Trends Identified
Populism
For the last seven decades, globalization has marched forward uninterrupted. The Bretton Woods Institutions and multiple subsequent free trade agreements ushered in an era of trade liberalization and global supply chains, trends that helped lift more than one billion people out of poverty. In 2016, that inexorable forward-march hit a major roadblock when back-to-back election results gave us Brexit and President Trump, bringing populism and anti-globalization to the forefront. While populism had been ascendant in numerous countries before this — from Poland and Hungary to Bolivia and the Philippines — these elections brought such political philosophies to two of the world’s largest economies.
2018
What’s after what’s next? The upside of disruption Megatrends shaping 2018 and beyond
EY
AI-fueled organizations
For some organizations, harnessing artificial intelligence´s full potential begins tentatively with explorations of select enterprise opportunities and a few potential use cases. While testing the waters this way may deliver valuable insights, it likely won’t be enough to make your company a market maker (rather than a fast follower). To become a true AI-fueled organization, a company may need to fundamentally rethink the way humans and machines interact within working environments. Executives should also consider deploying machine learning and other cognitive tools systematically across every core business process and enterprise operation to support datadriven decision-making. Likewise, AI could drive new offerings and business models. These are not minor steps, but as AI technologies standardize rapidly across industries, becoming an AI-fueled organization will likely be more than a strategy for success—it could be table stakes for survival.
2019
Tech trends 2019 - Beyond the digital frontier
Deloitte
Advanced Diagnostics for Personalized Medicine - A new generation of tools could help end one-size-fits-all therapeutics.
For most of the 20th century all women with breast cancer received similar treatment. Therapy has since become more individualized: breast cancers are now divided into subtypes and treated accordingly. Many women whose tumors produce estrogen receptors, for instance, may receive drugs that specifically target those receptors, along with standard postsurgery chemotherapy. This year researchers took a step closer to even more personalized treatment. They identified a significant fraction of patients whose tumors possess characteristics that indicate they can safely forgo chemo—and avoid its often serious side effects.
2018
Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2018
Scientific American
API imperative - from IT concern to business mandate
For many years, application programming interfaces (APIs) have made it possible for solutions and systems to talk to each other. But increasingly, companies value these often-overlooked technologies for another capability: They expose technology assets for reuse across and beyond the enterprise. Not only can reuse drive greater ROI in IT investments—it can offer API consumers a set of building blocks for using existing data, transactions, and products in creative ways. As part of the growing API imperative trend, organizations have begun exploring new ways to expose, manage, and control APIs. As this trend gathers momentum in the coming months, expect further innovative approaches to emerge for contracting, pricing, servicing, and even marketing a venerable technology that has become a critical pillar of many digital ambitions.
2017
Tech trends 2018
Deloitte
Systems biology and computational modelling/simulation of chemical and biological systems
For improved healthcare and bio-based manufacturing, it is essential to understand how biology and chemistry work together. Systems biology and computational modelling and simulation are playing increasingly important roles in designing therapeutics, materials and processes that are highly efficient in achieving their design goals, while minimally impacting on human health and the environment.
2012
The top 10 emerging technologies for 2012
World Economic Forum (WEF)
The crystal ball internet
For around 20 years, starting in the 1980s, the political scientist Philip Tetlock sought predictions from people considered knowledgeable. His experts, 280 of them, were the kind of folk who, in their work as TV pundits or government advisors, opined on matters such as the rise of China or security in the Middle East. As time passed, he checked their forecasts. The results were dismal. “Human beings who spend their lives studying the state of the world… are poorer forecasters than dart-throwing monkeys,” wrote one reviewer of Tetlock’s work. Not so for a powerful new method of forecasting called “text mining”. It draws on the vast amount of data available online. By sampling the sentiments expressed in the torrent of blog posts, tweets and Facebook updates, you can gain unprecedented insights into the mood of the world and use it to predict what is to come.
2011
Seven technologies to disrupt the next decade
NewScientist
Carbon dioxide reuse
For ages, CO2 has never been considered an issue worth dedicating significant scientific attention to. This has changed with the growing certainty about man-made climate change and the role of CO2 as a greenhouse gas: CO2 emissions need to be avoided or CO2 needs to be stored 'eternally' (Carbon Capture and Storage – CCS, see separate fiche). However, CO2 can also be used as a raw material in industrial processes, notably by using the carbon component (C) through chemical or biological reactions. Research and first pilot installations have started on a number of different technology paths (polymerisation, mineralisation, bio-engineering, etc.)
2015
Preparing the Commission for future opportunities - Foresight network fiches 2030
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
The CEO Statesman is on the rise
For a host of reasons, CEOs are increasingly taking on social issues. Driving the trend: socially-conscious millennial workers, ineffective governments, and the need to build public trust in business. Expect to see more CEOs stepping up in 2018. With the labor market tight, they need to show that their companies are doing good in the world to attract the best talent.
2018
Five Big Business Trends to Watch in 2018
Fortune
Business confidence: Vigour & Circumspection
For 11 years, our Annual Global CEO Surveys have tracked how confident global leaders feel about the prospects for growth. The overall level of confidence has now dipped for the first time in five years. But this troubling picture masks two very different regional trends. CEOs in the industrialised Western economies are less confident about the prospects for business growth than they were last year. Those in the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America and the ‘new’ Europe, by contrast, see increasing opportunities for expansion.
2008
11th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
Tracing food from seed to mouth
Food-related information for monitoring regulations and markets could be enhanced through implanted chips, sensors and bioinformatics. We may be able to trace food production as well as the path of food-borne diseases to a much higher degree. Markets, consumers and governments could have much more detailed knowledge of where food comes from, who produced it, how, and with what by-products.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada