Researchers at McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), part of McKinsey & Company, have released a whopping 175-page report on technologies that will change the future. The report, compiled with the help of MGI and industry experts, details the economic and social impacts of the disruptive technologies it lists, as well as predicting where the tech market will be in 2025.
1) Mobile Internet
Increasingly inexpensive mobile connectivity can be used to connect all the humans on the planet. Presently, 4.3-billion people remain without an internet connection, and mobile connections are the easiest to deploy. Smartphones are also progressing rapidly. The first iPhone cost $400, and had equal performance to 1975’s most powerful supercomputer – which cost $5-million.
2) Automation of Knowledge Work
Smarter computers are doing mundane tasks for us, now. Things like image recognition, processing of data sets, and making information more accessible. Modern smart computers, capable of automated knowledge tasks, are 100x more powerful than they were in the 90s. Even voice assistants on smartphones are automated knowledge workers, and there are many millions using those tools every day.
3) Internet of Things
This latest buzz-phrase refers to all modern devices that connect to the internet, as well as auxiliary sensors that will provide smarter devices with environmental data, sensor readings, and more. In the last 5 years there’s been a 300% increase in connected machines, with the MEMS (microelectricalmechanical systems) technology that powers these machines reducing in cost by between 80 and 90%.
4) Cloud Technology
Why carry around a powerful smartphone or computer when all you need is an internet connection and cloud services? True cloud computing – where connected servers do the hard work – is advancing rapidly. In 18 months performance per dollar has doubled, for cloud servers, while regular servers are 3x more expensive to maintain. With 2-billion people relying on cloud technology, it’s a no brainer.
5) Advanced Robotics
While you won’t have a pizza-delivering robot next year, the field of robotics is seeing great advances. Sales of industrial robots have increased 170% between 2009 and 2011. 250-million of major annual surgeries use robots. And prices are dropping rapidly.
6) Autonomous and Near-autonomous Vehicles
In the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge the top-performing driverless car completed an 11km journey. The following year all contestants completed nearly 2500km. To date, Google’s autonomous cars have completed more than 480 000km – with only one accident, courtesy of a pesky human.
7) Next-generation Genomics
Every 10 months the speed of gene sequencing halves, relative to the dollar. Faster sequencing, and the ability to write DNA, will mean that we can track down genes that cause diabetes, cancer, and other diseases, and literally delete them.
8) Energy Storage
Why are there more electric cars now than in 2009? Simple, since then the prices for battery packs have dropped 40%. With denser, cheaper batteries we can start getting rid of some of the 1-billion trucks and cars on our roads. Or just help the 1.2-billion people who have no electricity at all.
9) 3D Printing
Right now we don’t need to be told that 3D printing is the future. It’s not yet a household technology, but it’s getting there thanks to cheaper printers and more innovative uses. We pay 90% less for a home 3D printer now than four years ago, with probably 90% more uses, too.
10) Advanced Materials
10 years ago most people didn’t even know about nanotubes. Today we know about them, but because they’re, you know, nano, we can’t tell where they are. But they’ll soon be everywhere because they’re very cheap, and 115x stronger than steel. And nanotubes are being upstaged by another advanced material at the moment: graphene. This carbon wonder kid is proving incredibly versatile, easy to manufacture, and affordable.
11) Renewable Energy
As we run out of oil, coal, and other dinosaur goop, we’ll have to turn to the natural elements for energy. Solar power is now no longer out of the reach of regular humans. It’s possible to affordably set up your house with solar panels that will pay for themselves within 4 years. If you don’t feel like it, you can rely on the increasing number of companies setting up wind and solar power sources, too.
Source
MGI
