Thursday, January 25, 2007
Sigma Scan
a collection of future issues and trends developed by the Outsights-Ipsos MORI partnership, commissioned by the UK Government's Horizon Scanning Centre at the DTI Office of Science and Innovation.
A database of trends, emerging issues and developments which may influence the course of events over the next 50 years and thereby shape the future of the UK and the world at large. Covers the topic areas ~ Politics, Economics, Society, Science/Technology and the Environment.
300+ topics are covered, and 146 (?) Issue Papers provide brief descriptions of specific developments and how they may unfold in the future. These cover the range from Chavez to climate, transhumanism to tsunami... Hve yet to investigate more than a couple, but look a great resource
Nanotechnologies transform Computing, Materials Science and Medicine
The Quest for Unbreakable Code
A Droid for all Seasons: Robots become more versatile
Technology to empower the greying generation
Understanding complexity: how to answer the big questions
Who's in charge: choosing, funding and communicating science projects
Brain circulation: scientists move globally to where there's funding and freedom
Information Management and Handling: controlling the rising flood of data that surrounds us
Connectivity and Network Interactions
Security: marrying technological and human approaches
Sensors and Tracking: finding anything, anywhere, anytime
Space: a revival of manned space flight?
The Bright Stuff: Materials That Interact With The World
Nanotechnology: the small revolution
Emergence: expect the unexpected from complex systems
The Extended Self: better than well
Lightweight infrastructure: less is more?
The oil crisis: any light at the end of the pipeline?
Intentional biology - beyond evolution
Technology for the Body and Mind
India Shining?: Life in the ‘Indian Century’
NHS – which way forward?: Could rising costs force alternative methods of healthcare delivery?
The shadow of the bomb: The risks of WMD proliferation and terrorism
Virtually criminal: The rise of internet crime
HIV/AIDS: The global epidemic marches on
Gene out of the bottle: Could genes from GMOs proliferate in nature?
Right to live, Right to die? Legalisation of assisted euthanasia in Britain
End-game?: A major asteroid impact on earth
The kraken awakes: the impact of a cataclysmic seismic event
Gender challenge: Could Asian gender imbalances give rise to instability?
Plight of the bumble bee: Decline in pollinator populations?
Divided we fall?: The “dis-integration” of ethnic minorities
Time is money: The growth of long hours culture
So sue me: Continuing rise in the litigation culture
Talking rubbish: The struggle to conquer the growing waste mountain
To arms: The growing use of lethal force in violent crime across Europe
No place like home: The rise of homeworking and e-commuting
Ceasefire in the drugs war: Legal restrictions eased on recreational drug consumption
Sowing a bitter crop: Global reductions in available arable land
Plenty more fish in the sea?: The depletion of fish stocks.
Here be dragons?: possible political unrest in key Asian states
Come together: Virtual communities, multiple identities?
Virtual democracy?: Political activity goes online
No country is an island?: Ongoing demands for UK military interventions overseas
A frozen North?: The decline and fall of the gulf stream
Who’s looking at you? Increasing mass surveillance
A modern Icarus: Could solar flares cause communication meltdown?
Too hot, too fast, too soon: Could feedback mechanisms trigger runaway global warming?
Opting out: Declining trust and engagement in conventional politics
What replaces the factory? Post-industrial Britain
Thirsty Britain: Water shortages in the UK?
The ageing equation: Some economic impacts of the ageing UK population?
Globalisation: Could the barriers be going up again?
Shaken to the foundation? Reworking tax policy
Offshoring Britain? An increase in the international outsourcing of management.
Ever decreasing circles: the retreat of the state from national life
Black daze: A possible collapse of shareholder wealth?
Divided income, divided society: Hardening attitudes to poverty
Spare any change? The advent of the cashless economy
Exchange rate shock: The collapse and rebirth of international currency exchange rate mechanisms
China crisis?: Could there be major social and political upheaval in China?
Financial faultlines: Could global financial fragility by exposed by sudden interest rate shock?
Design-a-job: Changes in the contractual nature of work
Impending labour shortages in the developed world: blessing or curse?
