What will be the next great scientific breakthrough?
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Innovation
You can watch live coverage of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions session on the Innovation Outlook by using the video player below. Highlights of the session are further down the page.
Background
Twenty-five years ago, the very notion of a pocket-sized device capable of replacing one’s home telephone, camera, encyclopedia set, music-player and music collection would have been preposterous. Yet 2.6 billion people around the world now own a smartphone that can do precisely that (and more), and that number is expected to increase to 6.1 billion by 2020. Innovation happens fast, and what appears to be pure science fiction today might be on store shelves tomorrow.
Innovations like 3D printing and wearable technologies now feel old hat, so what will be the next breakthrough that will be a true tipping point for technology? The World Economic Forum recently released the Technology Tipping Points and Societal Impact Report 2015, which asked 800 technology executives and experts their thoughts on the matter.
The future of science, technology and innovation has never been more exciting, with the only limit now appearing to be the human imagination. The question being asked above is “when will the future arrive?” Some might argue that it is already here.
Author: Murray Nicol is Digital Project Lead at the World Economic Forum
Image: The Team KAIST DRC-Hubo robot completes the cutting task before winning the finals of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotic Challenge in Pomona, California June 6, 2015. REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon
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