Top 12 Areas for Technology Innovation Through 2025

http://changewaves.socialtechnologies.com/home/2007/11/20/top-12-areas-for-technology-innovation-through-2025.html

I found an interesting blog called "Change Waves: Observations on the Future" by Social Technologies. In this particular blog, they are predicting the top 12 areas for scientific and technological breakthroughs in the next 16 years. In order to predict these, Social Technologies' "Technology Foresight" program conducted a global focus group of experts in technology, innovation, and business strategy. The top 12 areas for technology innovation include: Personalized medicine, distributed energy, pervasive computing, nanomaterials, biomarkers for health, biofuels, advanced manufacturing, universal water, carbon management, engineered agriculture, security and tracking, and advanced transportation.

A few of them that I found particularly interesting were the areas of distributed energy, biofuels, universal water, engineered agriculture, and advanced transportation. Distributed energy is predicted to increasingly feature local generators that can be linked when needed for greater output. Possible innovations in this area include advanced batteries and electric storage devices of all sizes, power systems with source-switching ability, and new energy management systems. Being able to better control energy distribution can be beneficial both ethically and financially. I also found the projected innovations in biofuels interesting. The idea that further advances will be made in renewable biomass fuels so that they can supplement and eventually replace gas and diesel is very exciting, especially now. Universal water was another area that was discussed that I never actually realized was an issue until reading this. Water supplies are becoming increasingly strained and it is important that we are able to keep fresh water clean and make more fresh water from salt water. Technologies to improve this issue include ultra-fine filters and new energy sources for desalination and purification. Engineered agriculture was also another intriguing area with potential breakthroughs such as crop produced pharmaceuticals and chemical feedstocks and crops designed specifically for energy content and conversion. One final area that I found interesting and one that will be exciting to watch progress is advanced transportation. Both public and private transportation are believed to experience significant breakthroughs. Personal transportation will be coordinated through wireless networks, information systems, and the internet and on board sensors and computers will be offered for smart vehicles. While this blog was relatively brief, it was a very interesting insight into what the experts foresee as the major innovations in the next 15-20 years.