Today, the World Economic Forum (WEF) unveiled its much-anticipated annual Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report, highlighting innovations poised to make a profound impact on society and the economy over the next three to five years. This year’s report promises to revolutionize connectivity, address urgent climate challenges, and drive cross-sector innovation.
Transformative Technologies Shaping Tomorrow
“Organizations make better choices when they understand the factors shaping the future,” said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and Head of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The report shines a spotlight on technologies with immense potential for revolutionizing connectivity and driving innovation across various fields.
Frederick Fenter, Chief Executive Editor at Frontiers, added, “This is open science in action, and we are delighted to partner with the World Economic Forum in bringing these technologies to the attention of business, science, and political leaders across the globe.”
Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2024
- AI for Scientific Discovery: Advances in deep learning, generative AI, and foundation models are transforming the scientific discovery process, enabling unprecedented connections and advancements in understanding diseases, new materials, and human physiology.
- Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: Synthetic data is set to revolutionize data handling, offering robust personal privacy protections while facilitating global data sharing and collaboration, particularly in health research.
- Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: These innovative surfaces turn ordinary walls into smart components for wireless communication, enhancing energy efficiency and offering applications in smart factories and vehicular networks.
- High-Altitude Platform Stations: Using aircraft, blimps, and balloons, these systems extend mobile network access to remote regions, helping bridge the digital divide for over 2.6 billion people.
- Integrated Sensing and Communication: The advent of 6G networks enables simultaneous data collection and transmission, promising advancements in smart agriculture, environmental conservation, and urban planning while reducing energy and silicon consumption.
- Immersive Technology for the Built World: Combining computing power with virtual and augmented reality, these technologies improve infrastructure and daily systems, ensuring accuracy and safety in construction and advancing sustainability.
- Elastocalorics: Offering higher efficiency and lower energy use, elastocalorics release and absorb heat under mechanical stress, presenting a sustainable alternative to current cooling technologies in a warming world.
- Carbon-Capturing Microbes: Engineered organisms convert emissions into valuable products like biofuels, offering a promising approach to mitigating climate change.
- Alternative Livestock Feeds: Sustainable protein feeds sourced from single-cell proteins, algae, and food waste offer a green solution for the agricultural industry.
- Genomics for Transplants: Genetically engineered organs represent a significant advancement in healthcare, providing hope to millions awaiting transplants.
Strategic Intelligence for the Future
Now in its 12th edition, the Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report is a vital source of strategic intelligence. Drawing on insights from over 300 world-leading academics and experts, the report identifies technologies that promise to disrupt industries, attract investment, and achieve significant scale within five years.
This year’s edition introduced an innovative trend analysis methodology, incorporating academic literature, funding trends, and patent filings, ensuring the accuracy and relevance of the selected technologies.
Looking Ahead: The Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2024
The 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions will be held on June 25-27, 2024, in Dalian, China, under the theme “Next Frontiers for Growth.” The meeting will gather around 1,600 high-level leaders from various sectors to generate collective insights and deploy solutions that spur global economic momentum.
As these emerging technologies advance, they promise to reshape our world, addressing critical challenges and driving future growth. The World Economic Forum’s report is not just a glimpse into the future but a roadmap for the innovations that will define our lives in the years to come.
