Global trends ten key trends to watch for 2015

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10 Key Trends to Watch for 2015
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10 Trends to Watch for 2015
1.
A picture paints a thousand words: Visual (and social) everything
2.
Exposed in a connected world: The fight back
3.
ThinkZero: Towards a circular economy
4.
Putting your money where your mouth is: The rise of impact capitalism
5.
Upstarts: Driving the entrepreneurial economy
6.
Who needs healthcare providers anyway?
7.
Let the energy games begin…
8.
Power plays and power vacuums: A new age of crusades?
9.
Mayors unite: The rise of the city state
10.
Brain waves: Harnessing intelligence

1.
A picture paint a thousand words:
Visual (and social) everything

The race is on to connect the billions of people currently living without internet access
Facebook via
solar-powered drones
Google via
high-altitude balloons
Quarkson via the UAV SkyOrbiter
Elon Musk via micro-satellites

Techno-fatigue is setting in. Being reachable always and everywhere is no longer desirable
Agreed in 2011 agreed to stop from sending emails after working hours.
Has allowed about 100,000 workers to delete the emails they receive while on vacation.
In France a federation of employers and unions have signed an agreement to avoid emails after-hours. It is expected that the German government in 2016 will pass similar legislation to curb off-hour emails and calls.

Visuals are trumping words – Our definition of “reality’ could be reinvented through a new world of virtual and holographic technology
Ask: How can my company tap into this extraordinary world of new technologies?

2. Exposed in a connected world:
The fight back

No data is safe: Hidden beneath the standard search engines is the dark, deep web trading everything from arms to drugs to stolen financial and medical information
The Public Web
The Dark Web

Cyber security is no longer a choice but an unavoidable part of doing business
Corporate cyber security investment and deal volume trend

The internet is neither neutral nor private – to keep our data safe one option is to rethink and build a decentralized the internet…
THINK
Project Meshnet
and MaidSafe
…but balkanization of the internet means the loss of many benefits of the open internet.

3. ThinkZero:
Towards a circular economy

Managing waste is not enough: We must rethink and redesign future products and business systems
WELCOME TO THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
DESIGN & MANUFACTURE
RETAIL
CONSUMER
RECYCLE
REPAIR &
REUSE

New business models are already driving the circular economy
(Source: FastCompany )
Companies
Business models
Vodafone’s Red- Hot plan
Product as services – leasing access to and not selling ownership of a service
Tata Motor Assured
Next Life Sales – efficiently recovering and re-conditioning products after use and then putting the same products into the market
BMW
Product transformation – not all products can be reconditioned in their entirety but most products have components that can be reused
Starbucks
Recycling 2.0
ThreadUP
Collaborative Consumption

While it is encouraging that many companies are changing, it is also critical to work on changing the mindset and behaviour of consumers worldwide
WASTE AND OVERCONSUMPTION
THINK – STAY HEALTHY – EAT – REUSE – SAVE

4. Putting your money where your mouth is: The rise of impact capitalism

A new era of investing is on the rise but there is still a long way to go
In 2014, US$46 billion of assets were classified as
impact investment under management, up 20% from 2013
US$210 trillion is invested in global financial markets
Source: Spotlight on the Market - The Impact Investor Survey

The P2P lending industry is increasingly popular with the risk of changing from “peer-to-peer lending” to “marketplace lending”
By 2016 the global P2P market will top £40 billion. The UK will account for £5 billion, the US £20 billion, and the remainder from the rest of the world.

5. Upstarts:
Driving the entrepreneurial economy

“Entrepreneur” is no longer an occupation but a mindset

New generations of social entrepreneurs are breaking down the walls between the non-profit and the for-profit world
Profit

While entrepreneurs and traditional corporations work hand-in-hand to create new businesses
Experienced entrepreneurs get access to knowledge
and relationships through Coca-Cola

6. Who needs healthcare providers anyway?

In healthcare, the future is already here: Robotic technology is permeating all areas from surgery to rehabilitation, to socially assistive robots and cleaning
GiGi, the germ killing robot
The Vasteras Giraff
Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Assistive_Limb#mediaviewer/File:Hybrid_Assistive_Limb.jpg
Hybrid Assistive limb
Photo credit: http://stanislauscollege.blogspot.com/2014/10/gigi-germ- killing-robot.html

