Technology Tipping Points 2015

World Economic Forum report concludes several technologies are nearing tipping point. In March 2015, the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software & Society launched the Technological Tipping Points survey. Based on the council’s discussions over previous months, the survey asked respondents for their views on 21 “tipping points” – moments when specific technological shifts hit mainstream society. Aiming to provide a snapshot of expectations from a community of over 800 executives and experts from the information and communications technology sector, the survey asked respondents for their perception of when these tipping points would occur, offering date ranges from “it has already happened” to “20+ years”. The option of “never” was also available. A total of 816 responses were received. Predictions:

2018-Storage for All 
2021-Robot and Services
2022-The Internet of and for Things,  Wearable Internet,  3D Printing and manufacturing.
2023 -Implantable Technologies, Big Data for Decisions, Vision as the New Interface,  Our Digital Presence
2024 -Ubiquitous Computing, 3D Printing and Human Health, The Connected Home 
2025 -3D Printing and Consumer Products, AI and White-Collar Jobs, The Sharing Economy
2026 -Driverless Cars,  AI and Decision- Making ,  Smart Cities
2027-Bitcoin and the Blockchain Manufacturing,

From Indian perspective hype on Smart Cities is interesting. The tipping point defined as the first city with more than 50,000 inhabitants and no traffic lights is expected by 2026. These smart cities will manage their energy, material flows, logistics and traffic. Progressive cities, such as Singapore and Barcelona, are already implementing many new data-driven services, including intelligent parking solutions, smart trash collection and intelligent lighting. Smart cities are continuously extending their network of sensor technology and working on their data platforms, which will be the core for connecting the different technology projects and adding future services based on data analytics and predictive modelling.  The city of Santander in northern Spain has 20,000 sensors connecting buildings, infrastructure, transport, networks and utilities. The city offers a physical space for experimentation and validation of functions, such as interaction and management protocols, device technologies, and support services such as discovery, identity management and security. 

Future Work Skills 2020

This report was brought out by The Institute for the Future (IFTF) and The University of Phoenix Research Institute; High lights:
six drivers of change

1. Extreme Longevity
2. Rise of smart machines and systems
3. Computational world
4. New Media ecology
5. Super Structured organisations
6. Global Connected world

Key skills needed in the workplace

1.  sense making- :ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed.
2. social intelligence-ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions.
3. novel & adaptive thinking- proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based.
4. cross-cultural competency-ability to operate in different cultural settings.
5. computational thinking- ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning.
6. new media literacy- ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication.
7. transdisciplinarity-  literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines.
8. design mindset-ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes.
9. cognitive management- ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques.
10. virtual collaboration- ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team.

10 technologies of tomorrow that will be in use in 2025

Based on research trends Thompson Reuters came out with 10 predictions of innovation.

• Dementia declines,
• Solar becomes the primary source of energy,
• Type 1 diabetes become preventable,
• Food shortages disappear with successful indoor crop growth,
• Electric air transportation takes off,
• Everything, everywhere will be digitally connected,
• Cellulose derived packaging takes the market from petroleum based packaging,
• Drug development will be more precise and cancer treatment will have few toxic side effects,
• DNA mapping at birth becomes the norm,
• Teleportation is tested,