100 Top Trends for the 21 st Century + 10 More Presented to the Minnesota Futurists 6 Sept 2008 David Keenan

Top Ten Business Technology Trends for the 21 st Century Managing the convergence of 21st-century Power Tools- computers, networks, biotech, and nanotech-will create the highest yield market opportunities for future business. Shaping customer relationships and enhancing customer satisfaction through the use of technology innovation will be business-critical for every enterprise. Every business that wants to survive in the future must learn to evolve into an E-business: communicating, servicing, distributing, and marketing on the Net. The convergence of the TV, computer, Net, and telephone will result in new business models, markets, and electronic channels that will revolutionize business. The social impact of leading-edge technology on a longer- living, digitally savvy, globally connected marketplace will provide many new opportunities. IGF

Top Ten Business Technology Trends for the 21 st Century Real-time agility-how fast an enterprise can embrace leading- edge technology-will determine the efficiency, speed, and cost- effectiveness of its operations. High-performance education about leading-edge technology solutions will become a central strategy for all companies. Managing rapidly emerging technological change within an organization will be one of the central capabilities for everyone across the enterprise. Technology-enabled products and services that incorporate deep customer contact, on-demand choices, and intuitive interaction will drive business success. Learning to celebrate technology innovation, risk taking, and out-of-the-box thinking will be business-critical for the 21st- century enterprise. IGF

Top Ten Computer Trends for the 21 st Century Computers will become powerful extensions of human beings designed to augment intelligence, learning, communications, and productivity. Computers will become intuitive---they will "learn," "recognize," and "know" what we want, who we are, and even what we desire. Computer chips will be everywhere, and they will become invisible-embedded in everything from brains and hearts, to clothes and toys. Computers will manage essential global systems, such as transportation and food production, better than humans will. Online computer resources will enable us to download applications on-demand via wireless access anywhere and anytime. IGF

Top Ten Computer Trends for the 21 st Century Computers will become voice-activated, networked, video- enabled, and connected together over the Net, linked with each other and humans. Computers will have digital senses-speech, sight, smell, hearing-enabling them to communicate with humans and other machines. Neural networks and other forms of artificial intelligence will make computers both as smart as humans, and smarter for certain jobs. Human and computer evolution will converge. Synthetic intelligence will greatly enhance the next generations of humans. As computers surpass humans in intelligence, a new digital species and a new culture will evolve that is parallel to ours. IGF

Top Ten Internet Trends for the 21 st Century The Net will become the first global knowledge network connecting billions of people with an unlimited number of channels. Anyone can become a Net publisher or broadcaster of information on any subject and potentially reach an audience anywhere on the globe. The convergence of the Net, digital TV, and wireless phones will support interactive multimedia features that will transform business and society. Direct real-time voice and video communications will greatly boost the Net's value as a tactical tool for business. Net usage will accelerate, as low-cost, high-speed bandwidth becomes readily available over Fat Pipes of streaming multimedia. IGF

Top Ten Internet Trends for the 21 st Century The ability to feel and sense 3-D virtual places, things, and people will drive universal adoption of the Net. Access to information on any subject will be available anywhere over the Net and delivered by a variety of media appliances. The Net will change lifestyles by providing many more choices for living and virtually tele-collaborating with anyone, anywhere. Private cybercommunities, virtual private networks that cater to people's niche interests, will become popular "places" to live and work. Education, entertainment, health, and lifestyle pursuits will be reshaped by the Net as billions of people communicate and share information. IGF

Top Ten Electronic Education Trends for the 21 st Century Electronic education via the Net will enable interconnected learning experiences, choices, and opportunities for billions worldwide. Educational content will be delivered by new computer, interactive TV, satellite, and Internet technologies in the new millennium. Interactive online multimedia and multidimensional content will revolutionize learning. Self-paced, self-directed individualized virtual learning will dominate business training. Students and teachers will prefer on-demand virtual learning to traditional school programs IGF

