Trends Identified
Governing is getting harder
Publics will demand governments deliver security and prosperity, but flat revenues, distrust, polarization, and a growing list of emerging issues will hamper government performance. Technology will expand the range of players who can block or circumvent political action. Managing global issues will become harder as actors multiply—to include NGOs, corporations, and empowered individuals—resulting in more ad hoc, fewer encompassing efforts.
2017
Global Trends: The Paradox of Progress
USA, US National Intelligence Council
The nature of conflict is changing.
The risk of conflict will increase due to diverging interests among major powers, an expanding terror threat, continued instability in weak states, and the spread of lethal, disruptive technologies. Disrupting societies will become more common, with long- range precision weapons, cyber, and robotic systems to target infrastructure from afar, and more accessible technology to create weapons of mass destruction.
2017
Global Trends: The Paradox of Progress
USA, US National Intelligence Council
Climate change, environment, and health issues will demand attention
A range of global hazards pose imminent and longer-term threats that will require collective action to address—even as cooperation becomes harder. More extreme weather, water and soil stress, and food insecurity will disrupt societies. Sea-level rise, ocean acidification, glacial melt, and pollution will change living patterns. Tensions over climate change will grow. Increased travel and poor health infrastructure will make infectious diseases harder to manage.
2017
Global Trends: The Paradox of Progress
USA, US National Intelligence Council
Artificial intelligence
AI is about machines with human attributes - speaking, reading, seeing and even recognising emotion - completing tasks while also "learning" from repeated interactions. Using algorithms that adapt to location, speech or user-history machines can perform tasks that are dangerous or tedious, more accurately or much faster than humans. Within a few years, analysts predict that all software will use AI at some level, according to US research and advisory firm Gartner. Importantly AI offers the opportunity to continuously tailor products and services providing a competitive advantage over rivals that is not easily copied. The question to ask is 'how can AI help my organisation?
2019
Five tech trends for 2019
University of Technology Sydney
Augmented reality
Systems that combine real-time 3D vision, sound, haptics (the sense of touch), location data and even other senses such as smell enable people to immerse themselves somewhere else, react to what's around them and alter their virtual environment in real time. Organisations are increasingly applying this technology across a wide spectrum of human activity from art and entertainment to commerce, education and the military. It's used to train doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers and will soon be available on your smart device. Could you use AR to lift efficiency for your internal stakeholders or help you communicate with your customer base?
2019
Five tech trends for 2019
University of Technology Sydney
Blockchain
The fortunes of digital currency Bitcoin have drawn public attention to Blockchain technology, but this secure system for recording and verifying transactions and storing trusted records has the potential to disrupt enterprises of many kinds. Companies are using Blockchain technology to transform time-consuming, centralised, less reliable and less secure systems. Digital democracy platform MyVote, for example, uses Blockchain to store users' personal data and voting history to give citizens a more direct voice in the political process. Could you use Blockchain to keep your data secure?
2019
Five tech trends for 2019
University of Technology Sydney
Automation
Robots in manufacturing go back to the 1960s. Now it's the scale and breadth of the transformation that automated systems make possible, as a result of other advances in machine learning and connectivity, for example, that puts automation firmly at the forefront of technology trends. From convenient devices at home to industrial applications on a massive scale, automation will be a key focus of technological change, with potentially far-reaching economic and social consequences. Currently, professional services such as the legal and finance industry are being disrupted by automation with feedback from these sectors being that core technical skills together with management and people skills being more important than ever. How will automation disrupt your industry?
2019
Five tech trends for 2019
University of Technology Sydney
Internet of Things
Gartner calls the combination of technologies and the connection of people, devices, content and services the "intelligent digital mesh." This is the foundation for new business models, platforms and possibilities that will transform how we live and work with implications that go far beyond the technology itself and involve disciplines such as law, economics, business and politics. It is early days for the application of IoT strategy but it is clear that opportunities will exist for those with the technical knowledge to connect platforms as well as those with the data analytics skills to utilise the rich stream of information generated by IoT applications. What could you learn from connecting and analysing the data from your products or elements of your core operations?
2019
Five tech trends for 2019
University of Technology Sydney
Bio-technology
Biotechnology, genomics, and proteomics 1 are now major driving forces in the biological sciences and are increasingly being applied in the study of environmental issues, medicine and pharmaceuticals, infectious diseases, and modifications of food crops. Bio-technology has the potential to lead to sustainable solutions for a range of sustainable development issues. 2 or example, genetically modified organisms could help address food insecurity in developing countries, but their impact on ecosystems, human health and community values may need to be better understood to be considered a truly sustainable solution. 3 Experience has shown that deployment of such technologies needs to consider the local situations and possible trade-offs. 4 Synthetic biology is a field of great promise and possible dangers. Tailor-made medical solutions, gene therapy, technology disruption in the food industry, bio-engineered medicines, and precise bio-inspired drug delivery systems that target specific infected cells - together with stem cells - give many promises. However, if inappropriately used, it could cause irreversible changes to human health and environment. 5, 6, 7 Synthetic biology requires effective policies and frameworks to manage all stages of their life- time, including manufacturing, distribution and use, as well as safe disposal or where possible effective recycling. 8, 9, 10 New and emerging gene-editing technologies and their implications, benefits, and potential ethical problems for biotechnology and medicine have generated international scientific debate, with recommendations to establish norms concerning acceptable uses of human germline editing and harmonize regulations. 10 Genuine “human engineering” may not be far off in the future, when technologies related to gene-editing, stem cells and computational models of the human brain will be combined.
