Once upon a time, business leaders could leave technology to the technologists. But today, we are at the starting line of a universal technological revolution — one that is fundamentally altering four key realms of our world: commerce, health care, learning, and the environment. Given the pervasive and diverse nature of this revolution, business leaders must understand the technologies that are driving it, the capabilities they offer, and their potential impacts.
This report provides executives with a lexicon to the revolution. It identifies seven core technologies — pervasive computing, wireless mesh networks, biotechnology, 3D printing, machine learning, nanotechnology, and robotics — and describes their implications for commerce, health care, learning, and the environment. Technology provides a similar spark: It enables us to push beyond the established boundaries of our world.
The mechanized spinning of textiles, large-scale manufacturing of chemicals, steam power, and efficiencies in iron-making sparked the first Industrial Revolution Railroads, the telegraph and telephone, and electricity and other utilities sparked the second Industrial Revolution The internet and digital media and devices sparked the Information Revolution present.
In each instance, the inflection point that marked the new revolution was the appearance of new technologies that fundamentally reshaped key aspects of the world, such as commerce, health care, learning, and the environment. Today, we see technological sparks everywhere. They are emerging from the digital, chemical, material, and biological sciences, and they are precipitating a revolution that is altering nearly every dimension of our lives.
Albert H. He has held posts in research and development at the U. He can be reached at al. Fitzgerald, N. Kruschwitz, D. Bonnet, and M. Grover and A. Ishil and B. Gustafsson, Y. Cao, et al. Jurdak, A. Nafaa, and A. Piperno, A. Ranere, et al. Le Cong, F. Ann Ran, et al. Herzogenrath ed. Domingo and J. Tumbleston, D. Shirvanyants, et al. Kang, S. Lee, et al. Shieh and R. Vatansever and M. Douglas, I. Bachelet, and G. You must sign in to post a comment.
