Trends Identified
New materials with new properties may stimulate innovation
New bio and nanomaterials are likely to launch a new era of product and process innovation. Their new properties are changing the size, at both ends of the scale, at which designers, engineers and architects can dream. Nanocomposites and other new materials – some as strong as steel and others so and supple – will improve the performance of manufactured products and support a wider range of 3D printed objects. Embedded sensors and digital tags within materials will enable tracking along the supply chain, offering improved transparency and monitoring of product life cycles.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
New modes of travel, improved health and longevity, and the ability to travel through time top the list of futuristic inventions Americans would like to own
In addition to capturing the public’s attitudes toward specific inventions or future outcomes, we also offered them the opportunity to tell us—in their own words—which futuristic invention they themselves would want to own. Based on their responses, many Americans are looking forward to a future in which getting from place to place is easier, more comfortable, or more adventuresome than it is today. A total of 19% of Americans would like to own a travel-related invention of some kind, including: a flying car or flying bike (6%), a personal space craft (4%), a self-driving car (3%), a teleportation device (3%), a jet pack (1%), or a hover car or hover board (1%).
2014
US views of technology and the future - science in the next 50 years
Pew Research Center
New organizational structures
The new technologies, new work arrangements and other global change drivers are likely to generate new kinds of organizations. For instance, one can imagine a service corporation where all of the services are provided by AI with fewer human employees. A growing number of modern corporations will have a small management team that contracts out all functions through the entire product life cycle. It is possible that unorganized skilled workers will find people with complementary skills and create informal, temporary teams to take advantage of an opportunity to work together virtually to deliver a good or service.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
New outlier
The US will no longer set the world’s regulatory pace and corporations will respond as mini-sovereigns.
2018
Top Policy Trends of 2018
PWC
New patterns of inequality
New technologies may disrupt the consensus on what constitutes equal and fair treatment for citizens. The technologies may level the playing field for some, while creating new barriers for others. The public policy questions include timing, efficacy and affordability.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
New technologies and principles to develop the component base
Maintaining the rate of growth in the ICT sector globally requires continuous increases in the performance of computer technology. At present, the technological process to manufacture Information and Communication Technology semi-finished products and materials reached the atomic level, which is where the Pauli exclusion principle, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and other fundamental positions in quantum physics limiting the potential to control elementary particles come into play. So as to avoid a collapse of ICT markets caused by a slowdown in the development of the hardware component, which would result in negative effects for the entire global economy, there needs to be timely industrial development of new technologies and principles to develop the component base. The research priorities in this context should be focused on the areas of nanotechnology (electronics based on graphene, fullerene, etc.), photonics and memrister technologies.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
New types of light and high-strength materials
New types of light and high-strength materials primarily relate to products based on carbon fibres. Their most important characteristics (high elastic and strength qualities, lightness, low friction coefficient, resistance to atmospheric effects and chemical reagents) and special features of their structure make it possible to combine carbon fibre materials with other types of fibres: boric, glass, and aramid. As a result, light and strong products can be created, combining the competitive advantages of two source materials. Such hybrid com- posites have already found application in the aerospace sector and sporting equipment industry. Other materials which meet the criteria of lightness and high strength can be created on the basis of nanostructured alloys or aluminium, titanium and several other metals. The most in demand will be the following products: high-strength mixtures based on nanostructured structural polymers;_x000B_polymer composite materials with the addition of small quantities of carbon nanoparticles; stronger composite materials based on nanomaterials using wood; nanostructured composite materials based on light metals – Al, Ti, Mg – containing nanofibres made from super-high-molecular polyethylene, etc._x000B_
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
New varieties of plants and breeds of agricultural animals
In the short term new varieties of crop plants and breeds of agricultural animals could be achieved by using molecular markets in selective work, double haploid technologies, genetic engineering, and other methods. It is expected that new varieties and hybrids will have properties such as high nutritional content, increased productivity, and/or other benefits (size of fruit, ripening time), and resistance to diseases, pests and adverse environmental conditions. The development of genome selection technologies will make it possible to develop new, higher quality breeds of agricultural animals (for example, in terms of meat fat content) with faster growth which, in turn, will contribute to rational use of animal feed. The practical introduction of new products will lead to an increase in the efficiency of agricultural production and a reduction in crop losses.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
New world order
The shift of economic power to emerging markets is in full swing. Reports suggest that the GDP of developing countries is now at least equal to the developed world.46 Developing countries’ share of global exports has increased over the last decade from 33 to 43 percent. Their share of global foreign direct investments (FDI) inflow has grown from nearly 20 to over 50 percent.47 China and India are on track to have 35 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of its GDP by 2030.48 Brazil, Russia, India, and China’s combined share of world GDP is expected to match that of the original G7 countries by 2030.49 Even if these projections prove too optimistic, the rise of new economic powers may be expected to lead to a new world order.
2013
Now for the long term - The Report of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations
Oxford Martin School