Top Ten Electronic Education Trends for the 21 st Century Corporations will prefer Net-based training where workers can learn at their own pace. Virtual Reality scenarios that depict real-world and fantasy experiences will increase the learning impact for all types of education. Real-time Net chats with other global learners will make virtual education a satisfying social experience beyond the limits of time and distance. Teachbots-smart agents-will transform education, providing personalized guidance when and where people need it. People will learn to design their own electronic learning programs, which will increase their understanding, skills, creativity, and career choices. IGF

Top Ten Entertainment Trends for the 21 st Century New digital technologies will reshape the economics, production, distribution, and marketing of the entertainment industry. Traditional media enterprises must learn to adapt new Internet and computer technologies to maintain competitiveness. The convergence of the Net with TVs, telephones, kiosks, autos, and wireless devices will create many new media channels. On-demand interactive entertainment content that is personalized for our preferences will be a standard feature. Advanced virtual reality bundled with digital agents and holographic entertainment worlds will transform our experience of entertainment. IGF

Top Ten Entertainment Trends for the 21 st Century Movie theaters will receive digital broadcasts and satellite downloads of movies, video conferencing, and other interactive programming. Faster, smarter, and more powerful multimedia communications devices will enhance our capacity for producing and distributing entertainment. Digital TV will provide new programs where we will experience real-time participation with the media content, personalities, and shows. Edutainment, the merger of entertainment and education, will offer a new genre of programming that will be greatly in demand. Nontraditional entertainment producers, empowered by Power Tools, will change the industry, offering new products, channels, and innovations. IGF

Top Ten Health Care Trends for the 21 st Century Most hospitals, clinics, trauma centers, physicians, and patients will be connected to one large network enabling access to critical medical information. Consumer health information, accessible over a variety of Net channels, will become the most in-demand content worldwide. The medical industry will face an ethical and social dilemma over the disclosure of patient information. Health-care professionals, available via remote Internet connections, will provide services to millions of people who were previously under-served. Medicalbots, nonhuman intelligence agents, will dispense medical care to patients and doctors worldwide to save money and share expertise. IGF

Top Ten Health Care Trends for the 21 st Century Advanced nano-biology and genetic technology will eliminate many diseases, accelerate healing, and increase longevity. Bio-engineered food will help promote health and longevity. A new generation of smart drugs, implants, and medical devices will enhance our health and performance. Virtual-reality medical simulations will become the dominant mode of medical training. Cyber-health care that is customized for us-designed to monitor, diagnose, educate, and intervene regardless of location or time-will be common. IGF

Top Ten Nanotechnology Trends for the 21 st Century Nanotech enterprises will provide the ultimate convergence of computers, networks, and biotech, and create products never before even imagined. Nano-devices-invisible, intelligent, and powerful-will be used in every industry redefining the limits of what's possible. Nanotech food compilers will create on-demand, low-cost, quality meals by assembling atoms into food. Smaller than the head of a pin, surgical nanobots will operate from within the human body. Nano-biology will prolong life, prevent illness, and increase people's health. IGF

Top Ten Nanotechnology Trends for the 21 st Century Nano-enhanced humans will have physical, intellectual, and sensing powers superior to other humans. Nanotech will provide a cheap and available source of energy. Nano-factories will build on-demand products in an inexpensive, flexible, and rapid process. Nanotech will revolutionize the global economy, providing Power Tools that will produce high-tech products with low-cost and low-tech resources. Nanotech will create new choices that will alter human evolution, raise dramatic ethical issues, and challenge social norms. IGF

Top Ten Biotech Trends for the 21 st Century By 2020, we will decipher the human genome, the blueprint of our DNA. Genetic solutions to human ills will be highly prized intellectual property. New biotech drugs will save countless lives and eliminate many diseases. We will create designer babies with altered genes to enhance their capabilities and eliminate unwanted characteristics. We will learn to turn on and off certain genes to influence performance and health. IGF

