Trends Identified
A radical new recycling process will breathe new life into old plastic.
In five years, the disposal of trash and the creation of new plastics will be completely transformed. Everything from milk cartons and cookie containers to grocery bags and clothing will be recyclable, and polyester manufacturing companies will be able to take in refuse and turn it into something useful again.
2019
5 in 5 - Research predicts five innovations that will change our lives within five years.
IBM Research
A smart and automated road transport grid
Widespread adoption of connected and smart autonomous vehicles deliver substantial energy use savings, but is only a transformational sustainable transport solution if the autonomous cars are themselves low, or even better, zero-emissions vehicles.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
A Space Odyssey
Forget Mustique and Tahiti. If you’re willing to drop a cool $200,000 to $300,000, get ready to spend your next vacation in space. Last year, we spoke about flying cars, this year you’ll have to set your sights a little higher. Space travel is set to accelerate as several companies—SpaceX and Boeing, among them—launch crewed test flights to space. The implications of such private space flights are tremendous. It will mean the conversion of a highly regulated, government monopolized industry into a fiercely competitive one, populated by private players and venture capital firms. As competition intensifies, expect space tourism to take-off and space organizations like NASA to use the revenues generated by private space flights to fund their scientific research.
2019
Top 10 Trends For 2019
Forbes
A three-pronged approach
So what are CEOs doing to make their organisations more resilient in this era of ‘stable instability’? Our survey shows that they’re taking three specific approaches:A) Targeting pockets of opportunity: CEOs are focusing on a few well-chosen initiatives, primarily in their existing markets, to stimulate organic growth. They’re more wary about entering new markets or engaging in mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and diluting their resources too much. B) Concentrating on the customer:CEOs are looking for new ways to stimulate demand and foster customer loyalty, such as capitalising on digital marketing platforms and involving customers in product/service development. But they’re also aiming to keep their R&D costs down and make the innovation process more efficient. C) Improving operational effectiveness:CEOs are balancing efficiency with agility. They’re trying to cut costs without cutting value or leaving their organisations exposed to external upheavals. They’re also delegating power more widely and collaborating with organisations to share resources and develop new offerings.
2013
16th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
A U.S.-China cold war will first be fought on the technology front.
Despite current tensions, the U.S. and Chinese economy are too interlinked for a trade war to truly escalate in the short term, says Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer. A cold war is more likely in five or 10 years, he adds, when an economic downturn and sustained animosity have undone those ties. But for 2019, the fight is on the technology front: “There you do have a cold war. There you have the Chinese with their AI model, the Americans with our AI model. The Chinese with their internet, the Americans with our internet,” he says. He echoes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who warned in September that our online world risked a “bifurcation” into Chinese-led and U.S.-led internets. “They're not playing nice at all,” Bremmer adds. “I do think that longer term we're heading for big trouble between the Americans and the Chinese.”
2018
50 Big Ideas for 2019: What to watch in the year ahead
LinkedIn
A watershed year for transparency
Anticipating the recommendations for reporting climate-related financial risks from the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), companies such as ExxonMobil have faced investor and public pressure to voluntarily improve risk disclosure. This could re the gun for greater transparency in other parts of business such as executive pay, gender equality and tax arrangements.
2018
8 sustainability trends that will define 2018
Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
Accelerating technological change
The pace of technological change is accelerating. The shifts in technological paradigms that once were separated by centuries or millennia — such as the development of agriculture or the industrial revolutions based on steam and then electric power — are now occurring within a single lifetime. Indeed, the pace at which new technologies are being adopted by the market and used in society has rocketed over the past century and a half. In the early 1900s, it took more than 30 years for a quarter of the US population to adopt telephones and radios — but more recently, the World Wide Web reached this level in only seven years.
2015
Assessment of global megatrends - an update
European Environment Agency (EEA)
Access all areas
Smooth and seamless access to everything, with new devices that link up more e ectively, fuelled by a supercharged infrastructure.
2018
2018 trends
Mindshare
Access to Information
The pervasiveness of ICT will enable more people to access and exploit sophisticated networks of information systems. For example, in 2007 there were 280 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa, a penetration rate of 30.4%. This number is expected to rise to 50% by 2012 and may result in total coverage in as little as 10 years.162 The Internet and associated technologies, together with digitised portable communications, will increasingly become the means by which a rapidly expanding array of audio, visual and written information products are distributed.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
Access to information and ideas
The ability to tap information and ideas from anyone, anywhere, is multiplying exponentially, both for individuals and for businesses. As the cost of technology—including both hardware and data—continues to fall and global internet penetration expands, recent advances in cloud computing and storage are lowering the cost of access and processing. The implications are wide-ranging: people can be continuously connected, access data from any location, work remotely with ease, and collaborate with their global colleagues in real time.
2017
Twelve Forces That Will Radically Change How Organizations Work
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)