Trends Identified

Dark analytics - Illuminating opportunities hidden within unstructured data
Across enterprises, ever-expanding stores of data remain unstructured and unanalyzed. Few organizations have been able to explore nontraditional data sources such as image, audio, and video files; the torrent of machine and sensor information generated by the Internet of Things; and the enormous troves of raw data found in the unexplored recesses of the “deep web.” However, recent advances in computer vision, pattern recognition, and cognitive analytics are making it possible for companies to shine a light on these untapped sources and derive insights that lead to better experiences and decision making across the business.
2017
Tech trends 2017 - the kinetic enterprise
Deloitte
Look inside-out for growth
Across the survey rang a general theme of hunkering down as CEOs adapt to the strong nationalist and populist sentiment sweeping the globe. The threats they consider most pressing are less existential (e.g. terrorism, climate change) and more related to the ease of doing business in the markets where they operate (e.g. overregulation, policy uncertainty, availability of key skills, trade conflicts). When asked to identify the most attractive foreign markets for investment, CEOs are narrowing their choices and expressing more uncertainty.
2019
22nd Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Increasing environmental pollution
Across the world, ecosystems are today exposed to critical levels of pollution in increasingly complex mixtures. Human activities (such as energy generation and agriculture), global population growth and changing consumption patterns are the key drivers behind this growing environmental burden.
2015
Assessment of global megatrends - an update
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Diverging global population trends
Across the world, the basic determinants of population size and structure — fertility, mortality and migration — have been fundamentally altered by the processes of social and economic development. As a result, the global population doubled to 7 billion in the last half century and will continue growing fast in coming decades, although regional trends differ markedly. In advanced economies, populations are ageing and in some cases reducing in size. At the other extreme, populations in the least developed countries are expanding rapidly. Migration is also affecting the distribution and structure of populations, as people move in search of higher earnings or to escape conflict or environmental degradation.
2015
Assessment of global megatrends - an update
European Environment Agency (EEA)
AR
Addition of information or visuals to the physical world, via a graphics and/or audio overlay, to improve the user experience for a task or a product. This “augmentation” of the real world is achieved via supplemental devices that render and display said information. AR is distinct from Virtual Reality (VR); the latter being designed and used to re-create reality within a confined experience.
2016
Tech breaktroughs megatrend
PWC
Additive Manufacturing in 2030: how the next Gutenberg revolution may bring production 
back to Europe

Additive Manufacturing (AM, also referred to as 3D printing) refers to the process by which three-dimensional products are built from the bottom up, adding material layer-by-layer on the basis of a digital file. Through this additive approach it is possible to manufacture complex shapes and intricate parts at near 100% material utilisation that could not have been made by traditional means. Due to its flexibility, its potential to fundamentally alter the production cycle and to ‘democratise manufacturing’, some believe AM and 3D printing to be the precursor of an ‘Industry 4.0’, a shift to a digitalised, automated and data-oriented manufacturing industry.
2016
Global Trendometer - essays on medium- and long-term global trends
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing refers to a production method whereby three-dimensional products are created by successively layering material using a computerized or digital process.
2017
Beyond the Noise- The Megatrends of Tomorrow’s World
Deloitte
Print me home
Additive manufacturing scales up
2016
World in 2017
The Economist
3D printing
Additive manufacturing techniques to create objects by printing layers of material based on digital models
2013
Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy
McKinsey
3D printing
Additive manufacturing techniques used
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC