Trends Identified

On AR in the enterprise

Greg Sullivan, Director of Communications, mixed reality, Microsoft. On AR in the enterprise: This past year one of the things that’s become clear is that the commercial space has seen the value of HoloLens, and AR/VR/XR in general, in a range of deployments in some very interesting ways. There is a value in taking the digital world and the physical world and bringing them together in meaningful ways. We’re just starting to see people getting a handle on what they can do with the technology–things like remotely assisting someone or laying out physical objects in a digital space. In the next 12 months we expect to continue to realize the commercial value of the HoloLens. We fully expect to see more [enterprise] customers take advantage of HoloLens to achieve more.

2019

The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts

Fast Company

Green technology

Green technology refers to environmentally sound technology. Existing technologies as well as new nanotechnology, biotechnology, and digital technology may all be deployed in new ways to reduce non-renewable resource use and to utilise and support ecosystem processes. Technology change in the energy and materials sectors are key. 41 In the energy sector of developed countries, crucial technologies suggested by experts include smart grids, highly energy efficient buildings, electric vehicles, vastly improved and cheap batteries, nuclear power, hydrogen- fueled vehicles and supply infrastructures, and natural gas technologies. In developing countries, they included new ways of electrification, desalination based on reverse osmosis, small and medium sized nuclear reactors, and mini-grids based on intermittent renewables with storage. 42 Cheaper and highly energy efficient fossil fuel power plants will be needed. Highly efficient vehicles including hybrid cars and intelligent transport systems (ITS) technologies for controlling traffic flows will be important. 43, 44 Large- scale deployment of solar power, and technologies to replace aluminium and other high impact materials are equally important. 45 Salinity gradient power technology could potentially produce 80 per cent of the global energy demand. 46 Passive housing technology could make a big difference in energy use, as it results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little to no energy for space heating or cooling. Decentralized electric power systems are expected to play a very important role in coming years, especially for ensuring that no one is left behind. To this end, RD&D is needed in such systems (efficient appliances, intermittent 122 | Global Sustainable Development Report 2016 supply solar, wind) and in interactions with heat pumps for space heating, heat and power storage and electric mobility. Innovative community and business models will be needed to operate such systems in terms of reliability, affordability, sustainability and safety and privacy. Another component of this emerging technology system will be integrated urban and rural mobility, notably a well- functioning public transport infrastructure, new mobility options (e.g., e-bike, e-car, greenwheels) and in some areas biofuel supply chains. 47 Hence, deployment of off- grid electricity systems and even direct current can be a core solution to achievement of the SDGs. 48, 49 They should be given ample research funding. 50, 51 For example, off- grid electricity could be used to dry grain 52 and to store and transport perishable food, 53 in order to reduce food wastage. 54, 55 Institutional innovation does not only promote the development and deployment of technologies, but also provides the foundations for paradigm shift. In China, block tariff of household electricity consumption accelerated replacement of incandescent fluorescent lamps with LED lamps. Feed-in pricing of wind-power and solar PV are thought to have contributed to make China the country with highest increase in and the largest installed capacity of wind and solar PV in the world. 56, 57, 58 Cookstoves with the emissions comparable to those of an LPG stove would play an important role in the achievement of the SDGs, given the enormous and multiple benefits that could come from the large-scale deployment of such a stove. 59, 60 Globally, more than 2 billion people rely on traditional use of biomass fuels for cooking and heating and have limited access to clean and efficient energy for lighting. Increasing access to clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels can also ensure lasting, inclusive gains in the areas of poverty eradication, food security, health and well-being, education, gender equality, economic growth, reducing inequalities, sustainable cities, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation. Effective deployment of these technologies requires substantial engagement of women. Developers need to put female users at the center of their concepts, design and deployment stages. 61 Technologies for pollution purification will be of the utmost importance until 2030. New technologies for detection and removal emerging contaminants in stormwater, for drinking water, and wastewater treatment and reuse are emerging. In the future, every gasoline-powered motor vehicle would be equipped with emission purification plant, and polluting enterprises would be installed with comprehensive purifying equipment. Meanwhile, environmentally-friendly energy would be widely used in diverse industries. 62 New technologies are emerging that support a transition to a circular economy. 63 These include technologies for remanufacturing, technologies for product life- cycle extension such as re-use and refurbishment, and technologies for recycling. 64 Social innovation will also play an important role. The level of performance and deployment will depend on material streams and the specific context. Proposed by the EU Circular Economy Package of December 2015, a recycling rate of 65 per cent for municipal solid waste may be achievable by 2030. 65 Technological advancement should foster an urban metabolism that is sustainable in itself not dependent on other regions for the supply of resources and the discharge of waste. 66 In this direction, new recycle and reuse technologies and multifunctional infrastructures play a pivotal role. Technologies for integrating centralized systems and decentralized systems for provision of services such as energy and potable water are also emerging. 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 A whole range of new deep sea mining technologies are emerging, but many of them are not yet commercially viable. These technologies could have greatly impact sustainable development, in view of their impacts on global resource use and their potential benefits for island nations. 72 The production of food for half of the world’s population continued to depend on fertilisers made by fixation of nitrogen through the Haber-Bosch process. Technologies for nitrogen fixation that are less energy intensive and that avoid very high H 2 pressure would be highly desirable. Advances in bio-organometallics and materials chemistry are greatly increasing the efficiency of biomimetic analogs of nitrogenase , a natural enzyme that can fix atmospheric nitrogen at room temperature and pressure without the need of molecular hydrogen. Improvements in geophysical research and seismic exploration of the ocean floor, through the application of marine Vibroseis (MV), show potential in providing an environmentally safer alternative to airguns, which have negative effects on marine animals. 73 Artificial photosynthesis is close to commercialization. It is now possible to produce different carbohydrates directly from CO 2 and water using merely sunlight. Artificial leafs, when immersed in water, directly produces hydrogen and oxygen. These leafs consist of wireless, low-cost, thin film amorphous silicon multi-junction cells. 74

