Trends Identified
Ageing societies
Since life expectancy will continue to increase, the median age will rise and aging of population will even accelerate. Globally, the median age will move up by 5.1 years, from 29 today to 34 in 2030. Between 1990 and 2010, the increase was 4.7 years, up from 24 in 1990.
2011
Trend compendium 2030
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
The economy at a crossroads
Since the 2008 financial crisis, the global economy has endured a long period of slow growth. Although there are many signs of recovery, and there has been significant growth in countries such as the USA and Germany, there are many reasons why this growth is vulnerable. Its vulnerability is related to features such as the poor growth of productivity in the West, an ageing population, uncertain prospects in China and the price of oil, which can easily affect the global economy. Even more importantly, the unsustainable use of natural resources and carbon dioxide emissions now enforce much stricter parameters for growth than in the past. Discussions on economics have often raised the question of why growth is an aspiration. Increasing attention has been paid to the fact that the economy should above all be a means to achieve other ends, such as the experience of well-being.
2017
Megatrends 2017
Finland, The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra
Weakening of representative democracy
Since the global economy crashed
in 2008, there has been an erosion
of trust in political institutions and processes. Citizens now place more faith in companies than in their own leaders, and even then they don’t particularly trust the private sector, with the latest Edelman Trust Barometer showing global trust in business at 58% while trust in government has sunk to 44%. As a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, this is an issue that resonates with those of my demographic: the world’s youth.
2014
Outlook on the global agenda 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Energy systems will respond to low carbon pressures
Since the global energy crisis in the 1970s, technological innovation in the field of renewable energy has grown rapidly. By 2060, renewable energy could replace conventional fuels in four main sectors: power generation, hot water and space heating, transport fuels and rural energy.
2011
Africa in 50 Years’ Time
African Development Bank
Photonics and light technologies
Since the invention of the laser in 1960, photonics technologies have been further developed and have emerged in applications like communications, lighting, displays, health, manufacturing bringing about major improvements and innovations. Photonics is now everywhere around us and in everyday products like DVD players and mobile phones. In 2005, the European Commission established the European Technology Platform in Photonics: "Photonics21". In 2009, the European Commission recognised Photonics as one of the Key Enabling Technologies and in 2013 it created the Public Private Partnership in Photonics. In Photonics the stakeholders develop a vision and a roadmap of photonics as a well-defined science leading to disruptive break- throughs in telecommunications, life sciences, manufacturing, lighting and displays, sensors and education.
2015
Preparing the Commission for future opportunities - Foresight network fiches 2030
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Virtual reality/augmented reality
Smart head-mounted displays/glasses
2016
Disruptive technologies barometer
KPMG
Active Noise Control & Reduction Technology
Smart noise cancelling technology which predicts the occurrence of noise in real-time and generates sound waves with inverted phase
2017
10 emerging technologies in 2017
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Artificial intelligence/cognitive computing
Smart software systems
2016
Disruptive technologies barometer
KPMG
Neuro-technology
Smart technologies will be crucial technologies until 2030 and beyond. They will help societies to monitor, detect as well as respond or adapt to changes in their environment. Smart technologies are already and will become a part of our daily lives. 37 For example, smart electricity metering has addressed the problem of the losses of electricity due to theft. 38 Emerging technologies in the area of artificial intelligence have received much attention in which computer systems that carry out tasks normally done by humans, such as speech recognition and decision making. Another example is robotics which is understood as machines or mechanical systems that automatically handle tasks. Mesoscience 39 powered virtual reality gives us the possibility to realize the logic and structural consistence between problems, physical models, numerical methods and hardware, which, together with the dramatic development of computing technology, is opening a new era for virtual reality. Digital Automation characterizes the increasing ability of computers to overtake cognitive - and not just physical - tasks, enabling recent innovations like driverless cars, IBM Watson, e-discovery platforms for legal practice, and personalization algorithms for Web search, e-commerce, and social networks. The potential consequences of automation and artificial intelligence on employment are emerging areas in need of examination; the expansion of computing and machine intelligence is likely to affect healthcare, education, privacy and cybersecurity, and energy and environmental management. Recent studies are pointing to the possibility that a significant number of jobs - or job tasks - are amenable to automation, leading to a job polarization where demand for middle-income jobs are reduced while non-routine cognitive jobs (e.g., financial analysis or computer programming) and non-routine manual jobs (e.g., hairdressing) would be less unaffected. At this point, more study is warranted to understand implications for employment and socio-economic development in a specific national context. Autonomous vehicles or self-driving cars hold the promise to increase traffic efficiency, productivity, reduce traffic congestions and pollution, and save driving time. In 2016, the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy was launched which foresees 25 per cent of all trips in Dubai to be driverless by 2030. The Autonomous Transportation Challenge as launched as a request for proposals to global R&D centres to apply this technology in Dubai. It will make Dubai the world’s largest R&D lab for driverless transportation. 40
2016
Global sustainable development report 2016
United Nations
Rapid technology innovation creates a smart, mobile world
Smart technology offers the promise of remote access to health care and education, while blurring boundaries between industries. The power of the individual will grow and new competitors will emerge, disrupting industries and creating new business models.
2011
Tracking global trends - How six key developments are shaping the business world
EY