Introduction to Emerging

Technologies
Week 2
 Topic Outline
• What is an Emerging Technology?
Slide Title
• Make Effective Presentations
• Using Awesome Backgrounds
• Engage your Audience
• Capture Audience Attention
 Slide Title
Product A Product B
• Feature 1 • Feature 1
• Feature 2 • Feature 2
• Feature 3 • Feature 3
Topic 1

WHAT IS EMERGING
TECHNOLOGY?
What does Emergent mean?
• the process of coming into
being, or of becoming
important and prominent [New
Oxford American Dictionary]
• a property arising as an effect
of complex causes and not
analysable simply as the sum of
their effect [New Oxford American
Dictionary]
Five Key Attributes that Qualify a Technology as Emerging

relatively fast
radical novelty coherence
growth

prominent uncertainty
impact, and ambiguity
Radical Novelty
• The fulfillment of a given
function by using a different
basic principle as compared to
what was used before to
achieve a similar purpose.
• Identification can be done
through review of related
literature and studies.
Relatively Fast Growth
• Early indications of growth may be
revealed from the analysis of funding
data, big data, and altmetrics.
• Indicators and trend analyses based on
the yearly or cumulative count of
documents — publications, patents or
news articles, according to the nature of
the examined technology and the
availability of data — over a given
observation period are widely used.
Coherence
• Coherence and its persistence over time
distinguish technologies that have
acquired a certain identity and
momentum from those still in a state of
flux and therefore not yet emerging.
• Signals of coherence may come from the
creation of conference sessions, tracks,
dedicated conferences and subsequently
from journal special issues and new
specialist journals.
Prominent Impact
• Emerging technologies exert a prominent
impact on specific domains or more broadly
on the socio-economic system by changing
the composition of actors, institutions,
patterns of interactions among those, and
the associated knowledge production
processes.
• Expectations of the performance of novel
technologies or, more generally, the ability of
novel technologies to address societal
problems are both important.
Prominent Impact
• The analysis of highly-cited
documents, of authorship data to
generate intelligence about the
actors drawn into knowledge creation
processes over time (e.g. private vs.
public organisations and incumbents
vs. newcomers), and of changes in
the collaboration structure as
mapped with co-authorship data.
Uncertainty and Ambiguity
• Emerging technologies are
characterised by uncertainty in
their possible outcomes and
uses, which may be unintended
and undesirable, as well as by
ambiguity in the meanings
different social groups associate
with the given technology.
Uncertainty and Ambiguity
• For analyses of contemporary emerging
technologies, news articles, editorials,
review and perspective articles on
professional and academic journals can
be examined to qualitatively assess the
degree of uncertainty and ambiguity
associated with an emerging technology
as well as to identify possible multiple
visions of the future associated with the
technology.
Reduction of Uncertainty and Ambiguity

• Increasing redundancy
• Mutual information exchanged
What is Emerging Technology?
• A radically novel and relatively fast growing
technology characterised by a certain degree of
coherence persisting over time and with the
potential to exert a considerable impact on the
socio-economic domain(s) which is observed in
terms of the composition of actors, institutions
and patterns of interactions among those, along
with the associated knowledge production
processes. [1]
• Its most prominent impact, however, lies in the
future and so in the emergence phase is still
somewhat uncertain and ambiguous [1]
Topic 2

CURRENT ISSUES IN EMERGING

TECHNOLOGIES
What is Moral? Humanizing AI
• The possibility of losing human
intellectual capacity as the
result of an excessive use of
artificial intelligence must be
avoided.
• To oppose AI becoming a threat
to human, making humans as
targets.
Privacy and Threat to Security
• The Facebook/Cambridge
Analytica Scandal
• RFID Identity Theft
• Beacon Location Tracking
3D Printing
• Synthesis of physical objects
• 3D Bioprinting to create
synthetic tissues and organs
Biotechnologies
• Genome editing, gene
therapies, and other forms of
genetic manipulations and
synthetic biology
Energy Capture, Storage and Transmission

• Advanced batteries and fuel

cells, orbiting solar rays, tidal
energy capture, smart grid
systems, and wireless energy
transfer.
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger

• Cryptographic systems that

manage, verify and publically
record transaction data
• Existence of cryptocurrencies,
e.g. bitcoin
Geoengineering
• Weaponizing geoengineering
innovations
Advanced Materials and Nanomaterials

• Creation of new materials

• Thermoelectric properties,
shape retention, and new
mechanical functionality
Ubiquitous Linked Sensors
• Also known as Internet of
Things
• The use of networked sensors
to remotely connect, track and
manage products, systems,
grids, etc.
Neurotechnologies
• Smart drugs, neuroimaging,
bioelectric interfaces that allow
for reading, communicating and
influencing human brain
activity
New Computing Technologies
• Quantum computing
• Centralized Cloud
• Neural Network Processing
• Biological data storage
• Optical computing
Virtual and Augmented Realities
• Sophisticated immersive
environments, from holographic
read outs to complete virtual
interfaces
How to reduce the risks?
Topic 3

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES OF
2018
10 MIT Breakthrough Technologies of 2018

• 3D Metal Printing
• Artificial Embryos
• Sensing City
• AI for Everybody
• Dueling Neural Networks
• Babel-Fish Earbuds
• Zero Carbon Natural Gas
– Clean energy from natural
gas
• Perfect Online Privacy
– an emerging cryptographic
protocol called a zero-
knowledge proof.
– you prove you’re over 18
without revealing your date of
birth which limits a privacy
breach or identity theft.
• Genetic Fortune Telling
• Materials Quantum Leap
World Economic Forum Top 10 Emerging Technologies

• Augmented Reality
• Personalized Medicine
• AI-led Molecular Design
• More Capable Digital Helpers
• Implantable Drug-Making Cells
• Gene Drive
• Algorithms for Quantum Computers
• Plasmonic Materials
• Lab-grown Meat
• Electroceuticals
Case Analysis
• Based on the discussions, make a
graph of ranking of benefits vs.
negative consequences for the Top
10 Emerging Technologies 2018
released by the World Economic
Forum. State below the graph why
each of the technology gives greater
benefits or grater negative
consequences than the others.
References
1. Rotolo, Daniele & Hicks, Diana & Martin, Ben. What Is an
Emerging Technology?. Research Policy. 44. 1827-1843.
10.1016/j.respol.2015.06.006. 2015. [Online]. Available:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272164853_What_Is_a
n_Emerging_Technology. [Accessed October 18, 2018].
2. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/01/what-emerging-
technologies-have-the-biggest-negative-consequences/
3. http://www.sdforward.com/fwddoc/x-
2018EmergingTechnologiesWhitePaper_kwa.pdf
4. https://www.technologyreview.com/lists/technologies/2018/
5. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/top-10-emerging-
technologies-of-2018/
6. https://singularityhub.com/2018/02/04/the-biggest-tech-
takeaways-from-the-2018-world-economic-
forum/#sm.0001p7js181b50dzssq9stxb0z9fr