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Author: Future Agenda | https://www.futureagenda.org
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https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/page/9/
New perspectives on the future are gained from multiple expert discussions around the world. Our ten year foresights offer rich, insightful views on some of the most important changes shifts – and challenges - that lie ahead.
With France and Germany taking the initial lead roles, electric cars take off and form up to 10% of the world’s vehicle fleet by 2020. It is has been a long time coming, but thirteen years after the global launch of the Toyota Prius hybrid, a host of companies all have electric vehicles scheduled for introduction over the next few years. The alignment of technology development, targeted incentives and economies of scale together with a fundamental change in consumer sentiment has started the shift towards a future where electric mobility has a significant role to play in global transportation. By…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/electric-mobility/
Under increasing pressure to improve efficiency, growing freight shipping adopts a range of alternative policies and power systems. Shipping already accounts for nearly 4.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and, as the volume of global trade continues to grow, this proportion is also set to rise. According to the UN, annual emissions from the world’s merchant fleets exceeds 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2, twice that of the aviation sector. While planes and cars have been a common focus in the popular media, in the think tanks and transport forums around the world, ships have been rising up the agenda.…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/clean-shipping/
China, the pacesetter for change in inter-urban transport, is investing over $1 trillion expanding its rail network to 120,000 km by 2020. In a world where city-to-city, inter-urban transportation is increasingly seen as the major growth area for mobility, competition is rife between air, road and rail. Around the globe, cities, countries and regions have been talking about the benefits of speed, efficiency and convenience of the relative options and are variously making some serious commitments. While low-cost airlines continue to grow in many markets and car ownership is rising steadily, many governments are investing heavily in rail as the…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/chinese-trains/
Led by more tourists and steady growth in cargo transportation, Asian aviation places more orders and becomes the largest air market in the world. In terms of flying, we live in a world at a point of significant change: around half of us have just started to recognise that we need to travel less at the same time as the other half want to travel more. Overall, rising demand from both low-cost and premium passengers keen to fly more shows little sign of abating in the next decade. Add in increased air freight and there is little doubt that the…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/asian-aviation/
Being disconnected in an always connected world is a growing desire met by virtual cocoons at home but, in an increasingly crowded world, real physical solitude becomes an option only for the rich. In one workshop it was highlighted that in an ever-present always-connected world, people will sometimes want to disconnect, to switch off and be, for a time, not available. In another it was mentioned that for many professionals today, rather than talk to their spouse, the last thing they do at night and the first thing they do in the morning is check their mobile for messages. While…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/switching-off/
Multiple media sources are instantly integrated at the point of consumption to provide us with continual, enhanced and immersive access to tailored, bite-sized content. How we access and consume information has undergone rapid change over the past few years. The rise of platforms including Google, YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter and the BBC iPlayer as well as the introduction of new devices such as net-books, IPTV, the iPhone and the iPad have all fundamentally affected how many of us now use and interact with media. Given that all of these appeared in the last decade, as we look forward to 2020,…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/seamless-media-consumption/
The role of live activities and experiences in an increasingly virtual and isolated world becomes more important to create moments for deeper, richer connections and social bonding between people. Being part of the moment has always been special. A major international event such as the moon landing or, on a more personal level, a family wedding have been times when people want to collectively come together as part of the live experience. There is arguably nothing new in this and, in many ways, the desire to be part of an event has been steadily growing in line with TV access…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/live-experiences/
The future of choice is about less variety, but not less interest, as retailers and manufacturers provide an increasingly edited portfolio of products through ever more efficient channels. One of the most provocative initial viewpoints in the Future Agenda programme was that of the future of choice by Professor Jose Luis Nueno of IESE in Barcelona. In it he indicated that ‘as China and India and other fast-developing economies become the primary global marketplaces, the needs and wishes of the 4 billion new consumers will dominate those of the 800 million old ones in the US and Europe. The days…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/less-variety/
Increasing satisfaction with the basics of life, driven by a backlash against excess, focuses more on making the most of the day-to-day and increasingly valuing the ordinary. Even before the economic downturn in Europe and the US that started in 2008, there were several signals that more people in these regions were seeking a less complicated life. As one participant commented: ‘After fifty years in a consumer bubble, maybe it is time we again focus on what is really important.’ Allied to this, some research shared at one of the early workshops pointed to a shift in attitudes. Europe is…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/enjoying-the-ordinary/
As the Millennials take over, the need to differentiate between the real and virtual disappears; who you are ceases to be defined by a singular identity and we each represent a multiple ‘cocktail identity’ portfolio. As the world becomes increasingly ‘always on’ and ‘always connected’ a growing number of us manage our time by developing ‘multiple identities’ which are variously used across our work and social lives. It is quite common today for one individual to have several e-mail addresses – one for work, another for home and another tied into one or more social network; we could also have…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/cocktail-identities/
The increasing fragmentation of society and looser connection between religion and the state in some regions sees more of us turning to God to help define who we are. There has always been a desire to counterbalance choice and individual responsibility with a sense of moral certainty. As John Micklethwait and Adrain Woolridge point out in their book, God is Back: ‘In a world of ever greater competition displacement and opportunity, faith has become a useful attribute for prosperous people. But religion also fulfils a role lower down in society providing support for those who have lost out in global…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/choosing-god/
A wealthier, healthier older generation increasingly want and engage in leading more active lives, taking up new sports, having third-generation careers and becoming more politically involved According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), by 2020 there will be over a billion elderly people on the planet with 700 million of these in the developing world. In China the proportion of elderly people is on course to double in a period of just thirty years between 2000 and 2030: In France a similar increase took 115 years. In the US, researchers expect the number of people over 65 to move from…
Permalink: https://www.futureagenda.org/foresights/active-elderly/
