Trends Identified
Diverging global population trends
Across the world, the basic determinants of population size and structure — fertility, mortality and migration — have been fundamentally altered by the processes of social and economic development. As a result, the global population doubled to 7 billion in the last half century and will continue growing fast in coming decades, although regional trends differ markedly. In advanced economies, populations are ageing and in some cases reducing in size. At the other extreme, populations in the least developed countries are expanding rapidly. Migration is also affecting the distribution and structure of populations, as people move in search of higher earnings or to escape conflict or environmental degradation.
2015
Assessment of global megatrends - an update
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Increasing environmental pollution
Across the world, ecosystems are today exposed to critical levels of pollution in increasingly complex mixtures. Human activities (such as energy generation and agriculture), global population growth and changing consumption patterns are the key drivers behind this growing environmental burden.
2015
Assessment of global megatrends - an update
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Look inside-out for growth
Across the survey rang a general theme of hunkering down as CEOs adapt to the strong nationalist and populist sentiment sweeping the globe. The threats they consider most pressing are less existential (e.g. terrorism, climate change) and more related to the ease of doing business in the markets where they operate (e.g. overregulation, policy uncertainty, availability of key skills, trade conflicts). When asked to identify the most attractive foreign markets for investment, CEOs are narrowing their choices and expressing more uncertainty.
2019
22nd Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Dark analytics - Illuminating opportunities hidden within unstructured data
Across enterprises, ever-expanding stores of data remain unstructured and unanalyzed. Few organizations have been able to explore nontraditional data sources such as image, audio, and video files; the torrent of machine and sensor information generated by the Internet of Things; and the enormous troves of raw data found in the unexplored recesses of the “deep web.” However, recent advances in computer vision, pattern recognition, and cognitive analytics are making it possible for companies to shine a light on these untapped sources and derive insights that lead to better experiences and decision making across the business.
2017
Tech trends 2017 - the kinetic enterprise
Deloitte
The advent of social music
Across 2017, video established itself as the new driving force of social media innovation and engagement. With both Facebook and Snapchat now investing in original TV content to be made available via their platforms, the commitment of the social media giants to stake a claim to a portion of TV revenues is clear. So, what media will social services engulf in 2018? Well, a glance at the acquisition and hiring strategy of Facebook suggests that this social behemoth, at least, is beginning to take music seriously.
2018
Trends 18
GlobalWebIndex
Social Change
According to the World Bank Group, two thirds of all jobs could be susceptible to automation in developing countries in the coming decade. The role and responsibilities of people in this new operating landscape will increasingly shift to knowledge work, process control and decision making. As such, the ability to learn, unlearn, relearn and co-learn reinforced through reskilling and upskilling would be increasingly important as emerging technologies lead the way to greater automation. The democratisation of knowledge also gives rise to a society where ideas and knowledge can be easily accessed by many and no longer limited to an elite group. The digital revolution enables knowledge to be freely acquired, shared and developed thereby empowering people to make informed decisions.
2017
Science & Technology Foresight Malaysia
Malaysia, Academy of Sciences Malaysia
The Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Access to technology that enables the production and distribution of WMD is likely to increase. Many states will feel that they require the prestige and deterrent value of WMD systems to reinforce their regional power.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
Empowerment through education
Access to primary education in particular is regarded as critical to socioeconomic mobility, and for this reason it has been an objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Substantial inroads have been made this past decade in reducing the number of out-of-school children
2013
Now for the long term - The Report of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations
Oxford Martin School
Resourceful planet
Absolute population growth, economic development and more middle-class consumers will drive increasing global demand for natural resources — both renewable and non-renewable. While the world’s supply of non-renewable resources is technically finite, new technologies continue to impact the future supply picture by allowing access to formerly hard-to-reach and valuable oil, gas and strategic mineral reserves. The application of new technologies, as well as the shifting supply environment, will drive business model adaptation and innovation in multiple sectors — as well as impact the geopolitical balance of power. At the same time, natural resources must be more effectively managed, particularly from an environmental impact perspective. Growing concern over environmental degradation, securing strategic resources and the fate of our food and water supply are indicative of the fact that protecting and restoring the planet is a critical future imperative. Governments, societies and businesses must work in tandem to develop more sustainable approaches to the task of achieving economic growth while leveraging natural resource inputs.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Anthropomorphic robots freely interacting with people
Abroad, there is currently considerable research and development into the creation of anthropomorphic robots freely interacting with people. In current versions, such robots are equipped with a control system including a number of key sub-systems: technical vision; voice control; voice messages; tactile sensing; spatial orientation; walking and stability control; and behaviour control. In future breakthrough research into modelling the functioning of the human nervous system, the dynamics of its value system, and psychological and mental maxims taking into account external and internal factors will be crucial for robotics (and the creation of anthropomorphic robots in particular).
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation