Trends Identified
Data Monetization
Consumers increasingly collect, track, barter, or sell their personal data for savings, convenience, or customization; companies increasingly value sources of data direct from the consumer as a way of gaining a competitive advantage (e.g., Facebook, Uber).
2017
Beyond the Noise- The Megatrends of Tomorrow’s World
Deloitte
Digital engagement - Context + content for marketing . . . and beyond
Content and assets are increasingly digital—with audio, video, and interactive elements—and consumed across multiple channels, including not only mobile, social, and the web, but also in store, on location, or in the field. Whether for customers, employees, or business partners, digital engagement is about creating a consistent, compelling, and contextual way of personalizing, delivering, and sometimes even monetizing the user’s overall experience— especially as core products become augmented or replaced with digital intellectual property.
2014
Tech trends 2014 - Inspiring Disruption
Deloitte
Regional agreements between Europe, the US, and Africa face an uncertain future
Contrary to many fears, the end of the Multi- Fibre Arrangement did not mark the end of trade preferences for Africa. Both the United States and the European Union introduced new preferences in 2001. The future of both preference schemes is uncertain.
2011
Africa in 50 Years’ Time
African Development Bank
Demand for Customization
Control is shifting away from the manufacturer, giving the consumer a greater say in what, when, and how they receive their goods and services (e.g., customized goods, precision medicine) due to the interaction between Web 2.0 and advanced manufacturing trends.
2017
Beyond the Noise- The Megatrends of Tomorrow’s World
Deloitte
The rise of the merchant technocrat
Convenience, community, and creativity will change the retail landscape. The result? A new paradigm for consumption that brings the store to consumers.
2018
Trend watch 2018: the next five
Landor
Devices as doorways
Conventional computers have become only marginally more powerful in recent years; mobile devices, on the other hand, have increased their capabilities tenfold. During the same period, the amount of content on the Web has grown exponentially. The two trends, taken together, are breaking up an age-old paradigm where certain kinds of devices (temple scrolls, record players, or GPS units) give access to certain kinds of content (words, music, or location). That era is ending. We are now entering a world where any device can deliver any content. In such a world, there are many avenues to a given piece of content, and devices—in different shapes and sizes—are simply doorways. A key principle of the new paradigm is that users will tend toward whatever access patterns maximize their own convenience and productivity, whether this means reading a transcript of a voicemail on a tablet computer, making a dinner reservation using a video game console, or approving a purchase order by touching a phone. For enterprises that see the work machine as the sole way to access corporate information—the old paradigm—this trend will initially appear problematic. Soon, however, they will likely see it as an opportunity to get out of the business of hardware support while improving system security. Users will supply their own devices, and the job of enterprise IT will be to provide a secure transport layer for work information. Through the adroit use of virtualization, “webification” or other thin-client technologies, enterprises will be able to rise with the tide of devices.
2010
Accenture technology vision
Accenture
Precise genetic-engineering techniques
Conventional genetic engineering has long caused controversy. However, new techniques are emerging that allow us to directly “edit” the genetic code of plants to make them, for example, more nutritious or better able to cope with a changing climate. Currently, the genetic engineering of crops relies on the bacterium agrobacterium tumefaciens to transfer desired DNA into the target genome. The technique is proven and reliable, and despite widespread public fears, there is a consensus in the scientific community that genetically modifying organisms using this technique is no more risky than modifying them using conventional breeding. However, while agrobacterium is useful, more precise and varied genome-editing techniques have been developed in recent years.These include ZFNs, TALENS and, more recently, the CRISPR-Cas9 system, which evolved in bacteria as a defence mechanism against viruses. CRISPR-Cas9 system uses an RNA molecule to target DNA, cutting to a known, user-selected sequence in the target genome. This can disable an unwanted gene or modify it in a way that is functionally indistinguishable from a natural mutation. Using “homologous recombination”, CRISPR can also be used to insert new DNA sequences, or even whole genes, into the genome in a precise way. Another aspect of genetic engineering that appears poised for a major advance is the use of RNA interference (RNAi) in crops. RNAi is effective against viruses and fungal pathogens, and can also protect plants against insect pests, reducing the need for chemical pesticides. Viral genes have been used to protect papaya plants against the ringspot virus, for example, with no sign of resistance evolving in over a decade of use in Hawaii. RNAi may also benefit major staple-food crops, protecting wheat against stem rust, rice against blast, potato against blight and banana against fusarium wilt. Many of these innovations will be particularly beneficial to smaller farmers in developing countries. As such, genetic engineering may become less controversial, as people recognize its effectiveness at boosting the incomes and improving the diets of millions of people. In addition, more precise genome editing may allay public fears, especially if the resulting plant or animal is not considered transgenic because no foreign genetic material is introduced. Taken together, these techniques promise to advance agricultural sustainability by reducing input use in multiple areas, from water and land to fertilizer, while also helping crops to adapt to climate change.
2015
Top 10 emerging technologies of 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Neurotechnology
Convergence of emerging science, engineering and technology over the past decade has resulted in the emergence of neurotechnology, which can be defined as the manipulations of technical and computational tools to measure, analyse and re-wire the working of the nervous system in order to identify the properties of nerve cell activities, diagnose illnesses, restore and/or rescue neurological functions and even controlled by external devices. Application of neurotechnology is not limited to medical industry; it can be applied in financial market, law enforcement, marketing, education and warfare (ESET Neurotechnology Report, ASM, 2017)
2017
Science & Technology Foresight Malaysia
Malaysia, Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Conversational Platforms
Conversational platforms will drive the next big paradigm shift in how humans interact with the digital world. They will shift the model from technology-literate people to people-literate technology. The burden of translating intent will move from the user to the computer. The system takes a question or command from the user in natural language. It responds by executing a function, presenting content or asking for additional input.
2017
Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018
Gartner
Reimagining core systems - Modernizing the heart of the business
Core systems that drive back, mid, and front offices are often decades old, comprising everything from the custom systems built to run the financial services industry in the 1970s to the ERP reengineering wave of the 1990s. Today, many roads to digital innovation lead through these “heart of the business” applications. For this reason, organizations are now developing strategies for reimagining their core systems that involve re-platforming, modernizing, and revitalizing them. Transforming the bedrock of the IT footprint to be agile, intuitive, and responsive can help meet business needs today, while laying the foundation for tomorrow.
2016
Tech trends 2016 - innovating in the digital era
Deloitte