Trends Identified

Lost cities

You don’t need to look very hard in a place like Miami to see how cities are changing in the 21st Century – rising sea levels are gradually making some of them disappear. Fuelled by climate change, not only are floods becoming more common in the streets, but the changing weather patterns have also influenced building design. Aside from more seawalls, the city is requiring all new buildings be built with their first floor built higher. But that’s all a sticking plaster – if current trends continue, we may have to come to terms with losing whole swathes of cities, islands and low-lying regions such as Bangladesh. The economic impact to regions will be profound, and climate refugees could become the norm.

2017

10 grand challenges we’ll face by 2050

The BBC

Be nice to the telepresence robot

You wouldn’t rest your feet on a colleague during a meeting. But what if your workmate was a robot controlled by a co-worker many kilometres away – would it still be rude? This is typical of the new etiquette questions that will be raised by remote-controlled telepresence robots, which allow you to transport your “self” anywhere in the world to take a look around. A roving version of you, these robots could alter the way we travel and interact with each other.

2011

Seven technologies to disrupt the next decade

NewScientist

No Such Thing as Hacker-proof

You’ve been breached, or you soon will be. Now what? Who can forget that great line from the movie Field of Dreams? “If you build it, they will come.” It’s an inspiring incentive of future rewards to be reaped for challenging work today. But in the realm of cyber-threat defense, it is also an unfortunate likelihood. If you build something of value, others will likely come to steal it. No matter how you secure your environment. No matter how many redundant walls or how many futile moats you have.

2013

Tech Trends 2013 Elements of postdigital

Deloitte

How people watch TV

Younger adults are using online streaming services as their go-to platform for watching television. About six-in-ten Americans ages 18 to 29 (61%) report that online streaming is the primary way they watch television, according to Center survey data from August

2017

Key trends shaping technology in 2017

Pew Research Center