Trends Identified
Social credit algorithms
These algorithms use facial recognition and other advanced biometrics to identify a person and retrieve data about that person from social media and other digital profiles for the purpose of approval or denial of access to consumer products or social services. In our increasingly networked world, the combination of biometrics and blended social data streams can turn a brief observation into a judgment of whether a person is a good or bad risk or worthy of public social sanction. Some countries are reportedly already using social credit algorithms to assess loyalty to the state.
2018
IEEE Computer Society Predicts the Future of Tech: Top 10 Technology Trends for 2019
IEEE Computer Society
Chatbots
These artificial intelligence (AI) programs simulate interactive human conversation using key pre-calculated user phrases and auditory or text-based signals. Chatbots have recently started to use self-created sentences in lieu of pre-calculated user phrases, providing better results. Chatbots are frequently used for basic customer service on social networking hubs and are often included in operating systems as intelligent virtual assistants. We have recently witnessed the use of chatbots as personal assistants capable of machine-to-machine communications as well. In fact, chatbots mimic humans so well that some countries are considering requiring chatbots to disclose that they are not human. Industry is looking to expand chatbot applications to interaction with cognitive-impaired children as a way to provide therapeutic support.
2018
IEEE Computer Society Predicts the Future of Tech: Top 10 Technology Trends for 2019
IEEE Computer Society
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
These related technologies have been hitting the mainstream in some respects for a number of years. For a well-known example, Pokemon Go is a game that uses the camera of a smartphone to interpose fictional objects in real-world surroundings. Gaming is clearly a driver of these technologies, with other consumer devices becoming affordable and commonplace. VR and AR technologies are also useful for education, engineering, and other fields. However, there has been a Catch-22 in that there is a lack of applications resulting from the high cost of entry, yet the cost has stayed high due to a lack of applications. With advertisements for VR headsets appearing during prime-time television programs, we may have finally reached a tipping point.
2018
IEEE Computer Society Predicts the Future of Tech: Top 10 Technology Trends for 2019
IEEE Computer Society
The Role of Think Tanks
Think tanks play a fundamental role in shaping policy agendas. They mobilise expertise and put forward evidence. They push for innovative change and they build networks and communities through which they nurture and spread ideas and catalyse action. The current environment of fast-paced transformations and increasingly complex and intertwined challenges at local, national and global levels would seem to create a perfect backdrop for think tanks to engage in dynamically, offering creative, pragmatic and actionable policy solutions on tangible issues.
2016
Shaping the future
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Great expectations
This is a consumer, societal, demographic and cultural megatrend. It explores the rising demand for experiences over products and the rising importance of social relationships. This megatrend also captures the expectation people have for personalised services that meet their unique needs and wants whilst being delivered en masse. This megatrend has implications for the Australian retail sector and human service delivery systems of government and private sector organisations. People of the future will have expectations for more personalised, better and faster services. They will seek higher-end experiences due to income growth and the oversupply of_x000B_mass consumables. Social relationships will hold increased importance given the potential for social media and digital communication burnout and the desire for face-to-face interaction. Conversely, for the billions of impoverished people in the world the expectations are still for the basic necessities of life such as water, food, clothing, shelter and personal security. Many will have great expectations, but many will still have basic expectations.
2012
Our future world - globla megatrends that will change the way we live
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Virtually here
This megatrend explores what might happen in
a world of increased connectivity where individuals, communities, governments and businesses are immersed into the virtual world to a much greater extent than ever before. We are increasingly moving online to connect, to deliver and access services, to obtain information and to perform transactions such as shopping and working. Online retail and teleworking in Australia are forecast to grow rapidly with impacts on labour markets, retail models, city design and transportation systems. Digital media is allowing people to form new connections and selectively access information through multiple channels with subsequent erosion
of trust in traditional information sources.
The digitally connected world is virtually here.
2012
Our future world - globla megatrends that will change the way we live
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Internet of Things (IoT)
This much hyped term refers to the sensor-enabled devices that can communicate with one another via the Internet. The possible uses are still being unearthed, but the McKinsey Global Institute predicts that the annual economic impact of IoT applications could be as much as USD 11.1 trillion by 2025. MGI suggests that factories are likely to see the greatest potential impact from IoT use – as much as USD 3.7 trillion per year – with substantial productivity improvements, including 10 to 20 percent energy savings and a 10 to 25 percent improvement in labor efficiency.
2018
Disruptive forces in the industrial sectors - Global executive survey
McKinsey
Insurance (finally) Enters The Digital Age
This will be a standout year for insurance. Insurers will actively embrace new markets (smart cities, autonomous vehicles, connected living, and the elderly), products (insurance for shared workspaces, working from home, automotive pay-per-mile, and cyber-protection), technologies (blockchain, virtual reality (VR)/augmented reality (AR), and AI), business models (Prevention-as-a-Service, usage based car insurance, and on-demand insurance), and operations (increased automation, shifts in core systems, and even personnel and culture shifts).The industry will be characterized by greater automation and partnerships with data management companies. M&As with product and service providers in adjunct industries will provide instant access to new technology and capabilities, allowing insurance companies to adapt more rapidly to next generation needs.
2019
Top 10 Trends For 2019
Forbes
B2B Data Monetization Becomes Mainstream
This year will mark a watershed where new, non-traditional industries begin to establish and develop their data monetization strategies. Following in the footsteps of the credit, marketing and advertising industries where such practices are already widespread, car manufacturers, healthcare companies, IoT, and industrial aerospace IoT will push more aggressively towards data driven business models. Success for data monetization in these industries will be dictated by their ability to develop use cases, and innovative pricing and business models. Investments in data initiatives will spiral, even as comprehensive data strategies become a cornerstone of future business plans. In the meantime, significant reductions in data generation and storage costs will allow companies the opportunity to more creatively and productively leverage their data.
2019
Top 10 Trends For 2019
Forbes
Dynamic data
This year, a number of companies made use of impossibly detailed personal information. Not age, name or location, but details gathered from saliva samples and body tracking sensors. Biometric information, like your genomic profile, has become more easily accessible, thanks to the increased efficiency and falling costs of the technology involved in obtaining it. This has given brands in various categories, from luxury fashion to FMCG, the opportunity to use biometric information to both add value to their product and strengthen their marketing messages.
2018
Most contagious
Contagious