Trends Identified
Look who’s talking
The rapid adoption of technology and the spoken word to enrich our lives.
2019
Trends 2019
Mindshare
Globalisation
The rapid convergence between the E7 (emerging seven economies of China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Russia and Turkey) and the G7 (global seven economies of Unites States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Italy) has been accelerated by the global financial crisis. In 2007, total G7 gross domestic product (GDP, a country’s total economic output) at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP, the purchasing value in the local economy) was still around 60 percent larger than total E7 GDP8, yet by the end of 2010, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC, a global consulting firm) estimates the gap had shrunk to around only 35 percent. The catch-up process is set to continue over the next decade: by 2020 total E7 GDP could already be higher than total G7 GDP.
2012
The future
Steria
Renewables step up to the plate; coal strikes out
The rapid deployment and falling costs of clean energy technologies; in 2016, growth in solar PV capacity was larger than for any other form of generation; since 2010, costs of new solar PV have come down by 70%, wind by 25% and battery costs by 40%.
2017
World energy outlook 2017 executive summary
International Energy Agency (IEA)
Social Platforms Will Emerge as a New Source of Business Intelligence
The rapid growth of social media has been eye-popping—especially so in the last few years. Facebook, founded in 2004, now has more than half a billion users and is spending heavily to accommodate more. Twitter’s service generates billions of tweets per month. Social networks are not just a product of and for the young consumer: Many of the world’s Internet users aged 50 and over are active users of social media. And increasingly, businesses and government organizations are using social media to connect their constituents in an effort to improve collaboration. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The evolution of social media will continue to disrupt the way companies do business, posing new challenges to IT as it attempts to harness social media in the enterprise. The key driver of this change? The transformation of social networks into social platforms, each with its own ecosystem to fuel increasingly deeper levels of interaction. Social platforms have three major dimensions: functionality, or the basic capabilities these platforms offer; community, or the groups of people who belong to them; and user identity, the unique name and associated information that characterizes an individual.
2011
Accenture Technology Vision 2011
Accenture
Shifts in global economic power
The rapidly developing nations, particularly those with a large working‐age population, that embrace a business ethos, attract investment and improve their education system will gain the most. Emerging nations face the biggest challenge as technology increases the gulf with the developed world; unemployment and migration will continue to
be rampant without significant, sustained investment. The erosion of the middle class, wealth disparity and job losses due to large‐scale automation will increase the risk of social unrest in developed countries.
2017
Workforce of the future The competing forces shaping 2030
PWC
Regulation of rapidly evolving S&T
The rate of change in science and technology is likely to accelerate, and science and technology are likely to play an increasingly important role in our economy and our lives. Product safety, public trust and competitive advantage will best be served by systems with efficient and timely testing and regulation.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
China and the global shift to the East
The re-election of President Xi Jinping has given China stability in a turbulent world, and has reinforced the state’s mandate to address climate change at a time when other world leaders have faltered over sustainability
2018
8 sustainability trends that will define 2018
Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
Russia and China in 2030: authoritarian alliance or geopolitical rivals?
The relationship between China and Russia is likely to become stronger and Moscow’s dependency on Beijing will grow: Russia will be the junior partner. If Russia can cope with the limitations of this position, it could benefit from such a role.
2016
Global Trendometer - essays on medium- and long-term global trends
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
The shale revolution in the United States is turning to exports
The resilience of shale gas and tight oil in the United States, cementing its position as the biggest oil and gas producer in the world even at lower prices.
2017
World energy outlook 2017 executive summary
International Energy Agency (IEA)
Surgical optical technology
The result of the practical introduction of new surgical optical equipment to replace (or complement) traditional medical equipment will be a reduction in tissue trauma and a fall not only in the time required for operations, but also the duration of a patient’s stay in hospital. The development of minimally invasive surgery and the creation of complex hybrid systems consisting of nanotechnology and microelectromechanical systems (including 3D and 4D multimodal visualisation systems) will make it possible to use robotics in minimally invasive endoscopic procedures.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation