10 megatrends shaping the future of communities, economies and governments in the coming years

These macro trends are expected to positively impact the quality of life in communities and drive industry and economic development. In 2014, there were 2.8 billion internet users, which grew to 5.5 billion by 2024. Over the past decade, the world has witnessed tremendous leaps in technological advancement, which will shape all aspects of human life for many years to come.

For instance, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum computing are projected to reshape and disrupt industries, even creating new ones. Generative AI alone is expected to contribute over $4.4 trillion to the global economy. The Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), in its latest report, "Future Opportunities: Top 50 Globally," explores 10 global macro trends that will positively impact the quality of life in communities, drive industry and economic development, and improve global government performance in the coming years and decades.

These macro trends include: the materials revolution: permanent magnets, biomimetic materials, and quantum materials. Materials are the foundation for all products, foods, medicines, and beverages consumed daily. Driven by advanced machine intelligence, nanotechnology, and materials science, as well as interdisciplinary research and innovation, new opportunities are emerging for the use of materials in nearly all industrial, technological, and consumer sectors.

The report identifies three key future opportunity areas. This includes permanent magnets, which facilitate clean energy transition and the achievement of net-zero emissions. Permanent magnets convert the energy of turning wind turbines into electricity. In electric vehicles, they convert energy from batteries into torque in motors, saving 20-40% of energy compared to non-magnetic motors. Demand for permanent magnets doubled between 2015 and 2023 and is projected to double again between 2024 and 2050. Another trend shaping the future is biomimetic materials. These materials are man-made but their properties or functions are inspired by nature. Biomimicry is currently contributing to advancements in various fields, including science, engineering, and medicine. Nature-inspired innovation could generate substantial economic benefits, reaching $1.6 trillion by 2030. The third is quantum materials, which possess unique properties and are integral to advancing quantum technologies. Materials such as superconductors and semiconductor quantum dots help stabilize qubits, thus enhancing quantum computing capabilities. Major players such as Amazon Web Services, IBM, and IonQ are leading advancements in the field and making significant progress in quantum error correction. The potential applications of quantum technologies span across multiple sectors, including finance, healthcare, and defense. These advancements not only promise to revolutionize industries but could also create over $2 trillion in global economic value by 2035.

As technology advances, data, another macro trend, will become more constant and multi-dimensional. Governments, businesses, and societies will be able to access more data in greater quantities and at faster speeds. In 2023, 97 million people accessed the internet for the first time. This brought the total number of people connected to the internet in 2024 to 5.35 billion, representing 66% of the global population. The continued rollout of 5G, improved affordability of mobile internet connectivity, and increased digital inclusion are initiatives to watch in 2025. A future trend to watch will be 6G, which will have a profound impact on various industries. From enabling remote surgeries and real-time health monitoring to advanced automation and digital twins, 6G will create new market opportunities in telecommunications, manufacturing, and transportation.

Another trend that will shape the future of data is multimodal AI. Important decisions in healthcare and finance may be made with AI-based support systems that use diverse or multimodal data inputs, including text, images, audio, and even, one day, haptics. While approximately 1% of AI use was multimodal in 2023, this is expected to reach 40% by 2027, a significant increase reflecting the potential for rapid adoption of this technology. Another trend to watch is AI in sports. The value of AI in the sports sector is projected to reach nearly $30 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 30% from $2.2 billion in 2022.

With the rapid advancement of technology and its widespread application, the challenges of vulnerabilities and threats also arise. Cybercriminals are now more organized than ever, leveraging AI to coordinate and execute crimes. More innovative approaches to identifying, assessing, and addressing vulnerabilities will be a key macro trend shaping the future. Incorporating psychology into cybersecurity will be a key trend to watch in the future. Incorporating psychology into cybersecurity can deepen the understanding of why cyberattacks occur and improve how companies reduce cybersecurity threats.

Cyber biosecurity awareness and education will also be a critical trend in mitigating the risks arising from technological advancements. Global awareness of cyber biosecurity remains low, with some regions, particularly Southeast Asian countries, being underprepared. Regardless of regulations, it is imperative to raise awareness of cyber biosecurity threats among biotechnology companies, research institutions, and policymakers through education and training, ensuring the involvement of researchers and practitioners across all relevant disciplines.

Energy and pathways to achieving net-zero emissions will also be key macro trends shaping future developments. The global net-zero economy aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, which is estimated to require approximately $275 trillion in capital expenditure, averaging $9.2 trillion in annual investment, and peaking at 8.8% of global GDP between 2026 and 2030. However, achieving this goal is not easy, as many aspects play a role. Game theory, an interactive decision-making model where outcomes depend on predicting the strategies and related decisions of others, can, when applied to net-zero emissions (along with climate models), help influence interactions and decisions in multiple scenarios aimed at achieving net-zero emissions.

Another trend shaping the future of the energy industry is clean energy. The industry presents extraordinary growth opportunities, with the market size expected to triple by 2030, reaching $650 billion annually, as countries fulfill their climate commitments. This expansion is driving the strategic diversification of manufacturing capabilities and supply chain resilience across regions. The industry is expected to create 8 million new manufacturing jobs globally by 2030.

Driven by resource scarcity, climate change, and shifting social values, environmental impact management will be one of the major macro trends shaping the world's future. Environmental impact management will increasingly shift towards focusing on ecosystems rather than the environmental impact of specific processes, products, or services. A notable trend is the concept of regeneration, which gained popularity in urban development in the 1990s as an innovative response to climate change, going beyond making buildings green. While sustainability focuses on balancing human needs with environmental protection, regeneration goes a step further by focusing on restoring natural resources, enhancing biodiversity, and restoring damaged ecosystems.

Another major area of focus will be acoustic AI, which has the potential to understand and improve oceans, wildlife, cities, and other ecosystems. AI has been successfully used to monitor whale calls, thereby improving species detection and marine conservation strategies.

Advancements in communication, computing, and advanced machine intelligence will accelerate a borderless world, which will transform how we work, live, and communicate, making it one of the major macro trends shaping the future of human life and interaction. In this transformation, digital asset regulation becomes a key focus. As these currencies increase in use in mutual funds, bonds, exchange-traded notes, loans, securitizations, and alternative funds, the overall tokenized market capitalization (excluding Bitcoin and Tether) could reach approximately $2 trillion by 2030. However, despite the fact that two-thirds of the 86 jurisdictions surveyed by the World Economic Forum already regulate or plan to regulate digital assets, there is a lack of a universal definition of digital assets.

The Financial Stability Board and the International Securities Commission Organization are working to provide universal definitions, and the principles of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law provide a framework for linking digital assets to existing legal structures. However, gaps remain. The next 10 years will also see many environmental, social, technological, and economic global risks that cannot be addressed by individual countries alone. In a borderless, interconnected world, addressing such complex cross-border and cross-sectoral issues requires an interdisciplinary approach, and this trend is expected to emerge as future needs grow.

Universities and training institutions can promote interdisciplinary education programs that combine law, technology, ethics, and international relations, encouraging cross-sector understanding and collaboration. These programs can be co-developed by academia and industry leaders to ensure they address practical, real-world challenges.

As quantum technologies such as quantum computing, communications, and sensors become more scalable and reliable, immersive experiences will begin to feel like reality, thus enabling the virtual world to be a major macro trend shaping the future world. The home entertainment and film market continues to grow, with an estimated value of $100 billion in 2023, and is projected to grow by 8% annually between 2024 and 2030. The impact of technology has also had a transformative impact on theater and the arts. As technology advances, new forms of theater are emerging that encourage active audience participation and interaction in storytelling. Many performing arts theaters, some of which had never previously offered digital broadcasts, offered their performances online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Virtual reality will also be a key trend shaping the future of humanity. While sales of AR/VR headsets have declined by 40% since 2022 and startup funding has fallen by 50%, shipments of AR/VR headsets began to grow again in the third quarter of 2024 and are expected to rebound in 2025, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 86% by 2028.

Driven by advances in mechanical engineering design, robots will increasingly expand beyond the automotive, manufacturing, and supply chain logistics industries into other industries, making it one of the major macro trends that could influence the future. Biomimicry is a key trend in the field of robotics, drawing inspiration from nature to improve quality and functionality in various fields and provide innovative solutions to global challenges. Soft robotics, a highly promising application of biomimicry, focuses on developing adaptive robots made of materials that feel like biological tissues.

The increasing number of collaborative robots (cobots) and humanoid robots marks a shift towards more adaptable robots that can work alongside humans in a variety of environments. However, widespread adoption faces several obstacles. As the industry evolves, building trust between humans and robots is critical for successful integration. This challenge encompasses both technical reliability and the more complex emotional aspects of human-robot collaboration, laying the foundation for future developments in the field.

With advanced machine intelligence and technological breakthroughs, people's understanding and expectations of self-actualization will shift. Traditional boundaries between self, society, and institutions will also evolve, making interpersonal interaction a key macro trend shaping future life. A key trend to watch in the future is the demand for art. The creative economy generates $2.3 trillion annually, accounting for 3.1% of global GDP and employing 6.2% of the global workforce. In addition to current funding challenges, declining art education enrollment poses another risk to future growth.

Another trend to watch is AI-driven dispute resolution, which shows encouraging potential in increasing access to justice globally. The global justice crisis affects at least 5.1 billion people worldwide. For example, in the United States, low-income Americans receive little or no legal help in 92% of civil cases. Therefore, a cross-border online dispute resolution lab could further advance AI-supported tools for handling disputes across jurisdictions and languages.

The last macro trend shaping the future of humanity is advanced health and nutrition. Advances in advanced machine intelligence, nanotechnology and biotechnology, additive manufacturing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) will transform how people understand and experience health and nutrition. A key trend to watch in the industry is air quality epigenetics. Environmental impact epigenetics, the study of processes that activate or deactivate specific genes, affects not only individual health but also the health of future generations. Particulate matter in the air may include organic and inorganic compounds with epigenetic effects associated with adverse health outcomes. The global epigenetics market reached a value of $14.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow by nearly 15% annually through 2030.

Personalized medicine is another emerging trend in healthcare. In 2023, precision medicine accounted for 38% of new therapeutic drug approvals by the FDA and more than a quarter of all approvals since 2015. As nearly 94.5% of genomic data in current genomic studies comes from European ancestry, expanding the scope of research to include diverse populations is a future opportunity.