Long-term Trends: How Our World Is Changing Right Now

DesignThinking
Written By Kavi Pather

Many an innovation team or strategy team will do a macro trend analysis at the beginning of the product development process or strategy process. This helps them to see where the industry is going and how they may innovate/strategise in the context of this change. Time and again, the same mega-trends come up - not surprising because they are just so ubiquitous.

After the umteenth trend analysis, I thought I would note some of the common ones down to save time. This is that list. It is not indendended to be exhaustive; nor is it intended to be a mutually exclusive taxonomy. It is simply intended to inspire ideas and insights for innovation teams.

Global Mega-trends

  • Technological

    • Industrialisation - electricity, mechanisation, automation, 3D printing,

    • Computerisation - digitalisation , computing ubiquity, Cloud computing / Quantum computing / digital security

    • Artificial intelligence - big data / machine learning / augmented intelligence

    • HyperConnectivity - internet ubiquity / communications, IoT, over-night shipping, cheap travel, 5G

    • Human-augmentation - mobile computing, wearable computing, VR, neural-link

    • Genetics - CRISPR, microbiomes, synthetic biology

    • Space exploration?

  • Environmental

    • Climate change - exploding energy consumption (1, 2) / changing the environmental risks / sustainable affordable energy / decarbonisation

    • Resource scarcity (1) - Impact on life (1, 2)

  • Meta trends

    • Increasing rate of change - increased collective learning (big history) / perceived / real

    • Rising complexity - intersection between these trends / shortening planning horizon

Souces:

Kavi Pather
Next

Limits to ethical behaviour in a world of chaos