2016
Global sustainable development report 2016
United Nations
Digital Technology
Digital information and communications technologies (ICTs) have continued to rapidly advance. All parts of the world are now major users. Mobile phone ownership in Africa is now comparable to that in the USA, with about one connection per capita. Yet, while some digital gaps have closed, others continually open with the introduction of new technologies. In the context of implementing SDGs in Africa, information and communications technologies may play a role comparable to that of machines in the replacement of labour in the industrial age. 11 However, whereas the machines of the industrial era functioned as isolated and individual artefacts in one local environment, ICTs and knowledge creation exist as a hierarchy of networks that bring about innovations. 12, 13 Great technology potential has been accompanied by equally great concerns about social, political, economic and environmental impacts . The new fifth generation (5G) mobile phones enable vastly faster data connections than traditional phones. The “Internet of Things” is emerging and it interconnects physical objects to internet infrastructure. 3D printing enables the making of three-dimensional objects from a digital file, and together with robotics it has the potential to significantly alter the geographical distribution of manufacturing with important impacts on global labour markets and imbalances. “Big data” technologies transform the way governments, citizens, and companies do business, but they have led to concerns about erosion of privacy and freedom of expression. Similarly, wireless sensor networks have great efficiency potentials in many areas, but there are concerns about their impact on privacy, freedom and development. Big Data and the Internet of Things through the use of huge datasets and Internet-connected sensors potentially adds to the existing toolkit for sustainable development (e.g., in health, agriculture, food security, sustainable urbanization, etc.), but can also introduce risks related to data privacy and security. Because of cloud computing platforms that provide low-cost access to compute and storage capabilities as well as Free and Open Source Big Data and Internet of Things technologies, such technologies can serve as platforms for locally-relevant, pro-poor innovation without significant capital investments. However, this requires the requisite local talent to tailor solutions to local needs. National governments must also consider the limits of big data analysis (especially for causal inference and policy analysis), how such technologies can serve existing national development planning, regulatory frameworks for securing the rights of citizens with respect to privacy and security, and strengthening human capital and the larger ecosystem to effectively use such tools. 14 “Big data” has transformed the volume, velocity, and character of the information that we are able to procure regarding virtually every aspect of human life. 15 Online participatory tools increasing transparency and accountability in global sustainable development governance allow greater access to sharing of substantive information on the issues addressed by the civil society, international organisations and member states for realization of agenda 2030. 16 At the same time, the scientific community highlighted the idea that the most sustainable way to bring the deepest results of the digital revolution to developing communities is to enable them to participate in creating their own technological tools for finding solutions to their own problems. 17 120 | Global Sustainable Development Report 2016 3D Printing (3DP) can cost-effectively lower manufacturing inputs and outputs in markets with low volume, customized and high-value production chains. It could potentially help countries and regions that did not participate in the industrial revolution develop new manufacturing capabilities, especially for low volume, highly complex parts. Applications range from automobile and aerospace manufacturing to rapid-prototyping, healthcare, and education. Low cost consumer 3DP printers can help local people in developing and developed countries to produce a range of useful products, from basic assistive technologies to educational aids. For example, the projects of the Rapid Foundation in India and Uganda have shown that low cost printers are easy to build, use, fix or modify and are robust in remote locations. With expert training, anybody can become comfortable with using these printers in a few hours. 18 Further low-cost applications in science, education and sustainable development are detailed in a recent ICTP open book. 19 3D printing presents a number of challenges, including possibly disrupting existing manufacturing global value chains, decreasing labour demand for housing and construction, and potentially enabling the physical production of illegal 3D models that could pose both economic and security threats. There are potential environmental benefits (lower energy use, resource demands and CO 2 ), if 3D printing displaces existing transportation and logistics routes for shipping of goods and products. A recent study concluded: “ If 3DP was applicable to larger production volumes in consumer products or automotive manufacturing, it contains the (theoretical) potential to absolutely decouple energy and CO 2 .” 20 However, as 3DP is expected to remain a niche technology by 2025 reductions in energy and CO 2 emission intensities of industrial manufacturing could only be reduced by a small factor through 3DP by that date. Massive Open Online Courses potentially provide resource- poor regions and individuals more equitable access to world-class education content. Widespread global Internet access is impacting how we learn, as seen in the availability of various online learning platforms such as massive open online courses (MOOCs). 21 With low-cost replication of recognized content and education, personalized, self- paced learning, and interactive data-driven user interfaces, students potentially have access to material that previously would have been out of reach. However, MOOCs may not provide locally-relevant content tailored to a specific national context. Furthermore, MOOCs could replace the jobs of existing teachers and widen existing educational divides (i.e., providing a disproportionate advantage to individuals with access to the Internet and education). One nonprofit university based in Rwanda combines online learning content with in-person seminars to deliver degree programs that are locally-relevant, appropriately priced, and stimulate local employment. At this point, the potential impact of MOOCs requires more study, both globally in terms of existing platforms as well as of users in specific national contexts, along with implications for educational systems and employment. Optimal system use of radio, mobile phone, GIS and remote sensing technologies is considered vital for transforming rural populations. 22 The use of GIS to monitor an ever wider array of parameters at ever higher spatio-temporal resolutions allows us to consistently and constantly measure and monitor a huge array of environmental factors, allowing the enforcement of regulations, which would otherwise be impossible. 23, 24 Yet, data management remains a challenge for many countries, as they lack both skilled staff and technologies for effectively collecting or reporting reliable data. Many of the commonly used spatial database platforms are proprietary and are too expensive for many organizations in developing countries. 25
2016
Global sustainable development report 2016
United Nations