Partial. The PDF was distributed through WeTransfer and is not archived. Titles come from the contents pages in the archived SlideShare transcript of the publisher's own upload (account AmyWebb33, section 1 of 2). The publisher states 406 trends in 31 sections. No quotes: the transcript covers only the first slides. Contents entries are sorted by page number; the transcript does not mark headers, so the 30 section names and 13 sub-section names were identified by hand (inferred_sections); other group headings may remain among the trends. Update 2026-10-02: complete. Later Wayback captures of the newer SlideShare page format carry the full per-slide transcripts of both publisher sections (271 and 110 slides; pages 1-365 of the report), so every section is now readable. Quotes were added to 379 of the 400 entries (first sentence of the KEY INSIGHT block or of the text under the heading; confidence medium because transcripts carry no layout). The 21 without a quote either print a different title on the trend page (for example contents "Unpredictable Sea Level Rise", page "Unpredictable, Rising Sea Levels") or open with a figure, caption or fragment rather than a sentence. Entry order, labels and sections are unchanged. The report prints "Nth YEAR ON THE LIST" tags on section opener pages too (Artificial Intelligence 13th, Emerging Digital Interfaces 7th, Wearables 8th, Home Automation 5th and others); these section pages are not entries here, while 2022 keeps such umbrella pages (Recognition, Scoring, Privacy) as entries. Update 2026-10-02 (D40): umbrella section pages that carry the year tag and a KEY INSIGHT count as trends; 15 were appended as entries 401-415 (scripts/ftsg-tech-trends/append_umbrella_d40.py). Page 49 "Geopolitics, Geoeconomics and Warfare" (THIRTEENTH YEAR ON THE LIST) has no KEY INSIGHT and is not an entry.
Running experiments with several variables often requires tiny, methodical tweaks to measurements, materials and inputs.
rank 1ftsg-tech-trends-2020-001
Corporate leaders within the A.I. ecosystem have been racing to capture A.I. cloudshare—and to become the most trusted provider of A.I. on remote servers.
rank 2ftsg-tech-trends-2020-002
Imagine a self-driving car in a busy neighborhood: A car driving 25 miles per hour is moving 36.7 feet per second.
rank 3ftsg-tech-trends-2020-003
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) enables businesses to automate certain tasks and processes within offices, which allows employees to spend time on higher-value work.
rank 4ftsg-tech-trends-2020-004
Digital twins are virtual representations of real-world environments, products or assets, used for a host of purposes.
rank 5ftsg-tech-trends-2020-005
As humans and machines work more closely together, there are opportunities for robots to learn and adapt new skills based on their environments.
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Today’s neural networks have long required an enormous amount of computing power, have taken a very long time to train, and have relied on data centers and computers that consume hundreds of kilowatts of power.
rank 7ftsg-tech-trends-2020-007
Amazon Web Services, Alibaba Cloud, Microsoft’s Azure, Google Cloud and Baidu Cloud are rolling out new offerings and packages for developers, hoping to make it easier and more affordable for a wide swath of A.I. startups to launch their ideas into the marketplace.
rank 8ftsg-tech-trends-2020-008
Python is a leading language with lots of pre-built libraries and frameworks.
rank 9ftsg-tech-trends-2020-009
Algorithms are simply rules that define and automate the treatment of data.
rank 10ftsg-tech-trends-2020-010
Amazon, Google and Facebook have all come under fire in the past few years for manipulating their search systems to prioritize results that are more profitable for their companies.
rank 11ftsg-tech-trends-2020-011
Companies might want to think twice before implementing A.I. systems to monitor and authenticate staff.
rank 12ftsg-tech-trends-2020-012
The term “bot” has become part of our mainstream vocabulary, and you can expect to hear more about them as America completes its 2020 election cycle.
rank 13ftsg-tech-trends-2020-013
There is a well-reported shortage of A.I. talent, and every sector is hoping to integrate A.I. into their core business functions.
rank 14ftsg-tech-trends-2020-014
In the 2010s, big tech companies, startups and communities of developers used algorithm marketplaces to share and sell their work.
rank 15ftsg-tech-trends-2020-015
As much as the A.I. ecosystem is booming, a rush of acquisitions means consolidation, too.
rank 16ftsg-tech-trends-2020-016
Who’s to blame when machines behave badly?
rank 18ftsg-tech-trends-2020-018
What happens behind closed doors may not be secret for long, and executives should beware of new ambient surveillance methods.
rank 19ftsg-tech-trends-2020-019
Last year, Nvidia trained a neural network to autonomously generate fully-textured 3D models based on a single photo.
rank 20ftsg-tech-trends-2020-020
The development of A.I. has been on two conceptual tracks since the 1950s: symbolic (machines use a base of knowledge and rules that represent concepts) and non-symbolic (machines use raw data to create their own patterns and representations of concepts).
rank 21ftsg-tech-trends-2020-021
One big challenge in A.I. is building machines that can proactively collect and interpret data, spot patterns and incorporate context, and ultimately learn in real time.
rank 22ftsg-tech-trends-2020-022
Last year, Amazon released updates to its Transcribe Medical system, a natural language understanding (NLU) system that recognizes speech used by doctors and medical professionals in real time—no small achievement.
rank 23ftsg-tech-trends-2020-023
For A.I. researchers, machine reading comprehension (MRC) has been a challenging goal, but an important one.
rank 24ftsg-tech-trends-2020-024
With the growing popularity of digital assistants, consumers want the ability to have natural conversations with machines.
rank 25ftsg-tech-trends-2020-025
The world is awash with information, misinformation and superficial thinking.
rank 26ftsg-tech-trends-2020-026
Researchers are developing single algorithms that can learn multiple tasks.
rank 27ftsg-tech-trends-2020-027
In the 1980s, Geoffrey Hinton and a team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University hypothesized a back propagation-based training method that could someday lead to an unsupervised A.I. network.
rank 28ftsg-tech-trends-2020-028
Research lab OpenAI develops and deploys open source A.I. language systems, while Google and Facebook’s open source frameworks are used widely.
rank 29ftsg-tech-trends-2020-029
Reinforcement learning (RL) is a powerful tool for sorting out decision-making problems, and it’s being used to train A.I. systems to achieve superhuman capabilities.
rank 30ftsg-tech-trends-2020-030
At the moment, deep learning techniques have helped systems learn to solve complex tasks in a way that more closely matches what humans can do—but those tasks are still specific, such as beating a human at a game.
rank 31ftsg-tech-trends-2020-031
In the past year, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Facebook’s AI lab released a superhuman A.I. for multiplayer poker called Pluribus, and by the end of 10,000 hands against 12 professional players, it got very good at bluffing.
rank 32ftsg-tech-trends-2020-032
Facebook AI research director Yann LeCun has called generative adversarial networks (GANs) the most interesting idea of the decade—and in the past few years, there have been tremendous advancements in GANs.
rank 33ftsg-tech-trends-2020-033
Autoregressive Implicit Quantile Networks (or AIQN for short) sound complicated, but it’s an innovative idea to help improve algorithms and make them more stable.
rank 34ftsg-tech-trends-2020-034
Probabilistic programming languages alleviate some of the strain and tedium of developing probability models.
rank 35ftsg-tech-trends-2020-035
If a computer system has access to enough images—millions and millions, say—it can patch and fill in holes in pictures.
rank 36ftsg-tech-trends-2020-036
A.I. isn’t yet capable of fully functioning without human assistance.
rank 37ftsg-tech-trends-2020-037
In 2019, the DeepMind team developed a generative adversarial network that generates videos from images.
rank 38ftsg-tech-trends-2020-038
Some organizations want to move away from traditional machine learning methods, which are time-consuming and difficult and require data scientists, specialists in A.I. fields and engineers.
rank 39ftsg-tech-trends-2020-039
Soon, individual users will upload their own data to customize existing A.I. models.
rank 40ftsg-tech-trends-2020-040
Predicting the way something will smell is incredibly complex.
rank 41ftsg-tech-trends-2020-041
An ongoing challenge is getting machines to recognize the various ways we express ourselves in writing.
rank 42ftsg-tech-trends-2020-042
Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are capable of far more than generating deepfake videos.
rank 43ftsg-tech-trends-2020-043
For some time, we’ve been training computers to watch videos and predict corresponding sounds in our physical world.
rank 44ftsg-tech-trends-2020-044
Chip designer Nvidia is teaching A.I. to build realistic 3D environments from short video clips.
rank 45ftsg-tech-trends-2020-045
Journalists at Switzerland-based Tamedia experimented with generative techniques during their country’s 2018 election.
rank 46ftsg-tech-trends-2020-046
Anyone who’s ever recorded a podcast is familiar with editing challenges, such as guests talking over each other, random sirens or outdoor noise suddenly blaring leaves?
rank 47ftsg-tech-trends-2020-047
In the past year, researchers showed how A.I. could be used to compose text so good that humans couldn’t tell it was machine written.
rank 48ftsg-tech-trends-2020-048
Misleading and outright false information has polluted the internet and our social media channels, and everyday consumers struggle to cope.
rank 49ftsg-tech-trends-2020-049
Well after citizens in the U.K. voted for Brexit, they continued to Google “What is the EU” and “What is Brexit.”
rank 50ftsg-tech-trends-2020-050
Deep mobile linking has been around since the beginning of smartphones, and it makes it easier to find and share data across all of the apps in your phone.
rank 51ftsg-tech-trends-2020-051
Also known as “zero-UIs,” our modern interfaces are becoming more and more like ambient music—able to do more for us with fewer direct actions, yet still able to captivate our attention.
rank 52ftsg-tech-trends-2020-052
Digital assistants (DAs)—like Siri, Alexa, and their Chinese counterpart Tiān Māo from Alibaba—use semantic and natural language processing, along with our data, in order to anticipate what we want or need to do next, sometimes before we even know to ask.
rank 53ftsg-tech-trends-2020-053
In 2018 and 2019, drug companies ramped up research to determine if A.I. could be used at every phase of drug development, from hypotheses, picking better compounds and identifying better drug targets to designing more successful clinical trials and tracking real-world outcomes.
rank 54ftsg-tech-trends-2020-054
Recognition systems can now be deployed to watch you being interviewed, to gauge your enthusiasm, tenacity and poise.
rank 55ftsg-tech-trends-2020-055
We’re now seeing a shift from highly technical A.I. applications that are used by professional researchers to more lightweight, user-friendly apps intended for tech-savvy consumers.
rank 56ftsg-tech-trends-2020-056
In the past few years, some of the biggest A.I. companies in the U.S. started partnering with the military to advance research, find efficiencies and develop new technological systems that can be deployed under a variety of circumstances.
rank 57ftsg-tech-trends-2020-057
Over the past few years, the danger of artificial intelligence has been thrown into sharp relief.
rank 58ftsg-tech-trends-2020-058
Last year, China moved into position to lead the first set of global norms and standards to govern the future of artificial intelligence.
rank 59ftsg-tech-trends-2020-059
Our future wars will be fought in code, using data and algorithms as powerful weapons.
rank 60ftsg-tech-trends-2020-060
You’ve undoubtedly heard someone argue that A.I. is becoming a “black box”—that even those researchers working in the field don’t understand how our newest systems work.
rank 61ftsg-tech-trends-2020-061
Machine learning promises efficiencies and new safeguards in our critical infrastructure systems.
rank 62ftsg-tech-trends-2020-062
Sensetime, one of the world’s most valuable A.I. startups, is helping China build its futuristic panopticon.
rank 63ftsg-tech-trends-2020-063
Research teams at Loving AI and Hanson Technologies are teaching machines unconditional love, active listening and empathy.
rank 64ftsg-tech-trends-2020-064
Last year’s Spring Festival Gala on China’s state broadcaster (CCTV) featured four wellknown human hosts—Beining Sa, Xun Zhu, Bo Gao, and Yang Long—alongside their digital twins.
rank 65ftsg-tech-trends-2020-065
In 2018, researchers at MIT revealed “Norman,” an A.I. trained to perform image captioning, a deep learning method of generating a textual description of an image.
rank 66ftsg-tech-trends-2020-066
In countries around the world, A.I. is being used at border crossings, within poor neighborhoods, and in school districts where delinquency is a problem.
rank 68ftsg-tech-trends-2020-068
It’s no secret A.I. has a serious and multifaceted bias problem.
rank 69ftsg-tech-trends-2020-069
Computers do exactly what they are told to do.
rank 70ftsg-tech-trends-2020-070
There were a number of A.I.-related accidents in 2018 and 2019, but only a few made the headlines.
rank 71ftsg-tech-trends-2020-071
Artificial intelligence will inevitably lead to a shift in the global workforce, causing job losses across many industries.
rank 72ftsg-tech-trends-2020-072
We will soon reach a point when we will no longer be able to tell if a data set has been tampered with, either intentionally or accidentally.
rank 73ftsg-tech-trends-2020-073
Retailers hope to gain access to our homes to deliver purchases—and also to learn more about what we’re likely to buy next.
