Trends Identified
AI and autonomous systems
Learning from data and developing smart algorithms has become a competitive advantage. Executives from all sectors believe that AI and autonomous systems will affect the entire industry. Investment in AI is at unprecedented levels from both tech firms and traditional manufacturers. Driverless vehicles are AI’s poster child, but industrial companies are also investing in machine learning and robotics to develop specific technologies related to their core businesses.
2018
Disruptive forces in the industrial sectors - Global executive survey
McKinsey
Internet of Things (IoT)
This much hyped term refers to the sensor-enabled devices that can communicate with one another via the Internet. The possible uses are still being unearthed, but the McKinsey Global Institute predicts that the annual economic impact of IoT applications could be as much as USD 11.1 trillion by 2025. MGI suggests that factories are likely to see the greatest potential impact from IoT use – as much as USD 3.7 trillion per year – with substantial productivity improvements, including 10 to 20 percent energy savings and a 10 to 25 percent improvement in labor efficiency.
2018
Disruptive forces in the industrial sectors - Global executive survey
McKinsey
Electrification
Replacing traditional energy sources with electric energy – most notably in vehicles – is being driven by regulatory and technological changes and by growing consumer demand. The growth in electric vehicles sales is expected to be 25 to 30 percent a year to 2025 (see Exhibit 4). A senior executive at a European OEM believes it will affect at least half of the sector’s revenues, both in vehicles and infrastructure. Stricter emission regulations and lower battery costs are all contributing to the flurry of activity in this area.
2018
Disruptive forces in the industrial sectors - Global executive survey
McKinsey
Cybersecurity
The increase in connectivity between companies and consumers as well as within organizations, production facilities, transportation systems, defense systems, etc. means that cybersecurity is critically important. Once closed systems are now open, increasing vulnerability and placing ever higher-value assets and processes at risk, leading to an annual growth in the market for cybersecurity of 5 to 10 percent until 2025 (see Exhibit 4). Our survey revealed widespread and growing concern on this topic, and many companies are starting to bring in the skills they need for tackling cybersecurity concerns. Some even see cybersecurity as a battleground for competitive advantage and differentiation.
2018
Disruptive forces in the industrial sectors - Global executive survey
McKinsey
Artificial intelligence and machine learning
Progress in AI has accelerated rapidly since around 2010, driven by the confluence of the growing availability of large data sets from commerce, social media, science and other sources; continued improvements in computational power; and the development of better machine learning algorithms and techniques (such as “deep learning”). Systems are now capable of learning how to accomplish a task without having been provided with explicit steps for doing so. Once designed and deployed, the neural network that underpins modern AI can formulate its own rules for interpreting new data and designing solutions, with minimal— or no— human participation.
2018
World Economic And Social Survey 2018: Frontier Technologies For Sustainable Development
United Nations
Renewable energy technologies
Following recent technological breakthroughs, a growing number of current and emerging technologies in the area of renewable energy generation have achieved a sufficient level of technical and economic maturity to render them ready for large-scale deployment.
2018
World Economic And Social Survey 2018: Frontier Technologies For Sustainable Development
United Nations
Energy storage technologies
The technology of utility-sized energy storage has been advancing and becoming more economical. The appropriate method of storing energy depends on the resources available to the local power producer. The existing technologies for storing energy include: (a) hydropower and compressed air storage; (b) molten salt thermal storage; (c) the redox flow battery; (4) the conventional rechargeable battery; and (e) thermal storage.
2018
World Economic And Social Survey 2018: Frontier Technologies For Sustainable Development
United Nations
Autonomous vehicles and drones
Autonomous vehicles are perhaps the most visible applications of advanced algorithms, sensors and powerful computing power. Five levels of automation exist for vehicles (excluding zero automation), ranging from basic driver assistance (level 1: “hands on”) to full automation (level 5: “steering wheel optional”) (see figure A.1). The most successful automation system currently available, offered by Tesla in its passenger cars, provides level 2 automation (“hands off ”), where the driver can rely on the vehicle to steer and control speed but must be attentive and ready to intervene when required. A significant amount of research is being conducted whose aim is to allow vehicles to operate at level 3 (“eyes off ”) and higher automation levels. While some automakers are announcing plans to market level 3 automation capabilities in the next two years, level 5 automation is, by some estimations, decades away.
2018
World Economic And Social Survey 2018: Frontier Technologies For Sustainable Development
United Nations
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology
In 2009, a person or persons going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto proposed a public distributed ledger system which would rely on cryptography and self-interest to enable electronic transactions. This notable innovation, in the form of a system underpinned by incentives and mathematical proofs, would obviate the need for trust in any one actor or central institution as the basis for preventing fraud and ensuring that the ledgers were kept up to date. Within such a system, every participant therefore works to build a single public ledger of transactions and constantly verifies its validity. That ledger is known as the blockchain. The blockchain works through a competitive process whereby the first to successfully validate a block of transactions and broadcast the solution to the network wins a monetary reward. The proposed block is quickly and independently verified by every participant. If a majority of the network agrees that the block is valid, the block and the transactions it contains become part of the consensus blockchain (see figure A.2). The innovativeness of this system lies in the way in which the various parts combine to create the trust and guarantees that the traditional financial system derives from institutions and regulation. The incentives align the interest of participants towards contributing to the system’s security. In contrast, the traditional system relies on a complex armature of reporting, oversight and implicit or explicit guarantees, ultimately backed by the reputation of the central authority. As such, the blockchain technology presents the possibilit y— a first in the field of finance !— that trust in institutions backed by government can be replaced by trust in computer code.
2018
World Economic And Social Survey 2018: Frontier Technologies For Sustainable Development
United Nations
Machine Vision
From detecting corruption to diagnosing cancer, there are a multitude of uses for this AI technology.
2018
Most contagious report 2018
Contagious