Trends Identified
Why Tech Innovators are Poised to Save the World
When trying to understand the societal impact of tech entrepreneurs on modern society, we need to look back, back to hippie culture and the San Francisco music revolution of the sixties, the birthplace of tech entrepreneurship in its current form. The common and strikingly new belief at that time was that we are responsible for the future of our planet, that an inclusive and networked society is more balanced and likely to be more sustainable; that race, gender and sexual orientation do not matter and need to be tolerated in whichever form. That mis ts and outlaws are admirable, if not role models.
2016
Shaping the future
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Whole earth virtualisation
Example of Organizationsactive in the area: Improbable (UK).
2018
Table of disruptive technologies
Imperial College London
Who's afraid of artificial intelligence
After losing three games of Go to Google Deepmind’s AlphaGo, the world’s second-ranked Go player in 2016, Lee Sedol, said, “I will have to express my apologies first. I should have shown a better result, a better outcome.” While Lee was apologising for his play, many also understood his statement as an apology for the limits of human intelligence and the advent of a superior form—Artificial Intelligence (AI).
2017
Foresigth
Singapore, The Centre for Strategic Futures
Where does private end and public begin?
By allowing coordination with systems outside the home, the line between home and work and between public and private will continue to blur. Home systems that sync with external systems (such those at work or school) will allow occupants to work, learn and relax in one locale. But such systems could also sync with neighbourhoods, regions, municipalities, utilities and more to support decision-making about land-use planning, infrastructure, health outcomes and development.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
When robots feel your pain
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Gene Roddenberry and their futurist kin all expected robots one day to play a pivotal part in the realm of medicine. It is safe to say that systems as complex as the heart surgeon in Asimov’s “Segregationist” and the Emergency Medical Hologram from Roddenberry’s “Star Trek: Voyager” are not going to become reality in 2017. However, artificial intelligence is now in a position to transform psychiatric hospitals for the better in the year ahead.
2016
World in 2017
The Economist
When China changes, everything changes
The shift to a more services-oriented economy and a cleaner energy mix in China, the world’s largest energy consumer.
2017
World energy outlook 2017 executive summary
International Energy Agency (IEA)
What worries CEOs most?
Today’s CEOs are concerned about a wide range of potential and ongoing threats to their business growth prospects. These include catastrophic events, economic and policy threats and commercial threats.We asked CEOs about their organisation’s ability to cope with the potential impact of various disruptive scenarios. The majority thought their organisations would be negatively affected, with major social unrest being cause for the greatest concern (see Figure 3). Indeed, CEOs are far more concerned about this than they are about a slowdown in China, possibly because they’ve already factored the latter into their calculations.
2013
16th Annual global CEO Survey
PWC
What will matter at work is your humanity.
When robots take all our jobs, what do humans have left? Precisely that — our humanity. Creativity and so-called soft skills are becoming all the more important to your career because that’s what can’t be automated. In fact, LinkedIn data shows the fastest-growing skills gaps — the difference between what employers seek and what workers bring to the table — are related to soft skills: oral communication tops the list, followed by people management, time management or leadership. Employers who want to make the most of their human employees make sure to look after them as whole people, not just task performers, says Susan Cain, author of "Quiet" and CEO of Quiet Revolution. “I'm increasingly seeing employers having a goal of facilitating the entire life of an employee,” Cain says. “I don't mean it in a Big Brother type of way, but being an aid in the entire life of an employee as opposed to just the part that shows up to make wages.”
2018
50 Big Ideas for 2019: What to watch in the year ahead
LinkedIn
What business are you in
Competition In the face of an ever-growing set of concerns, the question CEOs are asking is this: How do we manage the day-to-day business while having the confidence and vision to explore a much wider range of opportunities than we’ve ever considered before? .
2015
18th Annual global CEO survey
PWC
Well-being and purpose
Millennials and Gen-Zers, who are taking on an ever-increasing role in the workplace, want more from their jobs than just competitive compensation: they are looking for well-being. In a recent survey, 62% of millennials said they want a career with social impact, and 53% said they will work harder to increase that impact. Organizations driven by purpose and values outperform their competitors in revenue, profit and stock performance.
2017
Twelve Forces That Will Radically Change How Organizations Work
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)