Before you know it, technology inside you will be able to target specific diseases and soon bioprinting will be printing human organs
THINK
Google’s cancer and heart-detecting nanoparticle pill
Steerable Surge
Robot Pills
Plaque Busters

7. Let the energy games begin…

Falling oil prices and a new oil order could challenge geopolitical stability
Once dominant oil producers Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran could be facing social unrest and, at the extreme, revolutionary challenges caused by economic pressures

At the same time, the world energy systems must be radically restructured to address the increasing threat of global warming
Renewable energy needs to be made politically and economically irresistible as well as well-planned and coordinated nationally and regionally
STOP
FOSSIL FUELS

8. Power plays and power vacuums:
A new age of crusades?

Partisan politics in the U.S. and rising nationalism in Europe are creating leadership and power vacuums, even as power plays by Russia in Ukraine and by China in East Asia ramp up the potential for wider conflict
An increasingly polarized geopolitical landscape presents serious risks to global growth and stability…

Terror threats and religious extremism is a growing concern in the Muslim as well as non-Muslim world
Very/Somewhat concerned about Islamic extremism in our country
81%
92% Lebanon
71%
80% Tunesia
69%
75% Egypt
54%
62% Jordan
37%
50% Turkey
84% Israel
72% Nigeria
69% Bangladesh
65% Palestine ter.
46% Senegal,
39% Indonesia
2013
2014
Source: Pew Research

The BRICS rising economic strength is not yet reflected in global institutions, so they are taking matters into own hands
New Development Bank (NDB) headquartered in Shanghai was founded by the five BRICS countries in July, 2014 as an alternative to IMF and The World Bank

9. Mayors unite:
The rise of the city state

Urbanization is on the rise and cities will increasingly be the future generators of wealth
To fulfill the needs of the city dwellers new urban approaches are necessary
THINK
PUBLIC-PRIVATE-PEOPLE PARTNERSHIPS

The world’s mayors are stepping up, taking responsibility for global challenges – and potentially shifting the balance of power
NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS
A GLOBAL PARLIAMENT OF MAYORS

10. Brain waves: Harnessing intelligence

Thought control has already been tried on many levels…
•
A HMS research team controlled a rat's tail.
•
At UW one researcher sent a brain signal via the internet to control the hand motions of a fellow researcher.
•
RAC’s “attention- powered car” is controlled by brainwaves.
•
Ford, BMW, Fiat, Daimler, Volvo and Volkswagen are testing systems that take control of the e.g. steering wheel when risks are detected. (Source: PSFK, BBC).

As technology evolves the next phase of the robotic revolution promises dramatic advances
Photo credit: http://quib.ly/qu/could-autistic-kids-learn-from-a-robot-teacher
Photo credit: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/welcome-aboard-you- must-go-to-the-bar-with-the-102936190122.html
Photo credit: http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20081110/crispin-a.shtml
Photo credit: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Welfare_robots_to_ease_burden_in_greying_Japan_999.html
The Welfare Robot
The Bartender Robot
The Teacher Robot
The Robot Soldier

We are hacking our bodies and minds
Technological advances have the potential to enhance human capacity and intelligence to deal with radical change and complexity through new human-machine interfaces – dramatically impacting how we think, live and work in the future. Imagine a world where computers do all the logical thinking for us leaving us free to do creative and conceptual thinking? Can we really go so far? Do we want to?

How will these trends impact you, your organization and your industry in 2015 and beyond?
Are you ready?
Click here to read the full briefing: 10 Trends to Watch in 2015
(it’s free!)
In January: Look out for trends in action on
The Best of 2015 Trends

Electronic copies of our briefings and of The Global Trends Fieldbook: From Data to Insights to Action and The Global Trends Report are available on www.globaltrends.com. Printed copies of the GT Fieldbook and GT Report can be purchased on Amazon.com and Amazon’s European sites. Don’t forget to register at www.globaltrends.com now to make sure you don’t miss our next monthly briefing (they are free)!

About the Authors
Tracey Keys is Director of Strategy Dynamics Global SA. Christel K. Stoklund is Head of Research for Strategy Dynamics Global SA.
Contact them at: info@globaltrends.com

Global trends ten key trends to watch for 2015

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