Trends Identified
Growing dominance of relatively young digital tech corporations
Relatively young digital technology corporations now dominate the world’s top ten companies, with Apple heading the list, followed by Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook18.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
More births, fewer deaths and increased overseas migration
The global population is predicted to increase to 8.5 billion in 2030, to 9.7 billion in 2050, and then to 11.2 billion in 210093.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Global urbanisation and growing number of megacities
In the 1950s, about 70% of the world’s population lived in rural areas, and the rest in urban settlements. Today, more than half the population (54%) lives in an urban area and this number is projected to reach at least 66% by 2050
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Emerging service and knowledge economies
Coming out of the mining boom, Australia continues to grow the service sector and knowledge economy. The labour upskilling trends across Australian industries provides evidence of the rise of the knowledge economy1. At the same time, service industries are growing faster.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Technological start-ups and lean innovation models becoming mainstream
Lean innovation models are inspiring an increasing number of business start-ups to search for market t through successive cycles of product or service development and testing103. The concept of lean start-up favours experimentation over traditional business planning and is driven by customer feedback and intuitive design103,104.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Fintech industry is emerging as a catalyst for new growth
Innovative financial technology ( fintech) is an industry that emerged in the past few years from being an unknown term to an entity that may be shaping Australia’s future and its international competitive advantage108,109.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Inequity rises, while the global economy flattens
Despite the heady pace of technological development, income inequality has been on the rise over the last few decades in Australia as well as in other OECD countries22. A recent OECD113 report on the economic impact of aging, skill- biased technological change, globalisation, and rising environmental pressures suggests that global economic growth could slow from 3.6% in 2010-2020 to 2.4% in 2050-2060. The same report asserted that technological progress will heighten demand for high skilled labour, which over the next few decades, could push average income inequality across the OECD to levels experienced by the US today113.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Deepening digital divide in Australia
Internet penetration and the increasing speed of technological progress add other perspectives to the inequality problem; namely, digital divide and digital inclusiveness.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Climate change is causing more extreme weather events and escalating losses
The world’s top ten hottest years on record have occurred since 1998, and the top five since 2010125. Since pre-industrial times, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have increased by 40%; the Arctic sea ice extent shrunk on average between 3.5 and 4.1% per decade in the 1979–2002 period; sea level rose at an average annual rate of 3.2 mm/year from 1993 to 2010, and since 1961 the average annual temperature of oceans has been increasing and the warming effect has reached a depth of at least 3000m.
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Increasing pressure on natural resources and biodiversity
Our growing population worldwide and increasing demand for natural resources (such as energy, water and food) have unleashed a series of threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services (food provision, clean water, regulation of climate etc.).
2017
Surfing the digital tsunami
Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)