Top Ten Biotech Trends for the 21 st Century The convergence of biotech and computers will accelerate the genetic redesign of all living things. We will learn to clone organs to enhance health and longevity. Privacy issues about access to individuals' genetic data will cause conflicts among people, business, and governments. Careers, relationships, and opportunities will be influenced by genetic heritage. Biotech for human enhancement will be the most profitable industry in the 21st century. IGF

Top Ten Robotic Trends for the 21 st Century Robots in both physical and electronic forms will become integrated into our society. Robots will express functional emotions and reasoning. Advanced robots-androids-will appear similar to human beings and fill roles in commerce, community, and government. Robotic efficiency and precision will transform manufacturing, medicine, space travel, research, and industry and displace skilled human labor. The robotics industry will become a multi-billion dollar global business, spawning many new careers and business opportunities. IGF

Top Ten Robotic Trends for the 21 st Century Human beings will adopt robotic human enhancements to achieve superhuman capabilities. Cyborgs-part human, part robot-will develop skills superior to natural humans to meet the demand of specialized jobs. We will encounter serious ethical, security, and social issues due to our robotic creations. Robots will provide convenience, safety, and productivity that will benefit humanity and profoundly impact lifestyles. Androids will achieve a basic level of self-awareness. IGF

Top Ten Space Trends for the 21 st Century Many innovations will be developed by space enterprises that will accelerate the establishment of a global space market. New energy sources developed to navigate space will accelerate the exploration of our galaxy enabling us to explore deep space. Miniaturized cost effective spacecraft will explore the stars long before humans are capable of venturing out into deep space. Space mining will yield new resources, elements, and materials that will enhance the quality of life on our planet. Robonauts, robot astronauts, will stretch our imaginations with fantastic information from their space adventures and be our new heroes. IGF

Top Ten Space Trends for the 21 st Century Humans will learn to leave their home planet of Earth, terraform faraway planets, and colonize space. Extremely valuable space assets, from materials and drugs to minerals and innovations, will create a space race among global companies. First contact with alien life through the identification of life supporting planets may come closer to becoming a possibility. Space discoveries will have a profound impact on the advancement of human science, medicine, education, entertainment, and culture. The exploration of space will spark a new "big picture" understanding of human evolution and human destiny as we reach out into the galaxy. IGF

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Top 10 Trends of The Extreme Future Fueling the Future - The energy crisis, the post-oil future, and the future of energy alternatives like hydrogen. The critical role that energy will play in every aspect of our lives in the 21st century. The Innovation Economy - The transformation of the global economy based on the convergence of free trade, technology and democracy, driving new jobs, new markets, globalization, competition, peace and security. The Four Power Tools of the Innovation Economy are Nano-Bio-IT-Neuro. The Next Workforce - How the workforce of the U.S. is becoming more multicultural, more female and more Hispanic. Why the future workforce must embrace innovation to become globally competitive. Longevity Medicine - The key forces that will radically alter medicine such as nanotech, neurotech, and genomics, leading to longer and healthier lives. Weird Science - How science will transform every aspect of our lives, culture and economy—from teleportation to nanobiology to multiple universes. IGF

Top 10 Trends of The Extreme Future Securing the Future - The top threats to our freedom and our lives, from hackers to terrorists to mind control. Defining the risk landscape of the 21st century. The Future of Globalization - The new realities of global trade and competition; the rise of China and India; the clash of cultures and ideologies; and the cultural-economic battle for the future. The Future of Climate Change - How the environment is changing and how we need to prepare for increased global warming, pollution, and threats to biodiversity. The Future of the Individual - The risks and challenges from institutions, governments, and ideologies in the struggle for human rights and the freedom of the individual in the 21st century. The Future of America - The power of America and its destiny to champion global democracy, innovation, human rights and free markets. IGF

Top 10 Trends of The Extreme Future IGF

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