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FUTURE TRENDS FORUM

Megatrends 2024

Megatrends 2024

Where do we place the origin of a supercomputer?
Do we place it in the first personal computer or in the Apollo 11 computer?
In the electromagnetic tabulator of the late 19th century?
Do we go back to Ada Lovelace and Babbage’s machine?
To the 17th century with the first calculator?
Or back millennia to the abacus?

We are launching the third edition of Megatrends, the report resulting from the knowledge of the experts of our Think Tank Future Trends Forum, in which we anticipate the innovation trends that will mark the future of humanity. In this new edition of Megatrends we have delved into ten emerging trends that have the potential to redefine fundamental aspects of our lives, from artificial intelligence and neuroscience to the future of cities and healthcare.

Check out the full report and get ahead of the future!

 

In Megatrends 2024 you can access the virtual assistant of each trend.
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Megatrends 2024

Artificial intelligence

beyond generative AI

Artificial intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence will be the key to unlocking a new hybrid workforce, in which humans and AI will work side by side. They will most likely do so in specialized teams with specialized models, beyond the generalists that hatched in 2023. The integration of human and machine roles will transform professions. All this, of course, with its corresponding ethical questions, which will have to be resolved.

 

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to (re)create our world

Virtual, augmented and mixed reality

Generative artificial intelligence has passed like a cyclone over the plans of large companies to develop their metaverses. Does this mean that virtual reality is dead? Not at all: its applications in fields such as mental health are promising and may boost the development of this technology for future mass use. Augmented reality seems, for the moment, the closest bet for everyday uses according to experts.

 

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Virtual, augmented and mixed reality
The urban revolution

from the smart city to the wise city

The urban revolution

The intense advances in data collection and processing will henceforth lead to major advances in cities that citizens will experience first-hand. The challenge will be to turn the smart city into a wise city, one that knows how to take advantage of all this innovation to become more sustainable (and easier to live in for the urbanite) and manage the tensions that could arise with the rural world due to competition for resources.

 

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to cure the incurable

Precision medicine

Advances in genome sequencing, gene editing and nanotechnology, together with technologies such as CRISPR (the first therapy has already been approved for the EU) and RNA therapies will help medicine to acquire a new superpower: that of taking full advantage of genetic and molecular data, which will revolutionize the current paradigm of disease treatment and prevention, with treatments designed to the millimeter for the patient’s genetic profile.

The reduction of errors, the improvement of productivity, together with the development of better and cheaper care will result in more effective and safer treatments for hitherto incurable diseases.

 

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Precision medicine
Educate to innovate

the future of talent

Educate to innovate

What will be the impact of increasingly personalized education thanks to artificial intelligence? How will technology in education affect the talent of the future? What will careers look like?

The application of technology to education will have a profound impact on increasingly personalized, accessible, decentralized and cradle-to-retirement educational pathways, preparing the talent of the future to adapt to an increasingly dynamic career path.

 

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with the world

Connecting sustainability

Today it seems obvious that sustainability affects everything, but the reality is that we have experienced an evolution from mere environmental protection to a central conception of sustainability even in all aspects of our lives. Today, concepts such as the circular economy help us to build a better world in which progress and social equity have a place.

Alongside the evolution of technology (to produce and store clean technologies that help us to combat the carbon footprint, to discover and use new materials, for new ways of producing food for all…) new challenges arise: what cultural changes must accompany these developments to really help us to develop a more sustainable world? How will we resolve the dilemma between sustainability and costs? How will we relate to each other and also to the planet?

 

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Connecting sustainability
Investigating space

to improve the Earth

Investigating space

The commercialization of space brings us closer to becoming a multi-planetary species. Until that goal is reached, a number of innovations developed to reach Mars, find life on other planets, or colonize the moon could improve life on Earth. From clean and powerful propulsion technologies to space laboratories to improved data processing, many answers to terrestrial challenges will come from the conquest of space.

 

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to better undesrtand our brain

Neuroscience and neurotechnology

Evolutions in neuroscience have led to a greater understanding of the brain that has enabled the development of solutions that today allow us to improve health, well-being and human performance from different medical and technological perspectives.

Examples of this evolution include the development of brain-computer interfaces (BCI), which allow people to control external devices with their thoughts, or the use of neurotechnology to treat neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

The evolution of these advances will lead us to increase our human capabilities beyond the therapeutic world and will put the spotlight on risks and opportunities that we must begin to address now: cybersecurity or inequality will reach a new dimension as our species evolves towards a better understanding of our brain and body.

 

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Neuroscience and neurotechnology
Digital security

undergoing transformation

Digital security

The race to stay ahead of the future of digital security is of vital importance to ensure social progress. And it is that the great advances in these security technologies, which have been driven by increased digitization and connectivity, have also brought with them equally broad advances in hacking techniques and digital crime.

Some areas in which much progress has been made in cybersecurity include: biometrics, which allows people to be identified more securely and accurately, such as facial recognition or fingerprinting ; blockchain, which has revolutionized the way data is stored and shared; IoT, as connected devices are more vulnerable; AI, used for the detection and prevention of cyberattacks; or the development of security solutions for mobile devices, increasingly used to access sensitive data.

In addition, quantum computing poses new challenges for cybersecurity, as it could break current encryption systems. Quantum cryptography, which offers greater security than current encryption systems but is still at an early stage of development, is working in this quantum field.

 

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to hybrid computing

From classical computing

Quantum computing, in particular, has moved from a theoretical research field to a reality with potential commercial applications. In 2023, a major milestone in quantum computing occurred with the development of a 1,112-qubit quantum chip by IBM.

Quantum communications, meanwhile, is also progressing rapidly. In 2022, the first transmission of quantum data over a 44-kilometer fiber-optic cable took place.

Quantum sensors are also starting to be used in commercial applications. In 2021, the commercialization of a quantum temperature sensor that is 100 times more sensitive than traditional sensors was announced.

Quantum computing is expected to become a widespread commercial reality in the next few years, with quantum communications and sensors being used in a wide range of applications. Until then, the technology will face its own challenges, such as error reduction and correction, and opportunities, such as its interaction with artificial intelligence.

 

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From classical computing

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