rank 74ftsg-tech-trends-2020-074
Hundreds of companies now score customers.
rank 75ftsg-tech-trends-2020-075
Unlike the three major credit agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion), which produce scores that typically fall within roughly the same range, the systems that generate scores in the datascape each use different inputs and methodologies to arrive at their answers.
rank 76ftsg-tech-trends-2020-076
Quantifying and analyzing our biometric data can reveal patterns in our activities— and as a result, reveal a lot about who we are, what we’re thinking, and what we are likely to do next.
rank 77ftsg-tech-trends-2020-077
A.I.-powered recognition tools have well-documented blind spots.
rank 78ftsg-tech-trends-2020-078
Some of our largest tech giants are building comprehensive systems intended to optimize our daily lives, and those scoring systems have appeal beyond their original use cases.
rank 79ftsg-tech-trends-2020-079
It is no secret that many of our machine learning models—and the data they use to recognize others—are encoded with bias.
rank 80ftsg-tech-trends-2020-080
There is no single set of standards nor a unified code of norms for scoring.
rank 81ftsg-tech-trends-2020-081
New tools intended to enhance our digital experience instead track us without explicitly showing how or why.
rank 82ftsg-tech-trends-2020-082
rank 83ftsg-tech-trends-2020-083
Just as each person has a unique set of characteristics that make up their faces, our voices also have a wide array of measurable characteristics that uniquely identify who we are.
rank 84ftsg-tech-trends-2020-084
Late in 2019, Google debuted a new app called Recorder, which uses A.I. to automatically recognize and transcribe voices with near-perfect accuracy.
rank 85ftsg-tech-trends-2020-085
In 2018, the U.S. Air Force applied for a patent that explains how wideband radar can be used to identify people by their bone structure.
rank 86ftsg-tech-trends-2020-086
Sound is continuously passing through space, even if we can’t hear it.
rank 87ftsg-tech-trends-2020-087
We are continuously surrounded by radio waves, thanks to the millions of WiFi routers around us.
rank 88ftsg-tech-trends-2020-088
rank 89ftsg-tech-trends-2020-089
Looking for unique biomarkers beneath the surface of our skin is a clever way of identifying us—you can change your hairstyle or wear colored contacts, but it’s really tricky to rewire your vein structure.
rank 90ftsg-tech-trends-2020-090
Gesture recognition technologies are now capable of interpreting motion to identify us and make decisions on our behalf.
rank 91ftsg-tech-trends-2020-091
Computational photography is the convergence of computer vision, computer graphics, the internet and photography.
rank 92ftsg-tech-trends-2020-092
New compounds are being developed to help people fool recognition algorithms and, somewhat paradoxically, help them be seen more clearly.
rank 93ftsg-tech-trends-2020-093
rank 94ftsg-tech-trends-2020-094
The problem with voice recognition is that we tend not to speak using standard, perfect language.
rank 95ftsg-tech-trends-2020-095
Alexa doesn’t just know who you are—she now knows how you’re feeling.
rank 96ftsg-tech-trends-2020-096
Alexa is about to sound a lot more human.
rank 97ftsg-tech-trends-2020-097
Affective computing is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, psychology, neurobiology and cognitive science.
rank 98ftsg-tech-trends-2020-098
Late in 2019, popular U.K. grocery store chain Waitrose partnered with the DNA discovery platform DnaNudge.
rank 99ftsg-tech-trends-2020-099
rank 100ftsg-tech-trends-2020-100
In the U.S. and many other countries, schools and employers have the legal right to monitor people, and they don’t always have to disclose what is being tracked.
rank 101ftsg-tech-trends-2020-101
Several years ago, Amazon updated its mobile app to allow people to shop for real-world objects by scanning their barcodes.
rank 102ftsg-tech-trends-2020-102
rank 103ftsg-tech-trends-2020-103
Virtual Reality (VR) is an immersive computer-simulated environment.
rank 104ftsg-tech-trends-2020-104
Augmented Reality (AR) doesn’t simulate an entirely new environment, but rather overlays digital elements onto your natural field of vision.
rank 105ftsg-tech-trends-2020-105
Holograms are light field recordings that, when reproduced, can appear as static or dynamic three-dimensional visuals.
rank 106ftsg-tech-trends-2020-106
360-degree video is created with a special camera rig designed to capture omnidirectional footage.
rank 107ftsg-tech-trends-2020-107
Also known as “synthetic speech” or “textto-speech technology,” speech synthesis mimics real human voices and deploys them to various interfaces.
