Trends Identified
Solar and wind may become cost-effective
Recently, there have been significant improvements in both solar and wind technologies, including cheap printing processes for solar panels. Many science sources suggest that solar and wind energy may become the most cost-effective choice for new electricity generation in many locations within 15 years. As solar and wind have become more affordable, massive research and venture capital has been going into battery storage for homes, buildings and vehicles. Effective and economical battery storage is on the horizon. It is the key enabling technology to ensure that buildings using renewable energy are powered during cloudy and windless days.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Software-Defined Networking
With virtualization investments already paying off in servers and starting to pay off in storage, businesses must turn their attention to virtualizing the network in order to extend the life of their infrastructure and reap the full value of their virtualization investments. Like other virtualization technologies, softwaredefined networking (SDN) has the ability to radically change the flexibility with which businesses and IT operate. You may think of networking as a low-level technology, but this aspect of it has the ability to transform enterprises. With SDN, businesses can finally realize the vision of a dynamic enterprise.
2013
Accenture Technology Vision 2013
Accenture
Software-defined everything - Breaking virtualization’s final frontier
Amid the fervor surrounding digital, analytics, and cloud, it is easy to overlook advances currently being made in infrastructure and operations. The entire operating environment—server, storage, and network—can now be virtualized and automated. The data center of the future represents the potential for not only lowering costs, but also dramatically improving speeds and reducing the complexity of provisioning, deploying, and maintaining technology footprints. Software-defined everything can elevate infrastructure investments, from costly plumbing to competitive differentiators.
2015
Tech trends 2015 - The fusion of business and IT
Deloitte
Software to analyse statistical macromolecular markers
Software systems to analyse static (contextual) macromolecular markers will make it possible to carry out more in-depth genetic diagnostics (primarily for hereditary and orphan diseases). The expansion of the market for this product group will contribute to minimising the analytical processes in clinical laboratories and the emergence of specific personalised approaches to diagnostics. New systems which do not require expensive equipment and components could successfully compete with mass spectrometers and other modern analytical techniques.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Soft Robot Technology
[Definition] Robots manufactured with soft and flexible material, in contrast to traditional robots made with hard and rigid material. [Application]. Offers better flexibility and shock resistance compared to normal robots built with steel, and can be used in a more diverse environments which require physical interaction with humans.
2018
KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2018
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Society and social trends
Just as population trends over a 20-year period tend to move quite slowly (with notable exceptions such as immigration) and are not on the aggregate susceptible to abrupt major changes of direction, societal trends also tend to develop their own momentum and can prove quite difficult to defect from past and current trajectories. The expansion of higher education, the growing participation of women in the labour market and the rising numbers of dependent elderly all seem set to become a permanent feature of the next couple of decades, although their combined effect on family formation, family interaction and intergenerational relations is hard to foresee. Conversely, future patterns of marriage and divorce or labour market participation among the elderly have the potential to spring some surprises in the years ahead.
2011
The Future of Families to 2030
OECD
Society and Conflict in a Changing Global Environment
Our strategic environment is changing rapidly. We live in a world that is at once more connected, contested and complex. The fragile societies, instability and conflict which we meet in many parts of our neighbourhood and beyond also have consequences for our internal security and prosperity. To take account of the new global context, our approach to conflict must also change. Greater connectivity is both an asset as it drives communication, trade and mobility, but also makes us vulnerable to cross border crime, terrorism, global pandemics and cyber-attacks. The rise in human mobility compels us to rethink our approach to migration, sustainable development, security and governance.
2016
Shaping the future
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Society
The future will see striking changes in family and household structures in OECD countries with significant increases in one-person households and couples without children. Access to education and acquisition of skills will be one of the most important keys to improving life chances. Growth in female enrolment at all levels of education will continue, and will have important implications for labour markets and family life. The global population will be increasingly urban, with 90% of this growth occurring in Asia and Africa. Urbanisation could bring several benefits to developing countries, including better access to electricity, water and sanitation. But it could also lead to extensive slum formation with negative consequences for human health and the environment.
2016
OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2016
OECD
Social-driven IT
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other forms of social media are not just new communication channels to customers. They are powerful catalysts that are changing the ways your customers, employees, and partners use technology to interact with the world around them. Most organizations have yet to catch up to that reality, and almost none take full advantage of it. They must.
2012
Accenture Technology Vision 2012
Accenture