Trends Identified
The internet of wings
An ambitious project will start in 2017 designed to track from space the movement and behaviour of animals, large and small, anywhere they travel around the world. In June a Russian rocket will carry an array of sensitive dish antennae up to the International Space Station. Orbiting low over Earth, the antennae will be able to decode faint radio signals from tiny solar-powered tracking tags, light enough for migrating songbirds to carry safely. If all goes well, within two years as many as 20,000 animals may be tagged—and further into the future hundreds of thousands more, as the tags become light enough to be carried even by large flying insects such as locusts.
2016
World in 2017
The Economist
When robots feel your pain
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Gene Roddenberry and their futurist kin all expected robots one day to play a pivotal part in the realm of medicine. It is safe to say that systems as complex as the heart surgeon in Asimov’s “Segregationist” and the Emergency Medical Hologram from Roddenberry’s “Star Trek: Voyager” are not going to become reality in 2017. However, artificial intelligence is now in a position to transform psychiatric hospitals for the better in the year ahead.
2016
World in 2017
The Economist
Planets, planets everywhere
One possibly habitable planet is already known to exist near Earth. Many more will soon be found
2016
World in 2017
The Economist
So long susy?
In 2017 the idea of Supersymmetry will either be seen to be true, or die
2016
World in 2017
The Economist
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
Human empowerment
A megatrend derived from following underlying trends: Increased Life Expectancy, Self-centered Society, Decrease in Birth Rate, Empowerment of Women, Expansion of Human Capability, Hyper-speed Transportation, Artificial intelligence and Automation, Development of New Materials. Opening of the Space Age
2016
The 5th Science and Technology Foresight (2016-2040) Discovering Future Technologies to Solve Major Issues of Future Society
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Innovation through hyper-connectivity
A megatrend derived from following underlying trends: Digital Network Society, Hyper-connectivity Technology, Network-driven Transition of Power, Acceleration of E-democracy
2016
The 5th Science and Technology Foresight (2016-2040) Discovering Future Technologies to Solve Major Issues of Future Society
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Deepening environmental risk
A megatrend derived from following underlying trends: Aggravated Food Crisis, Energy Imbalance, Water Deterioration Crisis, Increase in Natural Disasters. Deepening ecosystem destruction.
2016
The 5th Science and Technology Foresight (2016-2040) Discovering Future Technologies to Solve Major Issues of Future Society
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Intensification of Social Complexity
A megatrend derived from following underlying trends: Deepening of International Conflict, Expansion of Cultural Diversity, Deepening Socioeconomic Inequality, Creation through Fusion, Increased Side Effects from Technological Advances, Increase in Social Disasters, Increased Health Risk Factors, Raising of Unification Issue, Increased Liquidity of International Power, Evolution of Security Threats
2016
The 5th Science and Technology Foresight (2016-2040) Discovering Future Technologies to Solve Major Issues of Future Society
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Reorganization of the Economic System
A megatrend derived from following underlying trends: Global Population Movement, Expansion of Urbanization, World Population Growth, Enhancement in the Connectivity of the Global Economy, Emergence of Developing and Emerging Countries, Expansion of China's Global Influence, Spread of New Economic System, Change in the Structure of the Labor Field, Continuing Low-growth Risk in Developed Countries, Invigoration of Greenomics, Shift in Manufacturing Paradigm, Change in Market Pattern.
2016
The 5th Science and Technology Foresight (2016-2040) Discovering Future Technologies to Solve Major Issues of Future Society
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)