Trends Identified
Quantum computing
Quantum computers’ almost limitless potential has only ever been matched by the difficulty and cost of their construction. Which explains why today the small ones that have been built have not yet managed to exceed the power of supercomputers. But progress is being made and in 2016 the technology firm IBM provided the public access to the first quantum computer in the cloud. This has already led to more than 20 academic papers being published using the tool and today more than 50 start-ups and large corporations worldwide are focused on making quantum computing a reality. With such progress behind us, the word on people’s lips now is “Quantum Ready.”
2017
These are the top 10 emerging technologies of 2017
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Quantum computing continues to advance
Quantum computing continues to make strides toward quantum supremacy – the point at which a quantum computer does something faster than an ordinary computer. The race to build commercially viable quantum computers is largely motivated by the shear amount of technological disruption this machine is expected to bring. Yet, several breakthroughs will be necessary before construction of a faulttolerant universal quantum processor capable of surpassing present-day supercomputers can be built. It is possible, however, that “imperfect” quantum computers can find interesting applications long before fully fault-tolerant quantum computers are available. In fact, the quest for “quantum supremacy” has paradoxically led to a boom in quasi-quantum classical algorithms. Further, hybrid approaches using both a classical and quantum computer in parallel will allow for running algorithms that demonstrate quantum advantage. Quantum computers may never perform some functions as well as classical computers. For example, no one anticipates streaming a film with a quantum computer. To this end, certain classes of problems will likely remain in the classical domain, and other classes of problems will be handled by quantum computers, such as cryptography, modeling and optimization, machine learning and prediction, and searching big data. Similar to the GPU co-processors that operate alongside classical CPUs, a quantum computer may take on much the same role for co-processing of problems that they are good at. As such, we may be headed toward a landscape of specific purpose quantum computing where classical machines do much of the heavy lifting and sub-portions of problems are handled by quantum machines. This capability is expected to initially be available in the cloud - Quantum Computing as a Service - which will lower the barrier to entry and provide an ability to quickly climb the learning curve. As with all disruptive technologies, quantum computers are both an opportunity and a threat, and Nasdaq is doing R&D to understand their impact on financial services. Our analysis indicates that concerns about quantum computers disrupting existing security solutions are real, and the time to prepare is now. Moreover, programming of quantum computers requires a significant learning curve and a different technical skill set. Finally, there is a need to identify business solutions and design quantum algorithms to solve them.
2019
NASDAQ DECODES: TECH TRENDS 2019 -The technology trends that are driving the world of markets forward
Nasdaq
Quantum computing
Quantum computing is a type of nonclassical computing that is based on the quantum state of subatomic particles that represent information as elements denoted as quantum bits or “qubits.” Quantum computers are an exponentially scalable and highly parallel computing model. A way to imagine the difference between traditional and quantum computers is to imagine a giant library of books. While a classic computer would read every book in a library in a linear fashion, a quantum computer would read all the books simultaneously. Quantum computers are able to theoretically work on millions of computations at once. Quantum computing in the form of a commercially available, affordable and reliable service would transform some industries. eal-world applications range from personalized medicine to optimization of pattern recognition. This technology is still in an emerging state, which means it is a good time for businesses to increase their understanding of potential applications and consider any security implications. Aside from a select group of businesses where specific quantum algorithms would provide a major advantage, most enterprises could remain in exploration phase through 2022 and begin exploiting the technology later.