2016

Global sustainable development report 2016

United Nations

Graphene

Graphene is an allotrope of carbon in the form of a two-dimensional, honey-comb lattice. Although graphene has an atomic-scale thickness, its structural and chemical characteristics are stable enough to substitute silicon diode.

2009

KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2009

South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)

Graphene and related new materials

Graphene is a form of carbon, in sheets one atom thick. The outstanding material properties of graphene give it the potential to replace or supplement many other materials, in a vast range of potential products and applications. It is the first of what will become a large family of new 2-D materials. It is expected that graphene will be a "game-changer"; it will enable new or enhanced applications, processes and products in a wide range of industries and sectors of the economy. The long-term forecast worldwide potential market will be hundreds of billions of euros.

2015

Preparing the Commission for future opportunities - Foresight network fiches 2030

European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)

Collaborations

Governments, businesses, international financial institutions, the United Nations, civil society and academia are developing new ways of working with each other in pursuit of compatible objectives.

2015

SDG industry matrix

KPMG

Role of government

Governments will be compelled to respond to the many grand challenges arising in the future in a context marked by mounting fiscal pressure, eroding public confidence in government and the continuing transition to a multipolar world, with the consequent potential for growing instability.

2016

OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2016

OECD

Decreasing Defence Expenditures

Governments faced with slow or non-existent growth, rising unemployment and increasing debt burdens will continue to have many competing priorities. Continuing volatility in financial markets might further slow global as well as national economic activity. Defence spending has continued to decline across the Alliance due to reduced economic growth, and the increasing emphasis on social programmes. There is a risk that, even if economic cycles turn more positive, public opinion may prevent some nations from reinvesting in defence. This will have a marked negative impact on defence capabilities in the future. The consequences of current and anticipated near-term reductions in Science and Technology (S&T) investment will have implications on longer-term force capabilities. These deficits could be offset by new, less expensive, and yet-to-be-developed technologies.

2013

Strategic Foresight Analysis 2013 Report

NATO

Cleantech becomes a competitive advantage

Governments and organizations are announcing plans to shrink their carbon footprints. The move to cleantech may represent a second industrial revolution that will have effects as great as the first.

2011

Tracking global trends - How six key developments are shaping the business world

EY

Malicious cyber activity is an increasing security challenge

Government and business services are moving online at higher rates than ever before, as are many of our personal interactions

2017

Surfing the digital tsunami

Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

The combustion engine will get smarter before it goes away.

Going green doesn’t have to be reserved for the wealthy who can afford to switch to an electric car, says Bertrand Piccard, chairman and pilot of Solar Impulse, who flew a solar plane around the planet. For middle class people struggling to fill up the tank — we were speaking at the start of the Yellow Vest protests in France — there are solutions. He points to an anti-smog device installed on the engine for a few hundred bucks that reduces fuel consumption by 20% and particles by 80%. Built-in AI in your car can help you drive greener and cut another 20% off the bill. “Today, half the energy we use is wasted because we have inefficient systems,” Piccard says. “There will be more carbon taxes because we can’t afford to keep wasting fossil fuels. But we can put systems in place to be less wasteful, to consume less, and in the end we’ll save money.”

2018

50 Big Ideas for 2019: What to watch in the year ahead

LinkedIn