Trends Identified
The rise and rise of emerging markets
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the 21st century will be marked by the dominance of emerging markets. Already a force to reckon with, emerging markets will in the next years become equal competitors with mature markets and command more economic and political power. As trade and investment occur across emerging markets, newly emerging markets will flourish. An explosive combination of large, young increasingly educated and urban populations with greater levels of disposable income (e.g., in Indonesia) and (or) natural resources (e.g., in Nigeria) is propelling newly emerging markets forward. The latter have provided the more established emerging markste with investment opportunities.
2010
Business Redefined - A look at the global trends that are changing the world of business
EY
Transport: 'There will be more automated cars'
It's not difficult to predict how our transport infrastructure will look in 25 years' time – it can take decades to construct a high-speed rail line or a motorway, so we know now what's in store. But there will be radical changes in how we think about transport. The technology of information and communication networks is changing rapidly and internet and mobile developments are helping make our journeys more seamless. Queues at St Pancras station or Heathrow airport when the infrastructure can't cope for whatever reason should become a thing of the past, but these challenges, while they might appear trivial, are significant because it's not easy to organise large-scale information systems. The instinct to travel is innate within us, but we will have to do it in a more carbonefficient way. It's hard to be precise, but I think we'll be cycling and walking more; in crowded urban areas we may see travelators – which we see in airports already – and more scooters. There will be more automated cars, like the ones Google has recently been testing. These driverless cars will be safer, but when accidents do happen, they may be on the scale of airline disasters. Personal jetpacks will, I think, remain a niche choice.
2011
20 predictions for the next 25 years
The Guardian
Boosted brainpower
It’s already common to use drugs to boost brainpower (whether it’s coffee, or something stronger, like modafinil), and most of the developed world now relies on their smartphones as an ‘externalised’ memory – but let’s extrapolate that out a few decades. Imagine targeted pharmaceuticals that make us think faster than currently possible, and technological implants that help us concentrate beyond normal human ability for hours or days, for example – these advances are already well underway in laboratories around the world. The question it raises is: what happens to those that cannot afford such enhancements? Could it widen inequality, and allow the rich to get richer? Then there’s also the legal and ethical issues: it’s acceptable to drink a coffee before you sit an exam, but is it ok to use an implant or a smart drug? The challenges posed by intelligence enhancement are only just emerging.
2017
10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050
The BBC
Eat a printed dinner in your printed home
It’s early evening and you pull the car into the drive of your new home that was erected in just two days. Since it is your wife’s birthday, you are clutching a personalised gold necklace that you picked up from the printer. For dinner tonight, you won’t need to do any chopping or peeling – ingredients just go straight into your kitchen fabricator.
2011
Seven technologies to disrupt the next decade
NewScientist
The mobile payment race
It’s easy to think that the most inclusive and developed financial infrastructures will shape the future of mobile payments. In actual fact, it’s in emerging markets where the potential of mobile payments is being realized, as rapidly expanding smartphone penetration rates help mobile payments leapfrog relatively undeveloped financial infrastructures. Two payment providers in particular – Alipay and Apple Pay – are eyeing up this window of opportunity to establish themselves in these markets, and both services have the financial backing and technical know-how to seriously shake up the industry.
2018
Trends 18
GlobalWebIndex
Transforming: technology, innovation and talent
It’s evident that most businesses today, in defining what they stand for, recognise the needs of a wider set of stakeholders – and their customers’ expectations about how they address those needs. Translating a broader corporate purpose into the everyday, however, is another matter entirely. Even the most committed can find it challenging in the extreme to reshape their company while facing day-to-day battles on every front to fight off competition, grow revenues and cut costs. Putting technology to work: business leaders understand all too well how technology is transforming their relationship with customers as well as other stakeholders. So it makes sense that they see technology as the best way to assess and deliver on changing customer expectations, with 51% of CEOs making significant changes in this area (see Figure 11). The innovation edge Over half of CEOs ranked R&D and innovation technologies as generating the greatest return in terms of successful stakeholder engagement (see Figure 12). The winners in the innovation game, however, will be those that harness technology and innovation to deliver products and services that are cost-effective, convenient, functional and sustainable. The people edge As companies look to meet the complicated expectations of stakeholders and society, they will need a new generation of people with an entrepreneurial mindset who can harness technology and drive innovation.
2016
19th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Debunking the Fabricated
It’s not as if fake news is a novel idea. But, it hogged the headlines in 2017 as fact and fiction got completely tangled (or, do we mean mangled?). Governments, industry participants and citizen-focused initiatives are already coming together to identify, reduce and prevent misinformation strategies and fake news in 2018. In light of recent incidents, the focus will be on quelling interference in political processes and social polarization efforts. Developments may lead to the segmentation of social media based on verified identities, pseudonyms, and anonymous environments.
2018
Top 10 Tech Trends For 2018
Forbes
The internet of “moving” things.
It’s not just vehicles; the transportation system itself may also transform. AI in cars and trucks will benefit from highway – and eventually city – roads that include sensors, reflectors, information transmitters and other tools that support autonomous vehicles. Although not all vehicles will be fully autonomous, the majority will at least be “linked” with each other and with traffic control systems to facilitate coordination and communication. This will greatly improve the efficiency of the system, allowing vehicles to move more quickly and, in some areas, travel in a highly coordinated manner that minimizes gridlock. But privacy could be an emerging issue, since all vehicles may now be monitored, mapped – and possibly even controlled – remotely. Trucking and rail transportation methods will continue to compete. Lighter rail cars and the availability of biodiesel means rail may compete more strongly with trucking; however, automated caravans of trucks equipped with sensors will increase the efficiency of the trucking system and reduce costs.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Intensifying nationalism
Jean Crétien, Prime Minister of Canada at the time of its divisive referendum
on separation with Québec, wrote
that it took six months before wounds between Canada and Québec, even started to heal. And with 45% voting for independence, Scotland will be a divided country for some time to come.
2014
Outlook on the global agenda 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Technology with Increasing Downside
Job churn moves up the skills ladder as robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation become widespread. Terrorists move into higher technology, with devastating effects. The United States will remain the overall tech leader, with China making inroads. Technology increases inequalities within and between nations.
2016
Global risks 2035- the search for a new normal
Atlantic Council