, in turn, cultivates loyalty and promotes ongoing growth.

Originals Rule: Exclusivity Wins the Crowd

OTT service providers are increasingly focusing on original programming and exclusive content rights to strengthen their market position in a highly competitive environment. In 2025, Dish TV launched FLIQS within its Watcho app at WAVES 2025, offering films, web series, and short-form videos. With AI-powered recommendations, affordable pricing, and monetization opportunities for creators, FLIQS exemplifies how exclusivity enhances brand value and attracts diverse audiences.

Where Streaming Rules: North America's Power Players

North America leads the video streaming industry, accounting for 31.8% market share, bolstered by the significant presence of key players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. Amid this established leadership, new entrants are introducing innovative and cost-effective services to capture price-sensitive audiences, highlighting the region’s competitive and diverse streaming landscape. For instance, in 2025, Roku launched Howdy in the United States, a new, ad-free streaming service priced at just $2.99/month, offering a library of thousands of titles, including classics like Back to the Future and Mad Max: Fury Road. Initially available only on Roku devices, the service aims to complement more expensive streaming platforms with its budget-friendly, commercial-free content. Roku's CEO Anthony Wood emphasized Howdy's focus on library content to appeal to cost-conscious viewers. Besides this, the region benefits from sophisticated digital infrastructure, extensive broadband coverage, and considerable investments in quality content, which together foster robust user engagement and continued dominance in the streaming sector.

Local Stories Power the Rise of Asia Pacific Streaming

The Asia-Pacific region is the fastest-expanding video streaming market, driven by the growing smartphone adoption, cost-effective mobile internet, and a heightened demand for localized content in India, China, and Southeast Asia. The increasing number of young digital users and rising investments in original content are further fueling adoption, establishing the region as a key contributor to future industry expansion. This rapid regional growth is encouraging global players to adopt differentiated strategies, with companies tailoring their offerings to meet the diverse user preferences and viewing habits across Asia-Pacific markets. For example, in 2025, Amazon revealed its two-platform strategy in India, using Prime Video for subscription-ready users and Amazon MX Player for mobile-first, ad-supported viewers. The approach aims to cater to India's diverse streaming market, with Prime Video focusing on premium content and MX Player targeting traditional TV viewers transitioning to digital.

The global over the top devices and services market size was estimated at USD 298.84 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 1,425.63 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 18.6% from 2025 to 2033. The market growth is primarily driven by the increasing penetration of high-speed internet, rising demand for personalized and on-demand content, growing adoption of smart TVs and connected devices, continuous advancements in streaming technology and compression algorithms, and the expansion of original content production by OTT service providers to attract and retain subscribers.

• North America dominated the global over the top devices and services market with the largest revenue share of over 40% in 2024.
• The over the top devices and services market in the U.S. led the North America market and held the largest revenue share in 2024.
• By type, the OTT services segment led the market and held the largest revenue share of over 93% in 2024.
• By device, the streaming media players segment led the market and held the largest revenue share of over 53% in 2024.
• By service type, the OTT media services segment dominates the market and holds the largest revenue share of over 86% in 2024.

• 2024 Market Size: USD 298.84 Billion
• 2033 Projected Market Size: USD 1,425.63 Billion
• CAGR (2025-2033): 18.6%
• North America: Largest market in 2024
• Asia Pacific: Fastest growing market

The market growth is primarily driven by the rising consumer preference for on-demand content and the global proliferation of internet-connected devices. The rapid adoption of smart TVs, streaming sticks, and mobile devices is enabling seamless access to OTT services, bypassing traditional cable and satellite models. The growing availability of localized content, personalized recommendations powered by AI, and flexible subscription models is attracting a diverse audience base. Integration with smart home ecosystems and voice-activated assistants is also expanding the functionality and appeal of OTT platforms, significantly contributing to market expansion.

The rapid shift in consumer viewing preferences from traditional cable to on-demand digital content is a primary growth driver of the Over The Top (OTT) Devices and Services industry. Audiences, especially millennials and Gen Z, are favoring flexible, subscription-based or ad-supported platforms that allow them to watch content anytime. This consumer behavior is compelling to broadcasters, content producers, and tech companies to invest heavily in OTT services, increasing content variety and accessibility, and ultimately expanding the market footprint.

These are the top trending technologies in the military tech industry:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is pervasive across domains, powering predictive maintenance for equipment, enhancing autonomous systems for land, sea, and air, and bolstering cybersecurity defenses against sophisticated threats. Agentic AI is becoming especially useful in military defense innovation, allowing processes to be streamlined and intelligent workflows while reducing tech companies’ internal bandwidth.

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Agentic AI goes a step further by autonomously planning, making decisions, and taking actions across workflows, such as coordinating experiments, optimizing test plans, or managing iterative development cycles.

When paired with OTAs, generative AI helps rapidly create and refine technical solutions, while agentic AI enables continuous execution and adaptation, aligning well with OTA-driven objectives to shorten development timelines, reduce risk, and transition capabilities to the warfighter more quickly.

The development of hypersonic weapons continues to be a priority, with OTA-funded projects exploring advanced materials, propulsion systems, and guidance technologies to achieve unprecedented speeds and maneuverability.

Hypersonic flight is a key defense technology trend driven by the demand for speed, maneuverability, and survivability in contested environments. Operating above Mach 5, these systems, pose significant challenges in propulsion, thermal management, materials, and guidance.