Distributed manufacturing: Smaller, localised and customised production processes
The end of ownership?: Ubiquitous leasing of manufactured goods
Mathematical world: living inside a world of continuous computing
Sensory transformation: life in a cloud of data
Trading up for Africa: The opportunities for a tariff-free market
The Bear market: Authoritarianism in Russia – Putin and after
Innovation communities: Open-source, cooperative R&D
The left in Latin America: a challenge to the US?
From consumer to creator: The content revolution and the rise of the creative class
Redistributed riches: Could we see the introduction of a wealth tax?
Living in terror: The price of ongoing threats to security?
Back to the land: The re-greening of British agriculture
Jobs for the girls: A female dominated workforce?
Emission suppression: Reducing carbon emissions through sequestration
Raising the stakes: Will Iran develop nuclear capability?
Waiting for "The Big One": a major earthquake on the US west coast
Live to work: Pervasive working culture
Booze Britain: A national obsession gets out of hand
A delicate balance: the struggle for sustainable farming and fishing
Singleton settlements: The boom in single households
Divine division: Could sectarian religious conflict engulf a major region?
Serious, organised and networked crime: Criminal networks in the era of globalisation
Leaving the “ever-closer Union”: Could Britain withdraw from the EU?
All Nations Under God? Decline of the Secular State
Public service, private provider?: future implications of the growth of PFI schemes
The Asian equation: Population growth in Asia to 050
Keeping up with the Gates’: Regulation lags behind rapid technological innovation
“What would Jesus drive?”: the birth of green spirituality and creation care
Pulling out the rug: Will we see US isolationism?
Food for thought: Obesity on the rise
Inclusive security?: United Nations Security Council enlargement?
Mind over matter: Successful mental health treatments lead to peak demand
Rural revival?: Diversification of rural economies to create sustainable rural communities
“No such thing as society”?: The rise of individualism and the weakening of social cohesion
Playing politics: The blurring of celebrity and polity
Robo-rights: Utopian dream or rise of the machines?
Movement of the people: mounting pressures on transport infrastructure
All the world is a stage: The increasing power of transnational corporations
Quenching the thirst: International water shortages?
Breaking the language barrier: The development of human-animal communication
Home is where the head is: A rise in home-education?
Developing pollution: The effects of air pollution on the developing world
Shopping and sharing: The mainstreaming of ethical consumerism
Return to the Ark: Breeding of endangered species and preservation programmes
A Grand Tour: Mass global tourism
One flag, many nations: The establishment of an international army?
A society of surveillance?: The national introduction of ID cards?
A final harvest: the end of agricultural subsidies?
Europe looks West: A resurgence of pro-Atlanticism within the EU?
Eco-terrorism: A rising threat?
Saving lives through disaster prediction
Financial Faith: Choice, diversity and commercialism in religious practice
Seeking safe haven: Could we see sudden mass appeals for asylum in the UK?
Will we have armies in the future?: Declining recruitment rates for the armed forces
Special relationships: British foreign policy in the Chinese century
Counter-urbanisation and declining city centres
On thin ice: Reduction of polar ice caps
Bio-breakout: A world swept by pandemics
Clean, green machines: The advent of the carbon-lite economy
We all sign on: Could levels of unemployment rise dramatically?
Globalised migration: Complex human transfers
Technology’s child: the advent of young, tech-literate commercial talent
Hi-tech market specialisation: Demand for focussed, niche-specific business policy?
The Rise of the Trillion Dollar Bank: Consolidation in the banking and financial services sector.
Could the EU claim UK tax supremacy?
1The ethics of intervention: Could foreign policy go 'soft?'
The 'greening' of government: Environmental considerations come to the fore in policymaking
An end to state paternalism?: Reductions in regulations on society
Deepening the inequality gap: A class apart?
Mega-corps on British shores: Inward investment and the threat to UK business ownership
From information to insight: Intelligent support and the conquest of information overload
No more -to-5: The advent of 4-hour cities
From “The Enlightenment” to “Enlightenment”: The proliferation of new faith movements in Britain
Age and Engage: "Global greying" to 030 and the rise of the empowered senior citizen
