Trends Identified
AI for Molecular Design - Machine-learning algorithms are speeding up the search for novel drugs and materials
Want to design a new material for solar energy, a drug to fight cancer or a compound that stops a virus from attacking a crop? First, you must tackle two challenges: finding the right chemical structure for the substance and determining which chemical reactions will link up the right atoms into the desired molecules or combinations of molecules. Traditionally answers have come from sophisticated guesswork aided by serendipity. The process is extremely time-consuming and involves many failed attempts. A synthesis plan, for instance, can have hundreds of individual steps, many of which will produce undesired side reactions or by-products or simply not work at all. Now, though, artificial intelligence is starting to increase the efficiency of both design and synthesis, making the enterprise faster, easier and cheaper while reducing chemical waste. In AI, machine-learning algorithms analyze all known past experiments that have attempted to discover and synthesize the substances of interest—those that worked and, importantly, those that failed. Based on the patterns they discern, the algorithms predict the structures of potentially useful new molecules and possible ways of manufacturing them. No single machine-learning tool can do all this at the push of a button, but AI technologies are moving rapidly into the real-world design of drug molecules and materials.
2018
Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2018
Scientific American
The Next Big Question for Voice Assistants
Voice assistants continue to gain momentum, but there’s still little clarity around how this new interface affects the brandconsumer relationship, and how brands need to reposition themselves in light of this. With strong chances of more growth on the horizon, stakeholders in voice tech are having to consider questions that underline its durability and monetization potential in the future. Above all, they’re having to grapple with the need to commercialize voice assistants, and future-proof their role across the consumer purchase journey.
2019
Trends 19
GlobalWebIndex
Augmented Reality Everywhere - Coming soon: the world overlaid with data
Virtual reality (VR) immerses you in a fictional, isolated universe. Augmented reality (AR), in contrast, overlays computer-generated information on the real world in real time. As you look at or wear a device equipped with AR software and a camera—be it a smartphone, a tablet, a headset or smart glasses—the program analyzes the incoming video stream, downloads extensive information about the scene and superposes on it relevant data, images or animations, often in 3-D.
2018
Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2018
Scientific American
Virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) abolishes logistical limitations and makes anything possible. In a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment, viewers can use special equipment to interact with the simulation in realistic ways. The gaming and entertainment industries are obvious proving grounds for VR. However, VR has the potential to transform many other industries as well, especially in the realm of experiential training where workers can be put into hazardous, difficult, or cost-prohibitive situations without the intense risks associated with these activities in the real world.
2017
The Essential Eight - Your guide to the emerging technologies revolutionizing business now
PWC
Virtual and augmented reality
Virtual and augmented reality, an artificial environment created with software and hardware that, in the case of augmented reality, provides the ability to overlay digital information into real-world settings
2019
Tech for good
McKinsey
Extended Reality -The End of Distance
Virtual and augmented reality technologies are removing the distance to people, information, and experiences, transforming the ways people live and work.
2018
Accenture Technology vision 2018
Accenture
Global Publics More Upbeat About the Economy
Views of the economy have rebounded in several large and economically powerful countries. In 2009, during the Great Recession, just 10% of Japanese, 17% of Americans and 28% of Germans rated their country’s current economic situation as good. By 2017, these shares had increased by at least 30 percentage points in each country, including a 58-point jump in Germany, where 86% of the public now describes the nation’s economy as good.
2017
6 trends in international public opinion from our Global Indicators Database
Pew Research Center
Russia’s standing among Europeans has slipped
Views of Russia were at their most positive in several European countries in 2011, but they have fallen since then and have remained consistently low over the past few years. Between 2011 and this year, the share of people with a favorable opinion of Russia has declined by double digits in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK. The biggest drop occurred in the UK, where just 26% of the public now sees Russia favorably, down from 50% in 2011. Today, no more than 36% of the public in any of these five countries holds a favorable view of Russia.
2017
6 trends in international public opinion from our Global Indicators Database
Pew Research Center
NATO’s Image Improves on Both Sides of Atlantic
Views of NATO have ticked upward in many member countries. Opinions about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have improved on both sides of the Atlantic over the past year. The share of the public with a favorable view of the alliance increased by 9 percentage points in the U.S. and 10 points in Canada, along with a rise of 7 points in the Netherlands, 8 points in Germany, 9 points in Poland and 11 points in France, where it had fallen 15 points between 2015 and 2016. At least six-in-ten people in each of these countries now have a favorable view of NATO. In the U.S., the recent uptick in approval has mainly been driven by Democrats, while Republican views have remained largely unchanged.
2017
6 trends in international public opinion from our Global Indicators Database
Pew Research Center
Finding different ways of thinking and working
Views about diversity and inclusiveness seem to have reached a tipping point. No longer are they seen as ‘soft’ issues, but rather as crucial competitive capabilities. Of the 64% of CEOs whose companies have a formal diversity and inclusiveness strategy, 85% think it’s improved the bottom line. And they also see such strategies as benefiting innovation, collaboration, customer satisfaction, emerging customer needs and the ability to harness technology – all vital capabilities for success in the new competitive environment.
2015
18th Annual global CEO survey
PWC