Trends Identified
The human cloud in the future of work
While the risk of job displacement due to advances in artificial intelligence and robotics preoccupies many commentators, another pressing problem deserves attention: the mismatch between workers’ skills and available work. If only employers and workers could connect across the barrier of geographical distance, perhaps this mismatch could ease. Could the “human cloud”—a global pool of skilled workers working remotely for employers and clients—be a solution?
2017
Foresigth
Singapore, The Centre for Strategic Futures
Wireless 5G takes hold
While the next generation of broadband will make internet speeds faster, that’s far from the biggest perk (current speeds are plenty fast). 5G will offer improved latency, drastically reducing the time it takes for connected devices to communicate with one another. This is the key to making the internet of things (IoT) come to life because our current infrastructure cannot support the burgeoning universe of products adequately, including everything from streaming Netflix on multiple devices in 4k to connecting phones, iPads and laptops to coffee machines, refrigerators and security systems. The coming of 5G will change that. This not only presents opportunities for internet providers like Verizon, Fios and Spectrum but also the owners of cell towers such as Crown Castle. Even though everyone has an appetite for better internet, no one wants more cell towers in their city, meaning the value of the existing ones goes up. Other beneficiaries will include the handset makers, something that should be music to Apple’s ears. The company is no doubt looking to offset the struggles that it faces in China by entering a massive upgrade cycle over the next few years as it unveils 5G-ready devices. Qualcomm and Intel are also poised to do well since their chips will power the modems that will make wireless 5G a reality.
2019
Three Big Tech Trends For 2019
Forbes
Digital genome
While the first sequencing of the 3.2 billion base pairs of DNA that make up the human genome took many years and cost tens of millions of dollars, today your genome can be sequenced and digitized in minutes and at the cost of only a few hundred dollars. The results can be delivered to your laptop on a USB stick and easily shared via the internet. This ability to rapidly and cheaply determine our individual unique genetic make-up promises a revolution in more personalized and effective healthcare. Many of our most intractable health challenges, from heart disease to cancer, have a genetic component. Indeed, cancer is best described as a disease of the genome. With digitization, doctors will be able to make decisions about a patient’s cancer treatment informed by a tumour’s genetic make-up. This new knowledge is also making precision medicine a reality by enabling the development of highly targeted therapies that offer the potential for improved treatment outcomes, especially for patients battling cancer. Like all personal information, a person’s digital genome will need to be safeguarded for privacy reasons. Personal genomic profiling has already raised challenges, with regard to how people respond to a clearer understanding of their risk of genetic disease, and how others – such as employers or insurance companies – might want to access and use the information. However, the benefits are likely to outweigh the risks, because individualized treatments and targeted therapies can be developed with the potential to be applied across all the many diseases that are driven or assisted by changes in DNA.
2015
Top 10 emerging technologies of 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Conversational Interfaces
While technology like AI or robotics has changed how work is done in the office, in the factory, and in the field, it’s not always easy to use. That’s changing with a new generation of interfaces, such as voice and conversational agents that make it seamless for business users to interact with technology systems, from finance bots and AI-based predictive analytics to smart sensors and factory robots. These interfaces are improving the employee and customer experience and enabling companies to get the full return on their tech investments.
2017
The Essential Eight - Your guide to the emerging technologies revolutionizing business now
PWC
Back to the future?
While overall violence has declined, conflict has not ceased. At certain times during the
last decade, 15 major conflicts were taking place at once.60 The majority of wars remain civil wars or insurgencies, largely ethnic and nationalist conflicts. Potentially devastating tensions still simmer, increasingly driven by religious fundamentalism. The stalemate of the Middle East peace process provides continued instability. Increasingly, small networks and individuals have the capacity to create havoc on an unprecedented scale at low cost.
2013
Now for the long term - The Report of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations
Oxford Martin School
Millennials are the most digitally savvy generation, but they face tough challenges
While millennials are the most educated across advanced economies, they are also the most underutilised generation.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Blockchain Finds Its Way
While its more popular cousin Bitcoin continues to blow away stock market analysts, Blockchain may finally find its place in 2018. Gartner shows that as of February this year, blockchain was the second top search term on its website, increasing 400% in just 12 months. To me, it’s no surprise. While the financial industry will be the first to begin utilizing this amazing tool, numerous others — from healthcare to entertainment to hospitality — will not be far behind. Granted, the move to blockchain will not come overnight either — just 20% of trade finance globally will use it by 2020. But once it finds its sea legs — most likely this year — there will literally be no turning back.
2016
Top 10 trends for digital transformation in 2018
Forbes
Mainstreamed IoT
While IoT is not a new concept, it will move from pre-adoption to a mainstream solution that retail, manufacturing, health care and other industries will integrate as an everyday business operation. It will change the way consumers and businesses get real-time data, engage with their users and interact with AI and machine learning.
2018
2019 Tech Forecast: 11 Experts Predict The Next Wave Of Breakout Technologies
Forbes
Immersive Experience
While conversational platforms are changing the way in which people interact with the digital world, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are changing the way in which people perceive the digital world. This combined shift in perception and interaction models leads to the future immersive user experience.
2017
Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018
Gartner
Ecological threats
While climate change is a gradual process that will be felt over the course of decades, it also increases the likelihood of relatively sudden disasters, from stronger hurricanes, deeper famines, or droughts. By 2035, the world will most likely be confronted by more natural disasters, and the political system will be required to adjust to them. Northern Europe will see greater flooding. Southern Europe will experience more frequent heatwaves. The international system will need to create a more robust system to protect climate refugees and migrants, who will grow as climate change increases the power of natural disasters and rapid urbanisation means that natural disasters will affect more people.
2017
Global trends to 2035
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)