Trends Identified

Stretchable display
(Definition) A truly flexible display technology enabling unlimited changes in appearance and length as well as production of displays in large areas at low cost. (Use) Skin smartphone that can transform the appearance, double curvature and ultra-thin displays for vehicles, health monitoring devices with E-skin patch displays, active use of IoT with stretchable wall display.
2019
KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2019
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Chemical materials with autonomous life-cycle control
(Definition) A technology enabling autonomous life-cycle protection, report, and decomposition control against external environments. (Use) Available to apply to IoT devices that detect and transfer environmental changes in daily life with no power or in a low-power state and contribute to improve the confidence on the safety of structures such as roads, bridges, and buildings by detecting and reporting abnormal symptoms for disaster protection and restoring the given properties to a certain extent autonomously.
2019
KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2019
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Textile-based wearable device
(Definition) A technology related to ‘wearable’ IT devices conducting basic functions of electrical/ electronics devices such as input, output, processing, storage, etc. through textiles based on the convergence between IT and textile/weaving/clothing technology, rather than wearable tech accessories. (Use) Existing electrical/electronics/communication technologies are converged into the e-textile technology to realize sophisticated digital features through active embedded electronic devices such as RFID, integrated circuit, display, sensor, nanogenerator, battery, etc. or the textile by itself.
2019
KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2019
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Aging populations
The baby boomer generation powered a long but temporary surge in labor force growth. Now this group is moving into retirement, and labor force growth is slowing. That, in turn, imperils growth.
2018
Labor 2030: The Collision of Demographics, Automation and Inequality
Bain and Company
Automation
Automation may solve one problem by increasing productivity and powering growth but creates another by potentially eliminating millions of jobs and suppressing wages for many workers.
2018
Labor 2030: The Collision of Demographics, Automation and Inequality
Bain and Company
Inequality
Rising inequality could threaten growth. Demographic shifts combined with the next phase of automation will increase income inequality from already high levels. Middle- and low-income families are likely to be hit hardest, putting downward pressure on consumer spending and growth.
2018
Labor 2030: The Collision of Demographics, Automation and Inequality
Bain and Company
The rise of Asia continues
The rise of Asia is not a new phenomenon; the rise of Japan and South Korea has been witnessed over the second half of the 20th century. The start of the new millennium saw another boom, with many Asian economies recording high growth rates that took their share of global GDP from 26% to 32% between 2000 and 2014. Our extended long-term forecasts suggest that Asia’s rise will continue up to 2050—not quite at the same pace, but by 2050 it will account for 53% of global GDP.
2015
Long-term macroeconomic forecasts Key trends to 2050
The Economist
Global dominance of the top three economies
By 2030 the top three economies of the world will be the US, China and India. Such will be the growth of the two latter countries, in particular, that by 2050 they will each be richer than the next five (Indonesia, Germany, Japan, Brazil, and the UK) put together. This will represent a scale of wealth relative to the rest of the top ten that is unique in recorded history.
Given China’s and India’s economic might, they will take on a much bigger role in addressing global issues such as climate change, international security and global economic governance. In the medium term, this will require the world’s existing powers—notably the US—to let India, and especially China, play a greater role on the world stage and adapt international institutions to allow them to exert greater influence.
2015
Long-term macroeconomic forecasts Key trends to 2050
The Economist
A new era of global demographic decline
Global growth to 2050 is not expected to decline dramatically from its average historical levels. However, regional growth rates are expected to begin to decline across every region after 2030. Much of the global growth in recent decades has been driven by population growth. Long-term population estimates, however, reveal that growth in the global population is expected to see a dramatic decline from an average of 1.3% in the 1980-2014 period to 0.5% across the 2015-50 period. The slowdown in the growth rate of the global working-age population will be even starker, with a drop to 0.3% in the 2015-50 period, compared with an average growth rate of 1.7% in the 1980-2014 period.
2015
Long-term macroeconomic forecasts Key trends to 2050
The Economist
Population growth will still bene t a few
The majority of countries in Africa and the Middle Eastern region will benefit from an increase in their working populations, which will be an advantage in sustaining higher growth rates in the forecast period.
2015
Long-term macroeconomic forecasts Key trends to 2050
The Economist