CSIRO Megatrends - Our Future World

Dr Stefan Hajkowicz gives a rundown on the CSIRO Global Foresight Project, which cannily identifies socio-economic and environmental trends affecting the way we live and the way we might have to learn to live in the future. Dr Hajkowicz and Dr James Moody have distilled the future thinking of 40 CSIRO scientists and business development staff on key global megatrends. They foresee a future characterised by:

1. MORE FROM LESS: a world of limited resources
2. A PERSONAL TOUCH: personalisation of products and services
3. DIVERGENT DEMOGRAPHICS: older, hungrier, more demanding societies
4. ON THE MOVE: urbanisation and increased mobility
5. iWORLD: convergence of the digital and natural worlds

All this will play out against background social, economic and environmental risks. These include global asset price collapse, a slowing Chinese economy, energy costs, extreme weather, pandemics, biodiversity loss, terrorism and nanotechnology risks.

Fasten your seatbelts and find out more!

For more information check out:

Our Future World -- full report:
http://www.csiro.au/resources/Our-Future-World.html

Podcasts:
http://www.csiro.au/multimedia/Gazing-into-the-future-world-part-one.html
http://www.csiro.au/multimedia/Gazing-into-the-future-world-part-two.html

ABC Big Ideas:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/bigideas/stories/2010/07/27/2964355.htm

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• csiro
• science
• research
• technology
• environment
• future
• resources
• climate
• extreme weather
• pandemic
• global
• energy
• biodiversity
• social
• economic
• change
• urbanisation
• urbanization
• digital