Trends Identified
Cybersecurity
The increase in connectivity between companies and consumers as well as within organizations, production facilities, transportation systems, defense systems, etc. means that cybersecurity is critically important. Once closed systems are now open, increasing vulnerability and placing ever higher-value assets and processes at risk, leading to an annual growth in the market for cybersecurity of 5 to 10 percent until 2025 (see Exhibit 4). Our survey revealed widespread and growing concern on this topic, and many companies are starting to bring in the skills they need for tackling cybersecurity concerns. Some even see cybersecurity as a battleground for competitive advantage and differentiation.
2018
Disruptive forces in the industrial sectors - Global executive survey
McKinsey
Use of power politics.
The importance of NATO has increased for collective defence of the Euro-Atlantic region as it is the main framework that maintains a robust and an appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional capabilities.
2017
Strategic foresight analysis
NATO
EU energy security
The importance of energy security and dependence will grow and is likely to become the EU’s Achilles heel.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Technological change
The impact of technological change on society is more difficult to predict than some of the other megatrends. However, the exponential increase in the rate of technological change is a pattern that is likely to continue for the next 20 years. Forecasting specific technological developments over two decades is very uncertain but the speed of innovation and change is more predictable.
2011
ICSU Foresight Analysis
International Council for Science (ICSU)
Global environmental change
The impact of human behaviour on the state of the planet is being increasingly understood and mapped. Data on oceans, ecosystems, the cryosphere and the atmosphere are now available to show what this is likely to mean if environmental change continues at its present rate.
2011
ICSU Foresight Analysis
International Council for Science (ICSU)
Hyperloop
The Hyperloop is designed to be an alternative technology to air travel, creating super high – speed on -ground travel connections, powered by electricity, across major industrial or population centers. Here too, estimates are missing, but high capital lock – in and long construction phases suggest limited penetration by 2040, even under an optimistic scenario, although hyperloops may come to play a more prominent role in the long - term.
2018
The bigger picture- The impact of automation, AI, shared economy on oil demand
The 2° Investing Initiative
Getting old isn’t what it used to be: Responding to the challenges of an aging world
The human population is getting older. Fertility is falling, and the world’s population is graying dramatically. While aging has been evident in developed economies for some time—Japan and Russia have seen their populations decline over the past few years—the demographic deficit is now spreading to China and soon will reach Latin America. For the first time in human history, aging could mean that the planet’s population will plateau in most of the world.
2015
The four global forces breaking all the trends
McKinsey
Human Microbiome Therapeutics
The human body is perhaps more properly described as an ecosystem than as a single organism: microbial cells typically outnumber human cells by 10 to one. This human microbiome has been the subject of intensifying research in the past few years, with the Human Microbiome Project in 2012 reporting results generated from 80 collaborating scientific institutions. They found that more than 10,000 microbial species occupy the human ecosystem, comprising trillions of cells and making up 1%-3% of the body’s mass. Through advanced DNA sequencing, bioinformatics and culturing technologies, the diverse microbe species that cohabitate with the human body are being identified and characterized, with differences in their abundance correlated with disease and health. It is increasingly understood that this plethora of microbes plays an important role in our survival: bacteria in the gut, for example, allow humans to digest foods and absorb important nutrients that their bodies would otherwise not be able to access. On the other hand, pathogens that are ubiquitous in humans can sometimes turn virulent and cause sickness or even death. Attention is being focused on the gut microbiome and its role in diseases ranging from infections to obesity, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. It is increasingly understood that antibiotic treatments that destroy gut flora can result in complications such as Clostridium difficile infections, which can in rare cases lead to life-threatening complications. On the other hand, a new generation of therapeutics comprising a subset of microbes found in healthy gut are under clinical development with a view to improving medical treatments. Advances in human microbiome technologies clearly represent an unprecedented way to develop new treatments for serious diseases and to improve general healthcare outcomes in our species.
2014
Top 10 emerging technologies for 2014
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Demographic dynamics
The growth and aging of populations, migration, and urbanization are factors that will shape the course of societies and economies. As one of seven megatrends identified and analyzed in our Trend Compendium 2030, changing trends in demographics loom large. In this publication, we take a focused look at demographic dynamics, their impact on our world, and how they will affect the way we do business.
2017
Megatrends: a bigger picture for a better strategy
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
Get snappy
The growing use of image recognition for quicker and easier interactions.
2018
2018 trends
Mindshare