Trends Identified
Walled Off
Regulatory, cybersecurity and protectionist concerns lead to the fragmentation of the internet
2018
The Global Risks Report 2018
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Social Business
Reimagining business with a social mindset Even today, business leaders may dismiss the potential of social business, either relegating it to the realm of Internet marketing or ignoring the buzz as a passing fad. But that’s changing as boomers evolve into digital natives, millennials permeate the workforce and social media becomes a part of daily life. The doors are now open for social business.
2012
Tech Trends 2012-Elevate IT for digital business
Deloitte
Apply the science of organizational change
Reinventing organizations to compete in the 2020s will not be a trivial task. Whether because of risk aversion or complacency stemming from today’s increasingly concentrated industries and elevated profitability levels, leading companies may be understandably reluctant to unleash fundamental change preemptively. But our research shows that the single biggest factor influencing the success of major change programs is how early they are initiated. It is therefore critical to create a sense of urgency within the organization to ensure that everyone truly understands the need for change. Even for companies that are committed to such transformation, it can be a risky endeavor: our research shows that most large-scale change efforts fail. Therefore, leaders need to employ evidence-based transformation—understanding empirically what works and why, rather than relying on plausible assertions and rules of thumb. In an era when many powerful forces are revolutionizing how organizations function, building repeatable transformation capabilities will be more important than ever. Leaders also need to de-average and differentiate their approaches to change. Large-scale transformation programs comprise multiple change challenges, from exploring new fields and approaches, to adaptively refining new models, to implementing structured change with clear objectives and means. Leaders will need to diversify their approaches to change accordingly, moving beyond the monolithic programs centered only on PMOs and Gantt charts. By adopting continuous change as the default, episodic change programs will give way to change as an ongoing operating imperative.
2018
Winning the ’20s: A Leadership Agenda for the Next Decade
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
3D printing opens up amazing opportunities for manufacturers (and others)
Related to increasing automation, the invention of 3D printing is disrupting manufacturing, and other industries, in many positive ways. In traditional (subtractive) manufacturing, objects are cut or hollowed out of material, such as metal, using something like a cutting tool. But in 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing), the object is created by laying down, or adding, layers of material. The materials used in 3D printing can be pretty much anything: plastic, metal, concrete, liquid, powder, even chocolate or human tissue! With 3D printing, far more complex shapes can be created than in traditional manufacturing – and using less material, too. It also allows for much greater customization of products, without worrying about economies of scale.
2017
9 Technology Mega Trends That Will Change The World In 2018
Forbes
Growing dominance of relatively young digital tech corporations
Relatively young digital technology corporations now dominate the world’s top ten companies, with Apple heading the list, followed by Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook18.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
The Resurgence of Ideology
Religious belief will retain a significant influence on the vast majority of the global populace especially in the Americas, Africa and increasingly throughout Asia. Tension is likely between religious and secular groups. Strategic drivers such as economic recession, resource scarcity, social change and conflict are likely to contribute to the increasing significance of belief-based groups. Single issues may also emerge that divide opinion and forge identities, such as attitudes toward abortion, gender, the environment, religious law and the teaching of evolution.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
Patterns of Labour Mobility
Remittances from migrants in developed states, worth $240 billion per annum, or more than twice the level of international aid, are the largest source of external capital in many developing countries and directly benefit 10% of the global population.224 Over half of the 16 million highly skilled expatriate workers in the 4 main destinations (US, Europe, Canada and Australia) have originated from outside the OECD area.225 Out to 2040, highly capable and skilled individuals, particularly those in niche or scarce areas, will continue to attract substantial rewards for their services and are likely to be mobile within the global economy. This flow of skilled migrants will become more complex and will be affected by the growth of research and entrepreneurial opportunities in developing economies, fluctuating migration policies, and changes to traditional career models in business and academia. This may result in a ‘brain circulation’ rather than a ‘brain drain’, as developing economies continue to rise, and opportunities and safeguards become more predictable; a reverse flow of people to countries of origin may accelerate.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
Jobless growth: will robots and computers destroy our jobs?
Renowned economist John Maynard Keynes predicted nearly 80 years ago that the world would face ‘technological unemployment’ ‘due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour.’ Most mainstream economists say that the current technical revolution is set to destroy many jobs, but that it will create enough new ones to prevent unemployment from spiralling out of control. This is what happened during previous industrial revolutions. But a growing number of experts believe that Keynes’ prophecy may materialise in the 21st century, although wise government policies may significantly alleviate the process.
2016
Global Trendometer - essays on medium- and long-term global trends
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Agile Robots
Replacing the canary in a coalmine
2017
Top 50 Emerging Technologies 2017
Frost & Sullivan
Electrification
Replacing traditional energy sources with electric energy – most notably in vehicles – is being driven by regulatory and technological changes and by growing consumer demand. The growth in electric vehicles sales is expected to be 25 to 30 percent a year to 2025 (see Exhibit 4). A senior executive at a European OEM believes it will affect at least half of the sector’s revenues, both in vehicles and infrastructure. Stricter emission regulations and lower battery costs are all contributing to the flurry of activity in this area.
2018
Disruptive forces in the industrial sectors - Global executive survey
McKinsey