2018
Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2019
Gartner
Quantum Computing – Using Particle Physics for Computation
Quantum Computing uses the characteristics of quantum mechanics, i.e. the superposition and entanglement of subatomic particles. The so-called quantum bits (qubits) allow for an exponential gain in computing power compared to classical bits and promise to solve certain problems that are intractably complex and go beyond todays computing power. Quantum computing might threaten cryptography and cryptocurrency, as the unlimited computing power could make many encryptions ineffective. Potential application areas of quantum computing are quantum chemistry, encryption and security, optimization problems, large database search and operations, machine/deep learning, cryptography, DNA and other forms of molecular modeling. Quantum computing is at the very early stage of basic research mainly on quantum computational hardware, with no unambiguous quantum speed up observed yet and with few known algorithms,. The probabilistic nature of quantum computers makes utilization challenging for now. The technology is currently driven by research institutes, big corporate players like Google, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, HP, and most recently investors. According to Gartner, quantum computing is more than 10 years away and it is questionable if we will ever realize general purpose quantum computers. We might instead see rather narrow use cases. At this stage of research, we see the biggest potential in hybrid approaches like using classical FPGA’s in a quantum inspired way. Another idea would be to use build hybrid computers where classical and quantum CPUs are co-located on the same computer. Blind quantum computing could be used to delegate the computation to a quantum server without leaking any information, which might solve some of the expected security issues.
2018
Trend Report 2018 - Emerging Technology Trends
SAP
“Almost-Enterprise” Applications
Quick and agile solutions appeal to the business, but are they “enterprise enough” for IT? Business units have historically had a love-hate relationship with IT. In the early days, IT was an esoteric specialty, far removed from core business competencies yet consuming a big piece of the budget. IT was often seen as unresponsive, expensive or fl at-out ineffective, but business leaders saw no other choice for essential process and information automation. IT was left to balance these harsh perceptions with the practical reality of providing secure, reliable and scalable solutions with zero tolerance for fault or failure.
2011
Tech Trends 2011 The natural convergence of business and IT
Deloitte
Technology
Rapid innovation is catalysing improved market analysis, knowledge sharing, product and service design, renewable energy sources, distribution models and operational efficiencies. Technology is also lowering market entry costs for non-traditional actors and start-ups with innovative ‘disruptive’ business models;
2015
SDG industry matrix
KPMG
Technology is accelerating progress but causing discontinuities
Rapid technological advancements will increase the pace of change and create new opportunities but will aggravate divisions between winners and losers. Automation and artificial intelligence threaten to change industries faster than economies can adjust, potentially displacing workers and limiting the usual route for poor countries to develop. Biotechnologies such as genome editing will revolutionize medicine and other fields, while sharpening moral differences.
2017
Global Trends: The Paradox of Progress
USA, US National Intelligence Council
Technological Innovations for Sustainable Development
Rapidly developing technologies have reshaped the lives of communities, families and individuals around the world through providing new goods and services, including to “bottom of the pyramid”72 consumers, creating new industries and markets, and changing demand for labour and capital (Ramalingham et al. 2016). New technologies have been recognized by the 2030 Agenda as an important means for implementing the SDGs across economic, social and environmental dimensions, and as a critical instrument to address existing and emerging challenges. However, while technologies can bring many benefits to communities in both developed and developing countries, they can also carry significant risks, as discussed later in this chapter.
2017
Global trends
UNDP
Fight or Flight
Rapidly growing cities are making more people vulnerable to rising sea levels. Two-thirds of the global population is expected to live in cities by 2050. Already an estimated 800 million people in more than 570 coastal cities are vulnerable to a sea-level rise of 0.5 metres by 2050.1 In a vicious circle, urbanization not only concentrates people and property in areas of potential damage and disruption, but it also exacerbates those risks—for example, by destroying natural sources of resilience such as coastal mangroves and increasing the strain on groundwater reserves. The risks of rising sea levels are often compounded by storm surges and increased rainfall intensity.
2019
The Global Risks Report 2019 14th Edition
World Economic Forum (WEF)
We are eating much less meat
Rather like our grandparents, we will treat meat as a treat rather than a staple, writes Tim Benton, Professor of Population Ecology at the University of Leeds, UK. It won’t be big agriculture or little artisan producers that win, but rather a combination of the two, with convenience food redesigned to be healthier and less harmful to the environment.
2016
Eight predictions for 2030
World Economic Forum (WEF)