The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published its 2024 Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report, highlighting innovations expected to significantly impact societies and economies over the next three to five years. The report, released on June 25 during the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, features advancements in artificial intelligence, sustainability, and communication technologies.
Identified Technologies and Potential Impacts
The technologies selected for this year’s list reflect breakthroughs in healthcare, infrastructure, and environmental sustainability. Key highlights include:
- AI for Scientific Discovery: Enhanced AI models, including generative AI and deep learning, are expected to transform research in disease understanding, material science, and cognitive studies.
- Privacy-Enhancing Technologies: Advances like synthetic data aim to protect personal privacy while enabling global data collaboration, particularly in health research.
- Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: These surfaces could improve wireless communication efficiency by integrating smart features into walls and surfaces, aiding smart factory operations and vehicular networks.
- High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS): Using aerial platforms such as aircraft and balloons, these systems can expand mobile network access to remote regions, addressing the digital divide.
- Integrated Sensing and Communication: Combining data collection and transmission in 6G networks, this innovation supports environmental monitoring, urban planning, and energy-efficient technology use.
- Immersive Technology for Infrastructure: Applications in augmented and virtual reality promise advancements in infrastructure design and sustainability, enabling better alignment between digital and physical models.
- Elastocalorics: These materials release and absorb heat under stress, providing energy-efficient alternatives to traditional cooling systems as global temperatures rise.
- Carbon-Capturing Microbes: Engineered organisms can convert carbon emissions into biofuels, presenting a sustainable solution for climate change mitigation.
- Alternative Livestock Feeds: Single-cell proteins, algae, and food waste could replace traditional livestock feeds, addressing sustainability challenges in agriculture.
- Genomics for Transplants: Progress in genetic engineering has made organ transplants using genetically modified tissues a reality, offering hope to patients awaiting transplants.
Methodology and Analysis
The report is the result of collaboration between the WEF, the open-access publisher Frontiers, and over 300 academic and industry experts. A rigorous selection process analyzed patent filings, academic literature, and funding trends to identify technologies expected to achieve commercial scalability and attract investment.
“This report helps organizations understand the innovations shaping our future,” said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director of the WEF and Head of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Frederick Fenter, Chief Executive Editor at Frontiers, emphasized the importance of “open science in action” in promoting technologies that can transform societies and economies.
Annual Meeting of the New Champions
The report was unveiled at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2024, held in Dalian, China. Known as the “Summer Davos,” the event brings together global leaders to explore emerging trends and solutions to pressing global challenges.
For the full report and additional details, visit the World Economic Forum’s official website.
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