Trends Identified
Lack of leadership
A startling 86% of respondents to the Survey on the Global Agenda agree that we have a leadership crisis in the world today. Why would they say this? Perhaps because the international community has largely failed to address any major global issue in recent years. It has failed to deal with global warming, then barely dealt with the failure of the global economy, which has caused such severe problems in North America and Europe. Meanwhile violence has been left to fester in the Middle East, the region our Survey showed is most affected by, and concerned about this problem. So why are we suffering such a lack of leadership?
2014
Outlook on the global agenda 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Reviewing the legality of military human enhancement technologies
A third emerging technology area that is expected to shape the future of warfare is the enhancement of military personnel, known as ‘military human enhancement’ (MHE). MHE technologies are not stand-alone weapons or means of warfare, but are tech- nologies designed to improve human warfighting capabilities. It is therefore not obvi- ous whether, and if so how, the requirements of Article 36 apply in this area.
2017
Article 36 reviews
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Sensing City
A Toronto neighborhood aims to be the first place to successfully integrate cutting-edge urban design with state-of-the-art digital technology.
2018
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2018
MIT Technology Review
No Clear Path to Post-Western Order
A United States-led global system was premised on a politically and economically dominant West. Financial regionalization will eat away at the central role of the Anglo-Saxon financial model. The challenge will be to establish a new world order that maintains a modicum of cooperation despite values gaps.
2016
Global risks 2035- the search for a new normal
Atlantic Council
Anthropomorphic robots freely interacting with people
Abroad, there is currently considerable research and development into the creation of anthropomorphic robots freely interacting with people. In current versions, such robots are equipped with a control system including a number of key sub-systems: technical vision; voice control; voice messages; tactile sensing; spatial orientation; walking and stability control; and behaviour control. In future breakthrough research into modelling the functioning of the human nervous system, the dynamics of its value system, and psychological and mental maxims taking into account external and internal factors will be crucial for robotics (and the creation of anthropomorphic robots in particular).
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Resourceful planet
Absolute population growth, economic development and more middle-class consumers will drive increasing global demand for natural resources — both renewable and non-renewable. While the world’s supply of non-renewable resources is technically finite, new technologies continue to impact the future supply picture by allowing access to formerly hard-to-reach and valuable oil, gas and strategic mineral reserves. The application of new technologies, as well as the shifting supply environment, will drive business model adaptation and innovation in multiple sectors — as well as impact the geopolitical balance of power. At the same time, natural resources must be more effectively managed, particularly from an environmental impact perspective. Growing concern over environmental degradation, securing strategic resources and the fate of our food and water supply are indicative of the fact that protecting and restoring the planet is a critical future imperative. Governments, societies and businesses must work in tandem to develop more sustainable approaches to the task of achieving economic growth while leveraging natural resource inputs.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Empowerment through education
Access to primary education in particular is regarded as critical to socioeconomic mobility, and for this reason it has been an objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Substantial inroads have been made this past decade in reducing the number of out-of-school children
2013
Now for the long term - The Report of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations
Oxford Martin School
The Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Access to technology that enables the production and distribution of WMD is likely to increase. Many states will feel that they require the prestige and deterrent value of WMD systems to reinforce their regional power.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
Social Change
According to the World Bank Group, two thirds of all jobs could be susceptible to automation in developing countries in the coming decade. The role and responsibilities of people in this new operating landscape will increasingly shift to knowledge work, process control and decision making. As such, the ability to learn, unlearn, relearn and co-learn reinforced through reskilling and upskilling would be increasingly important as emerging technologies lead the way to greater automation. The democratisation of knowledge also gives rise to a society where ideas and knowledge can be easily accessed by many and no longer limited to an elite group. The digital revolution enables knowledge to be freely acquired, shared and developed thereby empowering people to make informed decisions.
2017
Science & Technology Foresight Malaysia
Malaysia, Academy of Sciences Malaysia
The advent of social music
Across 2017, video established itself as the new driving force of social media innovation and engagement. With both Facebook and Snapchat now investing in original TV content to be made available via their platforms, the commitment of the social media giants to stake a claim to a portion of TV revenues is clear. So, what media will social services engulf in 2018? Well, a glance at the acquisition and hiring strategy of Facebook suggests that this social behemoth, at least, is beginning to take music seriously.
2018
Trends 18
GlobalWebIndex