Trends Identified

Discrimination in the tech industry
Diversity, inclusion and discrimination have become major topics in and out of the tech industry. Self-reported data from several leading technology companies show that women, blacks and Hispanics are often underrepresented in this fast-growing workforce.
2017
Key trends shaping technology in 2017
Pew Research Center
Disasters
Disasters associated with natural hazards have become more frequent during the past 20 years (Figure 18).38 Between 1996 and 2015, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) estimated a total of 8,104 disasters related to natural hazards across all continents, with 4.1 billion people affected by these events, which is almost twice the level recorded between 1976 and 1995.
2017
Global trends
UNDP
Dinner plate detectives: AI sensors will detect foodborne pathogens at home.
Within five years, the world’s farmers, food processors, and grocers—along with its billions of home cooks—will be able to detect dangerous contaminants effortlessly in their food. All they’ll need is a cell phone or a countertop with AI sensors.
2019
5 in 5 - Research predicts five innovations that will change our lives within five years.
IBM Research
Dimensional marketing - New rules for the digital age
Marketing has evolved significantly in the last half-decade. The evolution of digitally connected customers lies at the core, reflecting the dramatic change in the dynamic between relationships and transactions. A new vision for marketing is being formed as CMOs and CIOs invest in technology for marketing automation, next-generation omnichannel approaches, content development, customer analytics, and commerce initiatives. This modern era for marketing is likely to bring new challenges in the dimensions of customer engagement, connectivity, data, and insight.
2015
Tech trends 2015 - The fusion of business and IT
Deloitte
Digitization
The proliferation of new mobile technologies, the rise of the Internet of Things, reliance on sensor and wearable technologies, and increased reliance on digital interaction has shifted the world from an analog to a digital one.
2017
Beyond the Noise- The Megatrends of Tomorrow’s World
Deloitte
Digitalized ecosystems
Emerging technologies in general will require support from new technical foundations and more   dynamic ecosystems. These ecosystems will need new business strategies and a move to platform-based business models. “The shift from compartmentalized technical infrastructure to ecosystem-enabling platforms is laying the foundation for entirely new business models that are forming the bridge between humans and technology,” says Walker. For example, blockchain could be a game changer for data security leaders, as it has the potential to increase resilience, reliability, transparency, and trust in centralized systems. Also under this trend are digital twins, a virtual representation of a real object. This is beginning to gain adoption in maintenance, and Gartner estimates hundreds of millions of things will have digital twins within five years.
2018
5 Trends Emerge in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018
Gartner
Digitalized ecosystems
Emerging technologies in general will require support from new technical foundations and more   dynamic ecosystems. These ecosystems will need new business strategies and a move to platform-based business models. “The shift from compartmentalized technical infrastructure to ecosystem-enabling platforms is laying the foundation for entirely new business models that are forming the bridge between humans and technology,” says Walker. For example, blockchain could be a game changer for data security leaders, as it has the potential to increase resilience, reliability, transparency, and trust in centralized systems. Also under this trend are digital twins, a virtual representation of a real object. This is beginning to gain adoption in maintenance, and Gartner estimates hundreds of millions of things will have digital twins within five years.
2018
5 Trends Emerge in the Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2018
Gartner
Digital–physical blur: Extending intelligence to the edge
The physical world is coming online as objects, devices, and machines acquire more digital intelligence. What’s emerging is more than just an “Internet of Things”; it’s a new layer of connected intelligence that augments the actions of individuals, automates processes, and incorporates digitally empowered machines into our lives, increasing our insight into and control over the tangible world. There are benefits for consumers and businesses. Consumers become better informed and better equipped to influence the ways they experience everything around them. And businesses get real-time connections to the physical world that allow machines as well as employees to act and react faster—and more intelligently.
2014
Accenture Technology Vision 2014
Accenture
Digital wallets will empty faster
Anthropologists know there are three things most of us now carry with us wherever we go: our keys, our wallets and our cellphones. Digital wallets could fold the last two into a single item – and perhaps eradicate cash altogether. Could it change how we spend too?
2011
Seven technologies to disrupt the next decade
NewScientist
Digital Twins
A digital twin is a digital representation that mirrors a real-life object, process or system. Digital twins can also be linked to create twins of larger systems, such as a power plant or city. The idea of a digital twin is not new. It goes back to computer-aided design representations of things or online profiles of customers, but today’s digital twins are different in four ways: The robustness of the models, with a focus on how they support specific business outcomes The link to the real world, potentially in real time for monitoring and control The application of advanced big data analytics and AI to drive new business opportunities The ability to interact with them and evaluate “what if” scenarios The focus today is on digital twins in the IoT, which could improve enterprise decision making by providing information on maintenance and reliability, insight into how a product could perform more effectively, data about new products and increased efficiency. Digital twins of an organization are emerging to create models of organizational process to enable real time monitoring and drive improved process efficiencies.
2018
Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2019
Gartner