Trends Identified

Digital Future
Fueled by the convergence of social, mobile, cloud, big data and growing demand for anytime anywhere access to information, technology is disrupting all areas of the business enterprise. Disruption is taking place across all industries and in all geographies. Enormous opportunities exist for enterprises to take advantage of connected devices enabled by the “Internet of Things” to capture vast amounts of information, enter new markets, transform existing products, and introduce new business and delivery models. However, the evolution of the digital enterprise also presents significant challenges, including new competition, changing customer engagement and business models, unprecedented transparency, privacy concerns and cybersecurity threats.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Entrepreneurship rising
Technology is also changing the ways that people work, and is increasingly enabling machines and software to substitute for humans. Enterprises and individuals who can seize the opportunities offered by digital advances stand to gain significantly, while those who cannot may lose everything. The growth and prosperity of all economies, rapid-growth and mature, remains highly dependent on entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of economic growth — they provide a source of income and employment for themselves, create employment for others, produce new and innovative products or services, and drive greater upstream and downstream value-chain activities. While some entrepreneurial activity around the world is still driven by necessity, “high-impact” entrepreneurship, once largely confined to mature markets, is now an essential driver of economic expansion in rapid-growth markets. In some cases, these high-impact entrepreneurs are building innovative and scalable enterprises that capitalize on local needs and serve as role models for new entrepreneurs. The face of entrepreneurship is also changing — across the world, entrepreneurs are increasingly young and/or female. Many of these new enterprises are digital from birth. Access to funding remains the primary obstacle for entrepreneurs from all markets. The public and private sector each have an important role to play in creating entrepreneurial ecosystems that, in addition to funding, are essential to promoting entrepreneurial success.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Global marketplace
Faster growth rates and favorable demographics in key rapid-growth markets will continue to be a feature of the next decade or so. The gulf between “mature” and “rapid-growth” countries continues to shrink. A new tier of emerging nations, driven by their own nascent middle classes, will draw global attention. Innovation will increasingly take place in rapid-growth markets, with Asia surfacing as a major hub. In the global marketplace, the war for talent will become increasingly fierce, necessitating greater workforce diversity to secure competitive advantage. The economies of the world will remain highly interdependent through trade, investment and financial system linkages, driving the need for stronger global policy coordination among nations and resilient supply chains for companies operating in this environment. At the same time, domestic interests will continue to clash and compete with the forces of global integration. Pushback and opposition to global integration manifests itself in various economic, political and cultural forms, including trade and currency protectionism, the imposition of sanctions to achieve political aims, anti-globalization protests, as well as the strengthening of nationalistic, religious and ethnic movements around the world.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Urban World
The number and scale of cities continues to grow across the globe — driven by rapid urbanization in emerging markets and continued urbanization in mature markets. The United Nations (UN) reports that 54% of the world’s population currently live in cities, and by 2050, this proportion will increase to 66%. In order to harness the economic benefi ts of urbanization, policy-makers and the private sector must do effective planning and attract sustained investment in railroads, highways, bridges, ports, airports, water, power, energy, telecommunications and other types of infrastructure. Effective policy responses to the challenges that cities face, including climate change and poverty, will be essential to making cities of the future competitive, sustainable and resilient.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Resourceful planet
Absolute population growth, economic development and more middle-class consumers will drive increasing global demand for natural resources — both renewable and non-renewable. While the world’s supply of non-renewable resources is technically finite, new technologies continue to impact the future supply picture by allowing access to formerly hard-to-reach and valuable oil, gas and strategic mineral reserves. The application of new technologies, as well as the shifting supply environment, will drive business model adaptation and innovation in multiple sectors — as well as impact the geopolitical balance of power. At the same time, natural resources must be more effectively managed, particularly from an environmental impact perspective. Growing concern over environmental degradation, securing strategic resources and the fate of our food and water supply are indicative of the fact that protecting and restoring the planet is a critical future imperative. Governments, societies and businesses must work in tandem to develop more sustainable approaches to the task of achieving economic growth while leveraging natural resource inputs.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Health reimagined
Health care — which already accounts for 10% of global GDP — is embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime transformation. Health systems and players are under increasing cost pressure — driving them to seek more sustainable approaches, including incentives that emphasize value. These cost pressures are exacerbated by changing demographics, rising incomes in rapid-growth markets and an imminent chronic-disease epidemic. An explosion in big data and mobile health technologies is enabling real-time information creation and analysis. Companies beyond health care as traditionally defined are entering the fray, providing new sources of competition and partnering. These trends are starting to drive a fundamentally different approach — moving beyond the delivery of health care (by traditional health care companies in traditional ways, i.e., “sick care”) to the management of health (by diverse sets of players, with more focus on healthy behaviors, prevention and real-time care). Success, in other words, demands that we reimagine our approach to health.
2015
Megatrends 2015 -Making sense of a world in motion
EY
Trade flows
2010
Megatrends
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
War for talent
2010
Megatrends
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Mergers and acquisitions
2010
Megatrends
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Financial innovation
2010
Megatrends
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)