The Top 10 Emerging Technologies
© Dr. Terry J. van der Werff, CMC

In the July/August issue of The Futurist, a special report by William Halal and his colleagues at George Washington University's Forecast of Technology and Strategy program identifies the top 10 emerging technologies for the next decade.

Dr. William Halal's Forecast of Technology and Strategy program at George Washington University for the past decade has systematically surveyed the range of technologies that are emerging from R&D laboratories worldwide.

Based on a recent Delphi survey comprising 65 leading researchers, scholars, and consultants, Dr. Halal's team has identified the following as the top 10 technological breakthroughs for the next decade:

	Portable information devices: the post-PC world - Driven by the bandwidth explosion, wireless portable information devices - pagers, cell phones, and Palm Pilot-like handhelds - will combine "the computing power of the personal computer, the networking of the Internet, the vivid images of television, and the convenience of the telephone."
	Fuel-cell powered automobiles - Fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, can replace the internal combustion engine to power our cars.
	Precision farming - Farmers will routinely use satellite imaging and a tractor's computer to deliver "varying amounts of of irrigation water, seed, fertilizer, and pesticides to optimize the production of the land as its condition varies yard by yard."
	Mass customization - On-line ordering combines individual specifications with mass production to build items unique to each customer.
	Teleliving - Ubiquitous embedded chips allow us to tap into information wherever we are to facilitate what we wish to do.
	Virtual assistants - To alleviate information overload, a computer-based virtual assistant will take over a person's routine tasks.
	Genetically altered organisms - Genetically modified food portends the alleviation of hunger and increased health for all.
	Computerized health care - Diagnosis, medical record keeping, monitoring, prescriptions, and other parts of a person's individual health care needs will be facilitated and enhanced by computers.
	Alternate energy sources - Alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal, solar, and biomass will gradually lessen our dependence on carbon-based fuels such as oil, gas, and coal.
	Smart, mobile robots - Unattended robots equipped with sophisticated artificial intelligence and movement sensors will help individuals at home and work.

To give you another indication of how rapidly technology is infiltrating and altering every aspect of our lives, you might want to compare the above list with my summary of Battelle Memorial Institute's similar list of five years ago.

 

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