Dubai Future Foundation launches its fifth annual edition of the 50 Global Opportunities Report
Dubai, July 15, 2017 – The Dubai Future Foundation issued the fifth edition of the “Future Opportunities Report: 50 Global Opportunities”, which this year focuses on analyzing the level of progress achieved in 50 various opportunities mentioned in previous editions of this annual knowledge report, with the aim of providing the opportunity for governments, institutions and individuals to explore their roles and capabilities in transforming these future opportunities into reality.
Each opportunity in this report poses a fundamental question to decision-makers in organizations: “How can your organization benefit from this opportunity? What role should it play?”, in addition to a practical question for individuals: “Where do you direct your efforts and investments? And what skills do you need to keep pace with this change?”
The report touched on the potential paths that could lead us towards the future we aspire to for growth, prosperity and quality of life, and focused on the importance of moving from ideas to implementation mechanisms, and clarifying ways to provide the necessary investments and financing to realize opportunities and benefit from promising innovations as much as possible.
The Dubai Future Foundation prepared this report with the participation of more than 180 experts and specialists from the Emirates and countries around the world who contributed their experiences and future visions in analyzing the upcoming opportunities and how to apply and implement them in light of the presence of five long-term hypotheses that include: the continuation of climate change, the widening of the gap between societies, the improvement of human health and lifespan rates, the increasing global interconnectedness, and the accelerating pace of technological progress.
His Excellency Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of the Dubai Future Foundation and Chairman of the Museum of the Future, stressed that the future is created by minds that see challenges as the beginning of new paths for progress and growth, and that every future opportunity is an invitation to think differently, work with greater courage, and believe that tomorrow can be better than we imagine.
His Excellency said: “The UAE has succeeded, since its founding, thanks to the vision of its leadership, in developing an inspiring global model that adopts an ambitious mentality that sees challenges as promising opportunities for growth, progress, and achieving what many may find impossible. The most successful future planning decisions have always been taken under the most difficult circumstances and above all expectations.”
He added: “The UAE’s experience has confirmed that bold decisions do not only change the present, but rather reshape the entire future… This is how major transformations are made: with bold decisions, and with minds that believe that the future is not an event we wait for, but rather a project we design. This is the mentality that our institutions, cities, and societies need today.”
The report includes 50 opportunities in various key sectors, the most prominent of which are: the next generation of robotics, where robotic platforms deployed globally and at a reasonable cost can provide scalable solutions, supporting the achievement of sustainable development goals that were previously difficult to achieve. Providing all scientific and academic publications to everyone through a central, open platform accelerates innovation, enhances cooperation between disciplines, deepens the spread of knowledge globally, and integrates segments of society into the cycle of producing and benefiting from science.
The report points to the opportunity to create complexes of floating solar panels in space and operate them with advanced automated intelligence that ensures the selection of the optimal location and orbit, allowing the production of renewable energy around the clock and its reliable transmission to Earth, which enhances efforts to transition to renewable energy sources, as estimates indicate that 55% of global electricity production will depend on clean energy sources by 2035. Space may also turn into a strategic location for large-scale energy storage, through networks of orbital supercapacitors. Capable of storing energy and transmitting it to Earth to meet the growing needs of humanity both on the planet and in space. We will also soon see the possibility of transmitting electricity to individuals and industries through superconducting materials without loss, allowing networks to be more efficient, flexible, and able to meet the increasing demand for energy.
The report states that nano-biomaterials and synthetic materials will soon allow the production of smart fabrics and clothing capable of providing the human body with its minimum daily requirements of vitamins to enhance its health and confront the problem of nutrient deficiency.
The report confirms that the oceans are full of enormous biodiversity, of which only a limited portion has been explored, which opens broad horizons for developing marine biotechnology and pharmaceutical science, and supporting innovation in the fields of pharmaceutical and food industries, thus enhancing efforts to preserve the ecosystem, knowing that 75% of new infectious diseases appeared in areas that witnessed severe imbalances in biodiversity.
The report indicates that there is a promising opportunity that the development of carbon nanomaterials will be able to remove pollutants with high efficiency, including ultra-fine particles, creating a qualitative shift in efforts to provide clean water globally, in light of the fact that 2.1 billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water. Bacteria-eating viruses, including genetically modified viruses, may also become an effective therapeutic alternative to antibiotics, by directly and precisely targeting the bacteria that cause the disease.
The report says that in the near future we may witness a wave of revolutionary technical innovations in the field of producing automobile wheels and tires that will reshape the future of the vehicle industry, starting with magnetic levitation technologies and solutions inspired by drones, all the way to advanced alternatives to rubber tires that reduce energy consumption and emissions.
The report points out that rapid developments in quantum physics may revolutionize communications, encryption and computing, and transform digital reality into a more present and influential reality.
The report confirms that developments in satellites and advanced machine intelligence will enable all the world’s population to access the Internet with high efficiency, while supporting the Internet of Things and reducing network disruptions through intelligent migration between cellular and satellite networks. It will also be possible to create advanced homes inspired by space research that are self-sufficient, provide the basics of life, and reduce the burden on planet Earth. Estimates indicate that the size of the space economy may reach $1.8 trillion by 2035.
He points out that humanity may soon be able to store and process data in local devices close to its source on a large scale instead of transferring it across networks to central data centers. This will contribute to accelerating data processing, improving performance, reducing response time, and enhancing the efficiency of technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, and connected systems. Estimates indicate that the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices may reach 50 billion devices by the year 2035. The size of the semiconductor manufacturing market is also expected to reach globally to about one trillion dollars by 2030.
He adds that machines will be able to repair faults that occur on their own without human intervention, by integrating preventive maintenance, smart materials, and advanced sensors, which will allow continuous manufacturing without stopping, enhance the sustainability of consumer products and robots, and extend their operational life.
The report goes on to say that personal bioprinting will contribute to a radical transformation in the field of organ transplantation by printing organs from the patient’s own cells, increasing the body’s likelihood of accepting them and increasing the chances of survival. While contactless touch technologies will take digital experiences to a new level by enabling the sensation of touch without wearable devices, enhancing the quality of interaction in games, extended reality, healthcare and daily life.
The report also reviews these opportunities in the context of global demographic shifts, as the world population is expected to reach 10.3 billion people within 60 years, increasing the need to accelerate the development of scalable solutions in the energy, health, food, water, infrastructure and technology sectors.
The “Future Opportunities Report: 50 Global Opportunities” can be viewed in Arabic and English via the link:
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