Trends Identified
Off-shore wind farms
Global growth in electrical capacity at wind farms in the period up to 2035 is expected to be approximately 860 GW, 20% of which should come from high-tech sea-based wind farms. These will be built fastest of all; their total power, according to experts, should grow by more than 40 times, which grounds the interest to off-shore wind farms. At present wind farms’ share of total electricity generation is no more than 1.7%, with the majority only serving as pilot projects. The spread of this type of power plant will make it possible to significantly expand the use of wind’s resources and avoid a number of problems related to the development of land-based wind power, such as the inability to use the land for other economic activities, noise pollution, and the influence of strobing, etc. Off-shore wind is more of a “quality” resource for wind energy, as it is characterised by greater average annual speeds and continuity.
2016
Russia 2030: science and technology foresight
Russia, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Nursing Helper Robot
The nursing helper robot responds to the user’s needs based on behavioral and facial recognition. Equipped with artificial skin and tactile sensors, the nursing helper robot can work as mobility aids for patients, and assist in nursing
2010
KISTEP 10 Emerging Technologies 2010
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Nuclear Power Plant Accident Response System
Integrated nuclear power plant accident response system, which encompasses all technologies needed for different scenarios
2017
10 emerging technologies in 2017
South Korea, Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP)
Novel Weapons
Out to 2040, the development and deployment of novel weapons is likely to become widespread. There is likely to be continuing demand for weapon systems to be tailored and adaptable, offering variable yields, detonation characteristics, degrees of precision coverage and reduced logistic burden. They will need the ability to defeat national strategic assets, infrastructure and forces in well-prepared defensive positions. This will often be in difficult terrain, such as the urban environment.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
NoOps in a serverless world
We have reached the next stage in the evolution of cloud computing in which technical resources can now be completely abstracted from the underlying system infrastructure and enabling tooling. Cloud providers are continuing to climb the stack; rather than simply providing everything from the “hypervisor on down,” they are now—through their own focus on hyper-automation—taking on many core systems administration tasks including patching, backup, and database management, among others. Together, these capabilities create a NoOps environment where software and software-defined hardware are provisioned dynamically. Going further, with serverless computing, traditional infrastructure and security management tasks can be fully automated, either by cloud providers or solution development teams. Freed from server management responsibilities, operations talent can transition into new roles as computing farm engineers who help drive business outcomes.
2019
Tech trends 2019 - Beyond the digital frontier
Deloitte
Non-State Actors
MNCs, large non-governmental organisations, as well as organised criminal groups, all work across the global stage. However, the authority of the state is likely to remain dominant. Non-State Actors are only likely to gain a similar degree of influence in areas where governance has broken down or is particularly fragile. Large MNCs, such as Gazprom, are increasingly state-owned and controlled, and other large corporations will have to work within the state based legislative framework if they are to gain access to resources and markets. While media and communication corporations may become ubiquitous global brands, the control by the state of the physical environment and operating space mean that it is unlikely that these corporations will have the means, methods or opportunities to usurp the power of the state. Non-governmental organisations, especially those associated with particular interests, will play niche roles and have influence within liberal democracies, but it is unlikely that their approaches of utilising the media, direct action and lobbying will have much impact on more authoritarian states.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence