This is the full range of 60 key insights for the next decade as identified by the 2015 Future Agenda programme. After 120 workshops in 45 cities exploring 24 topics, these are the issues that have been seen to be the core drivers of change for the world in 2025. Available in more detail on the future agenda website, this pdf summary is designed to stimulate thinking on how we can address and build on some of the pivotal challenge we face globally. We hope you find it useful stimulus for discussion and debate on the years ahead.

1. The World in 2025
Insights from Mul0ple Expert Discussions
25 February 2016 The world’s leading open foresight program

2. The World in 2025
This document provides a summary of what we heard from mul0ple expert
voices around the world – on how it is changing, what is driving this change,
where will be the impacts and why these may evolve over the next decade.

3. Future Agenda
The Future Agenda is the world’s largest open foresight program
that accesses mul0ple views of the next decade so we can
all be beIer informed and s0mulate innova0on.

4. Looking Forwards
Organisa0ons increasingly want to iden0fy and understand
both the an0cipated and unexpected changes so
that they can be beIer prepared for the future.

5. Future Agenda 1.0 Top Insights for 2020
From the 2010 program, 52 key insights on the next decade were shared
widely and have been extensively used by organisa0ons around the world.
Future Agenda became the world’s largest open foresight plaLorm.

6. Future Agenda in Numbers
The first Future Agenda programme engaged a wide range of views in
25 countries. Future Agenda 2.0 has doubled the face-to-face interac0on
and significantly raised online sharing, debate and discussion.
Future Agenda 1.0
1 HOST
16 TOPICS
25 COUNTRIES
50 WORKSHOPS
1500 ORGANISATIONS
Future Agenda 2.0
50 HOSTS
24 TOPICS
35 COUNTRIES
120 WORKSHOPS
5000 ORGANISATIONS

7. Future Agenda 2.0 Topics
The second version of the Future Agenda program took place
during 2015 and has been addressing 24 topics via 120 events in
45 ci0es in 35 countries in partnership with 50 core hosts.
Ci0es
Educa0on
Learning
Transport
Collabora0on
Energy
Loyalty
Travel
Company
Faith
Payments
Water
Connec0vity
Food
Privacy
Wealth
Currency
Government
Resources
Work
Ageing
Data
Health
Trade

8. Eight Key Themes
Across the mul0ple discussions, 60 emerging issues are touching
upon and connec0ng with eight underlying, and interwoven, themes with
different emphasis in different countries. These are detailed below.
The
CertainOes
Interconnected
Systems
The Data
RevoluOon
Unequal
Access
Our
Habitat
Beliefs and
Belonging
Power and
Influence
Changing
Business

9. The CertainOes

10. Everything Connected
Over 1 trillion sensors are connected to mul0ple networks: everything that can
benefit from a connec0on has one. We deliver 10,000x more data 100x more
effec0vely but are concerned about the security of the informa0on that flows.

11. Imbalanced PopulaOon Growth
A growing popula0on adds another billion people but it is also rapidly ageing:
a child born next year will live 6 months longer than one born today. While
migra0on helps to rebalance, increasing dependency ra0os challenge many.

12. Key Resource Constraints
Economic, physical and poli0cal shortages of key resources increase and drive
increasing tension between and within countries. As we exceed the Earth’s
natural thresholds, food and water receive as much focus as oil and gas.

13. ShiUing Power and Influence
The centre of gravity of economic power con0nues shi_ing eastwards, back to
where it was 200 years ago. Recent superpowers seek to moderate the pace of
change but the reali0es of popula0on and resource loca0ons are immoveable.

14. Interconnected Systems

15. Affordable Healthcare
The escala0ng cost of healthcare is further stressed by the need to support
the old and the chronically ill. Spending 20% of GDP on healthcare is seen as
unsustainable so hard decisions are taken around budgets and priori0es.

16. Air Quality
Rising air pollu0on in many ci0es is killing people and becomes
a visible catalyst for changing mind-sets and policies across
health, energy, transporta0on and urban design.

17. Autonomous Vehicles
The shi_ to fully autonomous transport is an evolu0on via truck platoons on
highways and small urban delivery pods. Connected cars create the network
and test the technologies for the eventual revolu0onary driverless experience.

18. Deeper CollaboraOon
Partnerships shi_ to become more dynamic, long-term, democra0sed,
mul0-party collabora0ons. Compe0tor alliances and wider public par0cipa0on
drive regulators to create new legal frameworks for open, empathe0c collabora0on.

19. Energy Storage
Storage, and par0cularly electricity storage, is the missing piece in
the renewables jigsaw. If solved, it can enable truly distributed solar
energy as well as accelerate the electrifica0on of the transport industry.

20. Food Waste
30-50% of our food is wasted either in the supply chain or in consump0on and
could feed another 3 billion. Op0mising distribu0on and storage in developing
countries and enabling beIer consumer informa0on in others could solve this.

21. Intra City CollaboraOon
Increasing compe00on between ci0es overrides na0onal boundaries and drives
change. They compete to aIract the best but also collaborate to avoid the
downside of success – over-crowding, under-resourcing and pollu0on.

22. Open Supply Webs
The shi_ from centralised produc0on to decentralised manufacturing drives
many to take a ‘smaller and distributed’ approach: global supply chains are
replaced by more regional, consumer-orientated supply webs and networks.

23. Urban Obesity
Mass urbanisa0on, reduced ac0vity and poor diets are accelera0ng the
rise of obesity. Levels of obesity in most ci0es are growing fast and the
associated healthcare burden will soon account for 5% of global GDP.

24. The Data RevoluOon

25. Data Ownership
Individuals recognize the value of their digital shadows, privacy agents curate
clients’ data sets while personal data stores give us transparent control of
our informa0on: We retain more ownership of our data and opt to share it.

26. Enhanced Performance
We are developing key technologies that could integrate humans
and data to make us safer, more informed and poten0ally
super-human in performance - but should we?

27. Ethical Machines
Automa0on spreads beyond trading and managing systemic risk.
As we approach technology singularity, autonomous robots and
smarter algorithms make ethical judgments that impact life or death.

28. Privacy RegulaOon
The push towards global standards, protocols and greater transparency
is a focus for many na0ons driving proac0ve regula0on, but others
choose to opt-out of interna0onal agreements and go their own way.

29. The Changing Nature of Privacy
As privacy is a public issue, more interna0onal frameworks seek to govern the
Internet, protect the vulnerable and secure personal data: The balance between
protec0on, security, privacy and public good is increasingly poli0cal.

30. The Value of Data
As organisa0ons try to retain as much informa0on about their customers as
possible, data becomes a currency with a value and a price. It therefore
requires a marketplace where anything that is informa0on is represented.

31. Truth and Illusion
The Internet has democra0sed knowledge and changed the nature of who we trust
and why. As confidence in large organisa0ons declines the search for trustworthy
alterna0ves evolves. What we believe is changing how we behave.

32. Unequal Access

33. Access to Transport
The widespread need for individuals to travel short distances becomes
a key feature of urban design and regenera0on. Planners use transport
infrastructure to influence social change and lower carbon living.

34. Capitalism Challenge
Unable to shake issues like inequality, capitalist socie0es face cries for change,
structural challenges and technology enabled freedoms. Together these re-write
the rules and propose a collabora0ve landscape of all working together.

35. Caring for Those LeU Behind
Although significant progress has been made posi0ve change has limited reach.
Millions of people con0nue to be le_ behind from mainsteam progress
- especially the young, the poor and those who are disadvantaged

36. EducaOon RevoluOon
Broader access to improved educa0on acts as a major catalyst for
empowerment, sustained economic growth, overcoming inequality and
reducing conflict. We need an educa0on system fit for the digital revolu0on.

37. Mass Engagement
As the public voice becomes easier to access and harder to suppress, leaders
seek to engage to create, develop, secure and maintain legi0macy for their
ini0a0ves and policies – so further reducing their hierarchical power.

38. Off-Grid
People living off-grid, by inequality or choice, can exacerbate
societal division or improve privacy, health and wellbeing.
Either way, doing so provides fer0le ground for innova0on.

39. Rising Youth Unemployment
With unemployment rates over 50% in some na0ons, access to work is a rising
barrier. Especially across North Africa, the Middle East and southern Europe,
a lost genera0on of 100m young people fails to gain from global growth.

40. Shrinking Middle
While the global middle class grows, in the West increasing inequality for
some drives a rela0ve decline in middle-income popula0ons. Coupled with
the erosion of secure jobs, the US in par0cular sees a steadily shrinking middle.

41. Our Habitat

42. AcceleraOng Displacement
Climate change, conflict, resource shortages, inequality and poli0cal elites unable or
unwilling to bring about necessary change all trigger unprecedented migra0on to the
North. Over the next 50 years, as many as 1 billion people could be on the move.

43. Basic SanitaOon
Poor sanita0on con0nues to impact public health and restrict social progress,
par0cularly for women. Governments and donor organisa0ons priori0se
measurement, educa0on and innova0on in a bid to drive change.

44. Built-in Flexibility
The path to a connected, accessible and distributed infrastructure is fraught
with complex, costly and risky issues: Upgrading and repurposing systems to
make them more open plus on-going maintenance need significant resources.

45. CiOzen-Centric CiOes
Successful ci0es will be designed around the needs and desires of
increasingly empowered and enabled ci0zens - who are expec0ng
personalized services from the organisa0ons that serve them.

46. Flooded CiOes
The vast majority of our ci0es are not prepared for flooding. Many districts
and households can no longer get flood insurance and are in jeopardy.
It’s going to get worse before it gets beIer.

47. Infrastructure Deficit
Infrastructure again becomes a source of compe00ve advantage. Emerging
economies invest in new railroads and highways for more effec0ve movement of
people and goods, while developed na0ons suffer from poor legacy.

48. Nature’s Capital
In the Anthropocene, humankind is presiding over the
Earth's sixth major ex0nc0on. But as biodiversity declines,
nature becomes increasingly valued and valuable.

49. PlasOc Oceans
There are increasing high levels of man-made pollu0on
in many of the world’s seas and liIle actually disappears.
By 2050 there will be more plas0c than fish in the world’s oceans.

50. SomeOmes Nomads
Elec0ve migra0on, cheap travel, interna0onal knowledge sharing and
increasingly transient working models create connected nomads who mix
the tradi0ons of home with the values and customs of their host loca0on.

51. Beliefs and Belonging

52. Agelessness
A person’s physical age becomes less important as society adapts to the
new demographic landscape. New opportuni0es arise for creators and
consumers of all ages, though benefits are o_en only for the wealthy.

53. Care in the Community
The desire to ‘age-in-place’ meets a healthcare reform agenda that
promotes decentraliza0on. A new care model is customer-centric,
caregiver-focused and enhances coordina0on across care sehngs.

54. Female Choice Dilemma
Women in richer economies have greater choice, and with it increased
control and influence. This con0nues to drive change and decision-making
but globally the baIle for female equality has a long road to travel.

55. Human Touch
As service provision and consump0on becomes ever more digital, automated
and algorithmic, those brands that can offer more emo0onal engagement
and human-to-human contact become increasingly aIrac0ve.

56. Keeping The Faith
As people move they take their beliefs with them. For many, religion is one of the
few remaining aspects of their previous life, key to their iden0ty - stronger than
the ci0zenship of their adopted country or the na0on they le_ behind.

57. Working Longer
People are having to work for longer to support longer re0rements.
Flexible working prac0ces and policies are emerging, but some
employers con0nue to remain ambivalent about older workers.

58. Power and Influence

59. Africa Growth
With a land mass bigger than India, China, the US and Europe combined, few
doubt the scale of the African con0nent and its resources. However, un0l
recently, only some have seen it as the growth market that it is fast becoming.

60. Companies with Purpose
As trust in ‘business’ declines, structures and prac0ces of large corpora0ons
are under scru0ny. Businesses come under greater pressure to improve
performance on environmental, social and governance issues.

61. Declining Government Influence
Na0onal governments’ ability to lead change comes under greater pressure
from both above and below - mul0na0onal organisa0ons increasingly set
the rules while ci0zens trust and support local and network based ac0ons.

62. Eco-CivilisaOon
Over the past 40 years China has grown apace, mostly without concern for
long-term environmental impacts. However, now faced with major
challenges, a bright light of sustainable development is emerging.

63. Rise of Nimby
Globalisa0on of trade and travel, with geopoli0cal shi_s from North to South and
from West to East, have delivered many benefits for some - but are causing
clashes of cultures and a perspec0ve of poli0cal retrenchment for others.

64. Rise of the Cult of China
As China’s economic influence on the world increases there is a rise
in the cult of China in popular imagina0ons elsewhere. Myths of both
hope and fear will proliferate as China’s cultural influence increases.

65. Standards Driving Trade
Interna0onal regula0on is progressively aimed at freeing up trade and making
it simpler and less bureaucra0c – but there are a number of agreements,
standards and protocols that some are seeing as increasingly constraining.

66. SOll Being Stupid
Despite a beIer understanding of the long-term challenges we face,
we individually and collec0vely con0nue to make decisions that may make
sense in the short-term - but do not lead to beIer longer-term consequences.

67. Changing Business

68. CreaOve Economy
The crea0ve economy helps to build inclusive and sustainable cultures.
What’s more, it generates wealth. To build scale it requires a workforce
comfortable with collabora0on, cri0cal thinking and the ability to take a risk.

69. Currencies of Meaning
New trusted currencies of exchange and meaning emerge to
facilitate transac0ons, trade, authen0ca0on and valida0on. Money is
complemented by new systems to which we aIach greater significance.

70. Digital Money
Cash con0nues to be gradually replaced by digital money, providing
consumers with more convenience and choice – and organisa0ons with
lower cost transac0ons. Wider adop0on enables new offers to proliferate.

71. Dynamic Pricing
The algorithms of Amazon and Uber cross over to affect more businesses,
from energy use to parking. Real-0me transparency allows beIer purchasing
at the same 0me as margins and yields are automa0cally enhanced.

72. Full Cost
Increasing transparency of society’s reliance on nature, intensify
requirements for business to pay the true cost of the resources provided
by ‘natural capital’ and so compensate for their nega0ve impact on society.

73. OpOmising Last Mile Delivery
Seamless, integrated and shared last-mile delivery replaces inefficient
compe00on and duplica0on of goods distribu0on. Greater efficiency in moving
things is as important as in moving people and so a major focus for innova0on.

74. OrganisaOon 3.0
New forms of flaIer, project-based, collabora0ve, virtual, informal
organisa0ons dominate - enabled by technology and a mobile workforce.
As such the nature of work and the role of the organisa0on blurs.

75. Skills ConcentraOons
The need to build and develop capabili0es becomes increasingly challenging for
companies and workers alike. Those who benefit from the high-skill reward
opportuni0es remain a select group who move ahead of the urban pack.

76. Speed to Scale
Greater global connec0vity, growing consumer wealth and broader
reach all combine to accelerate the 0me to 1bn customers and a
$10bn valua0on for start-ups and new corporate ventures alike.

77. The Real Sharing Economy
Increasing collabora0on drives organisa0ons to reconfigure based on social
networks and impact. Real sharing enterprises, not driven by profits, seek
to share resources, knowledge, and decision-making responsibili0es.

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