Trends Identified
Robotic Process Automation – Rule-Based Bots
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) refers to rule-based and easily programmed software, that promises to eliminate repetitive, easily automated tasks. RPAs are fully programmed, cannot learn and have to be updated when IT systems change. RPA is seen as a next step towards automation where machine learning is not needed. It can be tied together with machine learning to automate more complex tasks to create intelligent enterprises. Most RPA today uses text analytics, image processing, text search, or optical character recognition. Analytics will become critical as RPA will soon be developed towards more smarter versions. While we are heading towards an automated world, the process seems to take longer than anticipated and is more complex than anticipated, so RPAs could be a fast forward solution for those processes that yet do not need sophisticated algorithms. For now, a central control of bots is not fully established and changes of IT systems could lead to expensive updates. Besides that, RPA can boost productivity with minimal process change, it offers easy-to-calculate ROIs and it is an in-route to more complex automation with machine learning.
2018
Trend Report 2018 - Emerging Technology Trends
SAP
Robotic care companions
Example of Organizationsactive in the area: Softbank (Japan), AIST (Japan), Blue Frog Robotics (France), Care-o-bot (Germany), Riken/Sumitomo Riko (Japan), Mayfield Robotics (US).
2018
Table of disruptive technologies
Imperial College London
Robot dexterity
Robots are teaching themselves to handle the physical world.For all the talk about machines taking jobs, industrial robots are still clumsy and inflexible. A robot can repeatedly pick up a component on an assembly line with amazing precision and without ever getting bored—but move the object half an inch, or replace it with something slightly different, and the machine will fumble ineptly or paw at thin air. But while a robot can’t yet be programmed to figure out how to grasp any object just by looking at it, as people do, it can now learn to manipulate the object on its own through virtual trial and error. One such project is Dactyl, a robot that taught itself to flip a toy building block in its fingers. Dactyl, which comes from the San Francisco nonprofit OpenAI, consists of an off-the-shelf robot hand surrounded by an array of lights and cameras. Using what’s known as reinforcement learning, neural-network software learns how to grasp and turn the block within a simulated environment before the hand tries it out for real. The software experiments, randomly at first, strengthening connections within the network over time as it gets closer to its goal. It usually isn’t possible to transfer that type of virtual practice to the real world, because things like friction or the varied properties of different materials are so difficult to simulate. The OpenAI team got around this by adding randomness to the virtual training, giving the robot a proxy for the messiness of reality. We’ll need further breakthroughs for robots to master the advanced dexterity needed in a real warehouse or factory. But if researchers can reliably employ this kind of learning, robots might eventually assemble our gadgets, load our dishwashers, and even help Grandma out of bed. —Will Knight
2019
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2019 - How we’ll invent the future, by Bill Gates
MIT Technology Review
RNA-based Therapeutics
RNA is an essential molecule in cellular biology, translating genetic instructions encoded in DNA into the production of the proteins that enable cells to function. However, as protein production is also a central factor in most human diseases and disorders, RNA-based therapeutics have long been thought to hold the potential to treat a range of problems where conventional drug-based treatments cannot offer much help. The field has been slow to develop, however, with initial high hopes being dented by the sheer complexity of the effort and the need to better understand the variability of gene expression in cells. Over the past year, there has been a resurgence of interest in this new field of biotech healthcare, with two RNA-based treatments approved as human therapeutics as of 2014. RNA-based drugs for a range of conditions including genetic disorders, cancer and infectious disease are being developed based on the mechanism of RNA interference, which is used to silence the expression of defective or overexpressed genes. Extending the repertoire of RNA-based therapeutics, an even newer platform based on messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules is now emerging. Specific mRNA sequences injected intramuscularly or intravenously can act as therapeutic agents through the patient’s own cells, translating them into the corresponding proteins that deliver the therapeutic effect. Unlike treatments aimed at changing DNA directly, RNA-based therapeutics do not cause permanent changes to the cell’s genome and so can be increased or discontinued as necessary. Advances in basic RNA science, synthesis technology and in vivo delivery are combining to enable a new generation of RNA-based drugs that can attenuate the abundance of natural proteins, or allow for the in vivo production of optimized, therapeutic proteins. Working in collaboration with large pharmaceutical companies and academia, several private companies that aim to offer RNA-based treatments have been launched. We expect this field of healthcare to increasingly challenge conventional pharmaceuticals in forging new treatments for difficult diseases in the next few years.
2014
Top 10 emerging technologies for 2014
World Economic Forum (WEF)
RNA-based Terapeutics
RNA-based therapeutics used artificial RNA with unique sequences that can selectively control target genes. The technology can be applied for therapeutic purposes by enabling the control of gene expression. The technology can also be employed in cell therapy through manipulation of stem cells.
2009
KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2009
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Rising tensions with north Korea
North Korea may now be sending athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but the threat of war with America remains. While global stock markets haven't reacted much to a potential nuclear fallout, conflict continues to be a risk, says Tim Courtney, chief investment officer at Exencial Wealth Advisors, an Oklahoma City-based financial advisory firm.
2018
6 global trends that can derail your portfolio in 2018
CNBC
Rising regional disparities at the level of growth, employment and investment in local and regional authorities and connecting infrastructure
The global economic and financial crisis has weakened regional economic and social cohesion in the EU with diverging economic growth, employment and investment.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
Rising pollution in the developing world
The industrialization of the developing world is creating unsustainable pollution levels. The solution requires
a technological and an intellectual revolution; an alternative route to economic prosperity that preserves resources and limits carbon emissions has to be developed before it’s too late.
2014
Outlook on the global agenda 2015
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Rising middle class in the developing world
Economic globalisation and growth in the emerging economies has lifted millions into the middle classes. It is projected that more than 70 million people are crossing the threshold to the middle class each year in almost all emerging economies. By 2020, roughly 40% of the world’s population will have achieved middle-class status by global standards—up from less than 20 % in 2010. This creates major opportunities for investment and prosperity and exports to emerging markets.
2014
Challenges at the horizon 2025
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)