Trends Identified
Neuromorphic technology
Even today’s best supercomputers cannot rival the sophistication of the human brain. Computers are linear, moving data back and forth between memory chips and a central processor over a high-speed backbone. The brain, on the other hand, is fully interconnected, with logic and memory intimately cross-linked at billions of times the density and diversity of that found in a modern computer. Neuromorphic chips aim to process information in a fundamentally different way from traditional hardware, mimicking the brain’s architecture to deliver a huge increase in a computer’s thinking and responding power. Miniaturization has delivered massive increases in conventional computing power over the years, but the bottleneck of shifting data constantly between stored memory and central processors uses large amounts of energy and creates unwanted heat, limiting further improvements. In contrast, neuromorphic chips can be more energy efficient and powerful, combining data-storage and data-processing components into the same interconnected modules. In this sense, the system copies the networked neurons that, in their billions, make up the human brain. Neuromorphic technology will be the next stage in powerful computing, enabling vastly more rapid processing of data and a better capacity for machine learning. IBM’s million-neuron TrueNorth chip, revealed in prototype in August 2014, has a power efficiency for certain tasks that is hundreds of times superior to a conventional CPU (Central Processing Unit), and more comparable for the first time to the human cortex. With vastly more compute power available for far less energy and volume, neuromorphic chips should allow more intelligent small-scale machines to drive the next stage in miniaturization and artificial intelligence. Potential applications include: drones better able to process and respond to visual cues, much more powerful and intelligent cameras and smartphones, and data-crunching on a scale that may help unlock the secrets of financial markets or climate forecasting. Computers will be able to anticipate and learn, rather than merely respond in pre-programmed ways.
2015
Top 10 emerging technologies of 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Public divided on prospects for the next generation
Even in some places where views of economic conditions have improved, there is pessimism when it comes to the financial future of the next generation. About half of people (52%) in Germany, 58% of Americans and 72% of Japanese say that children today will grow up to be worse off financially than their parents were. Other countries where majorities hold this view include South Korea (55%), the United Kingdom (68%) and Australia, Canada and Spain (69% each). While views in countries with advanced economies tend to be pessimistic, opinions are more mixed in developing and emerging economies. Roughly three-quarters of people in India (76%) and Nigeria (72%) expect children today to be better off than their parents, as do 95% of people in Vietnam. On the other hand, after years of economic struggles, 51% of Venezuelans say children today will grow up to be worse off than their parents, up from just 21% in 2013.
2017
6 trends in international public opinion from our Global Indicators Database
Pew Research Center
Enhanced nutrition to drive health at the molecular level
Even in developed countries millions of people suffer from malnutrition due to nutrient deficiencies in their diets. Now modern genomic techniques can determine at the gene sequence level the vast number of naturally consumed proteins which are important in the human diet. The proteins identified may have advantages over standard protein supplements in that they can supply a greater percentage of essential amino acids, and have improved solubility, taste, texture and nutritional characteristics. The large-scale production of pure human dietary proteins based on the application of biotechnology to molecular nutrition can deliver health benefits such as muscle development, managing diabetes or reducing obesity.
2013
The top 10 emerging technologies for 2013
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Autonomy
Evans says that when the day comes that cars, buses, and other vehicles no longer need drivers, it’ll be possible to completely re-imagine what those vehicles can be, and—even better—re-imagine the world in which they move. “If you’re building public infrastructure or planning a city, then [long-term planning] absolutely needs to be something that figures into your thinking.”
2018
The Most Important Tech Trends Of 2018, According To Top VCs
Fast Company
Growing need to restore citizens’ perceptions about voice
EU citizens have increasingly grown discontented about the functioning of the EU as a political system. When asked whether their voice matters in the EU a record 67% of the electorate thinks it does not.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Can Esports Actually Make it into the Mainstream?
Esports is well on its way to becoming a household name. Almost 70% of internet users in the UK and U.S. alone have now heard of the term “esports”, with as many as half of those aged 55-64 also being aware of these competitive video game tournaments. Sell-out stadiums and prize pools of $100 million dollars have increased esports’ exposure and shored up any reservations over its longevity, providing a powerful reminder of how much the genre has grown since the first official tournaments took place in the 1990s. A significant chunk of this growth has been in the last year. Among those who say they watch esports content in the UK and U.S., more than 60% watch it at least once a week, with 3 in 10 saying they hadn’t even heard of esports more than a year ago. 2018 has witnessed major structural developments in esports, with franchised leagues bringing it closer to the model of traditional sports. This is making esports a more cohesive and accessible genre of entertainment among new audiences, and helping to win over potential investors and sponsors anxious for signs of strong revenue generating potential. With these structural tweaks all working in harmony, 2019 is the year esports is approaching its tipping point.
2019
Trends 19
GlobalWebIndex
Erosion of Governance
Erosion of Governance the decline of the traditional world order. Direct democracy: As power is shifting more into the hands of individuals, direct democracy has the potential to severely affect the trajectory of several political and economic debates. Consider the 2016 Brexit Referendum in the United Kingdom, which resulted in a 52% to 48% vote to leave the European Union. Direct democracy played a major role in this referendum as every vote mattered in a race with such tight margins. Decentralization: Historically, transactions were managed with the use of handwritten accounting ledgers in which the type, amount, and parties of a transaction were captured. Over the years, this private ledger has evolved with the advent of computing. Today, we see the emergence of a decentralized form of governance aided by technology: the blockchain. The blockchain is an open-source distributed ledger system to which an infinite number of parties can contribute, promoting accountability and trust in a system previously managed by a few. Resource disputes: Land and sea disputes have always existed but as governance models shift and resource scarcity rises, territorial disputes have started to have significant environmental undertones. For example, recently an international tribunal voted that China’s claim to territorial rights to the oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea had no legal basis, and that its actions (such as the construction of artificial islands) had endangered the marine environment and interfered with the Philippine’s fishing and oil industries. Free markets: Support for free market ideologies has started to grow as societies begin to get tired of a series of public policies that are thought to benefit only the rich. With socioeconomic inequities widening, the clamor for a reduction in government intervention is at an all-time high and the desire to return to a free market economy in which the “invisible hand” directs outcomes is gaining traction. Alternative governments: As political tensions increase, countries become more nationalistic, and socioeconomic inequities continue to divide nation states, the old models of global governance are being tested and challenged. New, alternative governments are rising to power, capitalizing on the pervasive frustration felt by the middle class and the lack of consensus about collaborative governance.
2017
Beyond the Noise- The Megatrends of Tomorrow’s World
Deloitte
The Rise of Green Consumerism: What Do Brands Need to Know?
Environmental degradation is hitting the headlines lately. News articles and documentaries around rising seas, declining air quality and shrinking animal populations are now more common than ever - and they’re beginning to cut through. A couple of moments stand out in particular. In Australia, it was the War on Waste TV program, while in the UK, David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series sparked a cultural shift around plastic consumption. Sales of reusable coffee cups and water bottles took off, plastic straws were banned in many bars and restaurants, and brands like Evian and Coca-Cola promised packaging made from recycled materials. The impulse to “be greener” is clearly gaining momentum. According to a recent bespoke study we carried out in the UK and U.S., half of digital consumers say environmental concerns impact their purchasing decisions. There’s a difference between intention and action, but brands could miss out on a big group of consumers if their green credentials aren’t up to scratch.
2019
Trends 19
GlobalWebIndex
Alternative data, machine learning and artificial intelligence are a powerful combination
Enterprises need to become data driven to succeed in the current business environment. The ability to make both structured, unstructured and alternative datasets actionable can be a significant differentiator. In some cases it is necessary just to stay relevant. This is true across all industries, including finance. Traditionally, investor analysis involved looking at a company’s 10Ks and 10Qs, market data and the technical analysis of the trading activity. Nowadays, investors see an opportunity to use alternative datasets from sources such as Quandl to make better decisions. For example, they might look at month-over-month sales and compare those figures to the company’s peer group, and track the company’s supply chain for insight into future production flows, sales and sources of risk. Clearly, alternative datasets, analytics, and machine learning/ artificial intelligence (AI) are a powerful combination. The advancements in AI are coming rapidly. New techniques such as reinforcement learning as well as generative adversarial networks (GANs), which are a type of deep learning neural network, are starting to attract attention. They are also extending capabilities beyond what was possible with standard machine learning and deep learning algorithms. GANs for instance will allow AI to compete with itself to come up with an optimal model in real time, resulting in greater accuracy. A potential application is in risk management. All these technology enhancements have not brought us much closer to having a generalized AI (capable of super-humanlike intelligence across any subject). However, companies are achieving success by focusing on narrow AI applications where an algorithm can be trained to do one thing extremely well, surpassing the capabilities of what a human could do on their own. Financial firms are doing this to detect spoofing behavior or risky trading activity. For example, they use these narrow AI algorithms to build applications that are much more sophisticated and accurate than their traditional counterparts. Generalized AI – the ability for a machine to successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can – is still about a decade away. Yet it is becoming easier to interact with Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant, and every question people ask is another narrow AI application. Before long, it will be possible to put together millions of questions and answers, drawing us farther down the path to generalized AI – especially as the technology improves.Until then, the greatest opportunity and challenge is knowing the right narrow AI applications to develop. Commercial success is dependent on having a clear understanding of how, when and why people will use something new rather than relying on their tried and tested human intelligence. Behavioral science methods are becoming recognized as the differentiator to deliver this understanding, and the way forward could be through “collaborative intelligence”, involving a reimagining of people and machines working together. Achieving this requires behavioral scientists to do a new depth of analysis of clients’ cognitive and manual working processes. This ensures the best of human and machine capabilities can be leveraged to deliver this new way of working. In the meantime, Nasdaq’s strategy is to build a community of data suppliers and connect them with a community of data consumers, and then provide the services they need to make the data actionable. As we build up our data repositories, and we connect them to Nasdaq Financial Framework, those datasets and technologies will become available to an array of market participants.
2019
NASDAQ DECODES: TECH TRENDS 2019 -The technology trends that are driving the world of markets forward
Nasdaq
Secure US to Secure ME
Enterprises are not victims, they’re vectors While ecosystem-driven business depends on interconnectedness, those connections increase companies’ exposures to risks. Leading businesses are recognizing that just as they already collaborate with entire ecosystems to deliver best-in-class products, services, and experiences, it’s time security joins that effort as well.
2019
Accenture Technology Vision 2019- The Post-Digital Era is Upon Us ARE YOU READY FOR WHAT’S NEXT?
Accenture