Advances in modeling, simulation, and rapid prototyping—paired with flexible acquisition pathways like OTAs—are accelerating experimentation, flight testing, and fielding as hypersonics reshape deterrence and future aerospace capabilities.

Space is increasingly recognized as a critical warfighting domain. OTA-enabled projects are pushing the boundaries of space situational awareness, satellite communications, management of space debris, and space-based weapons systems.

Space situational awareness is advancing through the integration of more sophisticated ground- and space-based sensors, improved data fusion, and AI-enabled analytics to better detect, track, and characterize objects and potential threats in increasingly congested and contested orbital environments.

Satellite communications are trending toward more resilient and proliferated constellations, with enhanced cybersecurity, lower-latency connectivity, and adaptive waveforms designed to maintain assured communications even in degraded or denied conditions.

Space debris management is gaining momentum through improved tracking, automated collision avoidance, and the development of active debris removal technologies to preserve the long-term sustainability of space operations.

Space-based weapons systems are evolving with a focus on deterrence and space control, emphasizing counter-space capabilities and tightly integrated command-and-control architectures to operate effectively in contested domains.

OTAs are playing a part in developing each of these technology areas. An OTA is a contracting alternative that empowers the Department of Defense (DoD) to partner with non-traditional defense contractors, including startups and universities, that are often on the brink of the most cutting-edge technology.

Cybersecurity and cyberwarfare are rapidly evolving as core components of modern defense, driven by the expansion of digital infrastructure, software-defined systems, and networked operations across all domains. As attack surfaces grow and adversaries become more sophisticated, defense organizations are prioritizing resilience, speed, and adaptability to protect critical systems and maintain operational advantage.

Cybersecurity technologies are increasingly focused on zero-trust architecture, continuous monitoring, and AI-enabled threat detection to prevent, identify, and mitigate intrusions in real time. Emphasis is also placed on securing supply chains, cloud environments, and embedded systems that underpin modern 

defense platforms.

Cyberwarfare capabilities are advancing toward more integrated offensive and defensive operations, leveraging automation, advanced analytics, and cyber-electromagnetic convergence to disrupt adversary networks while protecting friendly forces. These trends reflect a shift from reactive cyber defense to persistent engagement and proactive operations in contested digital environments.

CMMC 2.0 is critical to protecting Controlled Unclassified Information and strengthening the cybersecurity posture of the defense industrial base as cyber threats continue to escalate. By enforcing consistent, NIST-aligned security practices, the framework helps ensure sensitive defense data is safeguarded across all contractors and suppliers. This compliance is essential not only for meeting DoW requirements, but for maintaining trust, operational resilience, and continued eligibility to compete for and perform defense work.

The MACH-TB 2.0 project, powered by the S2MARTS OTA, is bridging the gap between ground testing of low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) technologies and full system flight testing of high TRL technologies. This will reduce overall hypersonic development risks and provide rapid innovative hypersonic technologies to the warfighter.

Space Systems Command, through the SpEC OTA, is funding the OPIR TAP Lab AI/ML Applications opportunity. This project will solve the challenges fueled by the introduction of machine learning (ML) and other artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to a variety of applications, including target detection, tracking, and characterization of infrared (IR) events.

The FORGE C2 prototyping project will serve as the foundation for a government-owned, cyber-secure Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) for Missile Warning satellite command and control, including mission management, ground control, telemetry, tracking, and commanding. The next phase of FORGE C2 was expected to be awarded early in 2025. FORGE C2 is also powered by SpEC.

In conclusion, the future of U.S. defense hinges on embracing rapid innovation, particularly in the realms of AI, hypersonics, and space. The OTA is proving to be a crucial enabler, fostering collaboration with non-traditional defense contractors and accelerating the development of cutting-edge technologies. By leveraging OTAs, the DoD can navigate the complexities of modern warfare, ensuring that our military maintains a technological edge in an increasingly competitive global landscape.

NSTXL is focused on building a network of innovators and creators across the most sought-after emerging technology fields. Within the platform, NSTXL supports two OTAs, including the Strategic & Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems (S²MARTS) and Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC).

Join the mission today.

Accessing technology for research and development can be challenging for government agencies. However, OTA government acquisition documents streamline this process so that your facility can quickly access the R&D resources it needs. S²MARTS Research is creating a more connected and streamlined Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) ecosystem, uniquely positioned to better establish the relationship between research and prototyping.

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that provides an immediate, shared and transparent exchange of encrypted data simultaneously to multiple parties as they initiate and complete transactions. A blockchain network can track orders, payments, accounts, production and much more. As permissioned members share a single view of the truth, they gain confidence and trust in their transactions with other businesses, along with new efficiencies and opportunities.

Combined values of blockchain and AI

Authenticity

Blockchain’s digital record offers insight into the framework behind AI and the provenance of the data that it is using, addressing the challenge of explainable AI. This insight helps improve trust in data integrity and in the recommendations that AI provides. Using blockchain to store and distribute AI models provides an audit trail, and pairing blockchain and AI can enhance data security.

Augmentation

AI can rapidly and comprehensively read, understand and correlate data at incredible speed, bringing a new level of intelligence to blockchain-based business networks. By providing access to large volumes of data from within and outside of the organization, blockchain helps AI scale to provide more actionable insights. It also facilitates data usage and model sharing while fostering a trustworthy and transparent data economy.

Automation

AI, automation and blockchain can bring new value to business processes that span multiple parties—removing friction, adding speed and increasing efficiency. For example, AI models embedded in smart contracts that are executed on a blockchain can take the following actions: