Trends Identified
3D printing
Another recent digital development, 3D printing, also offers potential economic, social and environmental benefits for developing countries. Invented three decades ago, 3D printing has become a viable technology for global manufacturers to produce critical parts for airplanes, wind turbines, automobiles and other machines as a result of huge reductions in its costs and complementary developments in computer-aided design, the Internet, new materials for manufacturing and cloud computing (Campbell et al., 2011).
2018
Technology and Innovation Report 2018
UNCTAD
3D printing for development
The current ‘tipping point’ moment, where 3d printing is ‘coming of age as a manufacturing technique’ and is considered to be the cornerstone of a decentralised manufacturing revolution.
2016
Ten Frontier Technologies for International Development
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
3D printing opens up amazing opportunities for manufacturers (and others)
Related to increasing automation, the invention of 3D printing is disrupting manufacturing, and other industries, in many positive ways. In traditional (subtractive) manufacturing, objects are cut or hollowed out of material, such as metal, using something like a cutting tool. But in 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing), the object is created by laying down, or adding, layers of material. The materials used in 3D printing can be pretty much anything: plastic, metal, concrete, liquid, powder, even chocolate or human tissue! With 3D printing, far more complex shapes can be created than in traditional manufacturing – and using less material, too. It also allows for much greater customization of products, without worrying about economies of scale.
2017
9 Technology Mega Trends That Will Change The World In 2018
Forbes
3D-printing of food & pharmaceuticals
Example of Organizationsactive in the area: FabCafe (Japan), NASA (US).
2018
Table of disruptive technologies
Imperial College London
3D-printing technologies
3D-printing technologies have been around for quite a long time and have been successfully applied in several industries. Thus, without their use, the activities of many leading companies in terms of creating mock-ups, models and prototypes of units, assemblies, products, buildings and structures would not be possible. Future improvements in 3D printing should be considered in the context of global developments in processing devices with computer numerical control (CNC) and in expanding their use among end users (creation of home and public Fab Labs). The future of such additive technologies is linked to the development of new production principles, the creation of new materials with increased functional characteristics (strength, rigidity, etc.) and reduction in costs.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
4-dimensional materials
Example of Organizationsactive in the area: Stratasys (US), Autodesk (US).
2018
Table of disruptive technologies
Imperial College London
4D Printing – Shape-Shifting and Dynamic Materials
In 4D printing, invented by MIT Self-Assembly Lab, the material used has dynamic capability and can change function, color, confirmation or properties, when certain qualities are changed, such as chemical, electronics, particulates or nanomaterials. The application of 4D printing will allow a completely new and re-design of currently used materials. Shape-shifting materials could disrupt many industries. The technology is in very early prototyping stage with an evolving intellectual property landscape with over 10 years before this technology becomes mainstream. Shape-shifting materials have already been leveraged in the automotive, aerospace, defense and medical industries. Further examples are transformable tissues that can support cell growth or NASA’s space chain mail, which can flexibly create a shield in space. Challenges are to obtain the exact shape-shifting results as designed and well as modeling the geometries, determining interactions for changing states and calculating the energy.
2018
Trend Report 2018 - Emerging Technology Trends
SAP
4G+ mobile communication technology
The next-generation mobile communication technology provides more transmission capacity than 4G mobile communication technology (more than tens of times), efficiently provides various future services including high quality mobile multimedia service, M2M (machine to machine), and direct communication service between terminals, and flexibly accommodates traffic variation of time and place. This technology can contribute to national welfare by linking the various industries such as mobile-based healthcare, education, smart-work, and public safety.
2012
KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2012
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
5G
Just as the amount of data produced by the IoT will force data to the edge, it will also force mobile providers to move faster than ever — toward 5G. The level of hyper-connectivity expected by users today leaves little room not to move forward on the 5G path, but don’t get too excited. The move to 5G won’t happen overnight, and it will likely be patchy at best throughout the coming year. This year we are seeing Gigabit LTE (the stepping stone between current LTE and 5G) making leaps with devices from Samsung and Sony leading the way. Today much of the Gigabit LTE movement is being powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon technology, but others will certainly seek to become involved in this rapid growth market for mobile.
2016
Top 10 trends for digital transformation in 2018
Forbes