Trends Identified
Digital Twins
A digital twin is a digital representation of a real-world entity or system (see Figure 5). The implementation of a digital twin is an encapsulated software object or model that mirrors a unique physical object (see Note 1). Data from multiple digital twins can be aggregated for a composite view across a number of real-world entities. The notion of a digital representation of real-world entities or systems is not new. You can argue that this was a central notion in the IT industry with the creation of computer-aided design representations of physical assets or profiles of individual customers. The difference in the latest iteration of digital twins is: The robustness of the models
Digital twins' link to the real world, potentially in real time
The application of advanced big data analytics and AI
The ability to interact with them and evaluate "what if" scenarios
2017
Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018
Gartner
Businesses will favor integrity over growth.
A decade ago, we rued banks that got “too big to fail.” It’s now happening to our tech companies. “Size matters,” says Rachel Botsman, a lecturer at Oxford’s Said Business School and the author of "Who Can You Trust?". So does “figuring out what to do with companies that got too big and the unintended consequences that happen as platforms scale.” In 2019, she predicts corporate cultures, particularly in tech, will start eschewing efficiency and growth at all costs in favor of maintaining integrity at scale. “I think you're going to see more and more cultures say, ‘How big is big enough? How big do we want this thing to become before it's outside our control and we can't see the consequences of it?’”
2018
50 Big Ideas for 2019: What to watch in the year ahead
LinkedIn
Demographic patterns
A combination of widespread aging, falling fertility, and urbanization will lead to a dramatically different world in 2030. With an expected 8.3 billion people, human civilization will be both older and much more focused on city life. Our infrastructure may improve, but our level of innovation and output will slow down without younger workers. "Aging countries will face an uphill battle in maintaining their living standards," the report stated. It's entirely possible, however, that within the next several decades, humanity will generate more urban construction than it has in the rest of its history.
2017
4 mega-trends that could change the world by 2030
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Pricing the planet
A collision is shaping up among the rising demand for resources, constrained supplies, and changing social attitudes toward environmental protection. The next decade will see an increased focus on resource productivity, the emergence of substantial clean-tech industries, and regulatory initiatives.
2010
Mckinsey quarterly, Global forces: An introduction
McKinsey
Into the Abyss
A cascading series of economic/financial crises overwhelm political and policy responses
2018
The Global Risks Report 2018
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Brain-computer interface
A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a direct communication pathway that connects nerve signals in the brain to an external computer. BCIs can be invasive (implanted within or just above the brain), or non-invasive (on the scalp surface). BCIs are used therapeutically to assist, augment or repair human cognitive, sensory or motor functions. Today, it requires training and practice to make BCIs useful and reliable. Research, artificial intelligence and more data, however, will improve this significantly. Potential near-term applications include the use of BCIs to detect lapses in attention among occupations requiring vigilance, and as a communication tool for those who have lost motor skills but retained cognition. In the future, this technology could be used to improve cognitive functions, to better understand human preferences, and to augment human capabilites such as coordination and response times. It may even be used to develop senses new to humans, such as the ability to sense magnetic fields, infrared light or radio waves.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Blockchain
A blockchain is a form of exchange that is permanent and transparent between parties, which does not rely on a central authority (Mulligan, 2017). The premise of the exchange is that each party on a blockchain has access and means to verify the entire database. Further, all transactions are visibly recorded across a distributed peer-to-peer network (Mainelli, 2017). Applications include the following: (a) “Smart contracts”25 are a form of a trusted third party which can automate transactions such as licencing, revenue collection and social transfers, significantly lowering costs. (b) approximately 1.5 billion people who lack it, which would otherwise leave them vulnerable to legal, political, social and economic exclusion.26 Blockchain has been used in identity management, which aids in validating individual identities. For example, Estonia offers citizens a digital identity card based on blockchain, which allows citizens to access public, financial and social services, as well as pay taxes.27 (c) Blockchain is increasingly being used in land and property registration, to validate government related property transactions, reduce paperwork and potentially to reduce property fraud. Examples of countries that are using blockchain for land registration are Ghana,28 Georgia and Sweden.29 (d) Blockchain has been piloted with WFP30 through a humanitarian aid project of cash and food assistance transactions in Jordanian and Syrian refugee camps. The aims are to reduce overhead, improve security and speed up aid in remote areas. (e) In trade finance, which is characterized by many stakeholders and largely paper-based documentation, blockchain can simplify processes, reduce settlement times, errors, fraud and disputes, and increase trust between all parties to a transaction. A group of banks has partnered with blockchain service provider IBM on implementing a new blockchain-based global system for trade finance. Similarly, IBM has teamed with another set of banks to build and host a new blockchain-based system for providing SMEs with trade finance.
2018
Technology and Innovation Report 2018
UNCTAD
Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed digital database or, more broadly, a digital ledger that uses software algorithms to record and confirm transactions with reliability and anonymity. The record of events is shared between many parties and information once entered cannot be altered. Blockchain has the potential to usher in an era of autonomous digital commerce.
2017
The Essential Eight - Your guide to the emerging technologies revolutionizing business now
PWC
SEAS: a new space of opportunities
A better understanding of what is happening in the sea will provide a better knowledge of ocean resources and underpin better policies for their sustainable development. Research and innovation are progressing towards exploring the best possible ways that the seas can continue to be a healthy and productive life support system. Generating and capturing synergies among the various blue economy activities and addressing conflicts will be critical for unlocking the potential of the largely unexplored seas.
2015
Preparing the Commission for future opportunities - Foresight network fiches 2030
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Science for everyone
A basic education in science can now be gained through Wikipedia alone. A more advanced education is available on YouTube. Whole fields, including much of physics, publish new research online. The open-data movement delivers the raw material of science to anyone who wants it. Crowdsourcing platforms are changing the way science is done, from online collaborations between top-class mathematicians to distributed-computing platforms that allow anybody to comb data and make discoveries. Meanwhile, scientists are realising that a crucial part of the job is communicating their ideas—and their excitement—to the public. As access to knowledge becomes universal, it may kindle the desire for more.
2016
World in 2017
The Economist