rank 108ftsg-tech-trends-2020-108
Generative algorithms are creating synthetic voices that sound just like the original, and those voices can be modulated to the exact pitch and tone desired.
rank 109ftsg-tech-trends-2020-109
Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory trained computers to not only recognize what’s in a video, but to predict what humans will do next.
rank 110ftsg-tech-trends-2020-110
Researchers at chipmaker Nvidia deployed a new generative algorithm in 2018 that created realistic human faces using a GAN (generative adversarial network.)
rank 111ftsg-tech-trends-2020-111
Companies are now mapping the real world to generate synthetic digital twins.
rank 112ftsg-tech-trends-2020-112
Synthetic media will give rise to an entirely new kind of celebrity in the 21st century: synthetic pop stars.
rank 113ftsg-tech-trends-2020-113
What if you could interact with a simulated person to learn from them or practice management techniques?
rank 114ftsg-tech-trends-2020-114
Synthesized media has a known problem area: It can be used by malicious actors to mislead people, to trick voice authentication systems and to create forged audio recordings.
rank 115ftsg-tech-trends-2020-115
Natalie Portman, Emma Watson, Taylor Swift and Daisy Ridley—smart, talented artists—began “appearing” in adult videos in late 2018.
rank 116ftsg-tech-trends-2020-116
The video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, was designed with brutal realism.
rank 117ftsg-tech-trends-2020-117
In many countries it is illegal to plagiarize someone’s original content.
rank 118ftsg-tech-trends-2020-118
We already got a taste of what our future synth media marketplaces will look like.
rank 119ftsg-tech-trends-2020-119
In 2020, we expect to see synthetic media technologies commercialized and made widely available.
rank 120ftsg-tech-trends-2020-120
In the internet’s first two decades, information crossed borders freely.
rank 121ftsg-tech-trends-2020-121
The attention economy, which spawned listicles and tweet roundups, isn’t as easily measured as previously thought.
rank 122ftsg-tech-trends-2020-122
Digital Frailty is when digital assets are impermanent or easily compromised by technical glitches.
rank 123ftsg-tech-trends-2020-123
Trigger warnings now appear in email subject lines, on social media posts and even in conversation.
rank 124ftsg-tech-trends-2020-124
Push notifications can be a powerful tool to deliver time-sensitive information, updates, reminders and messages directly to our phones, wearables or connected devices— and they seize our attention in a way that passive or in-app notifications can’t.
rank 125ftsg-tech-trends-2020-125
INFORMS STRATEGY REVISIT LATER ACT NOW KEEP VIGILANT WATCH HIGH DEGREE OF CERTAINTY LOW DEGREE OF CERTAINTY IMMEDIATEIMPACT LONGER-TERMIMPACT canceled over her views on immigration— plus many, many other individuals who are seen to have acted immorally or unjustly.
rank 126ftsg-tech-trends-2020-126
Digital influencers will wield far more influence over consumers than big, recognizable brands by using decentralized platforms.
rank 127ftsg-tech-trends-2020-127
rank 128ftsg-tech-trends-2020-128
As Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram grew, it seemed inevitable that they couldn’t be replaced, so long as they had enough users and successfully worked their way into the fabric of those user’s lives.
rank 129ftsg-tech-trends-2020-129
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As fake news spreads across the globe on the internet and social platforms, censorship and free speech play instrumental roles in terms of design, development, and the legal protections afforded to creators and users of technology.
rank 131ftsg-tech-trends-2020-131
Social networks including Facebook and Twitter have promised to tweak their algorithms to curb the spread of bot-generated content and engagement—but the bots are becoming more human and difficult to detect.
rank 132ftsg-tech-trends-2020-132
rank 133ftsg-tech-trends-2020-133
The most popular video games today have one thing in common: They never end.
rank 134ftsg-tech-trends-2020-134
INFORMS STRATEGY REVISIT LATER ACT NOW KEEP VIGILANT WATCH HIGH DEGREE OF CERTAINTY LOW DEGREE OF CERTAINTY IMMEDIATEIMPACT LONGER-TERMIMPACT this has significance beyond concussions in the NFL.
rank 135ftsg-tech-trends-2020-135
Connected toys collect and use data for interactive experiences.
rank 136ftsg-tech-trends-2020-136
Parents, increasingly concerned that their children aren’t getting enough exercise, are looking to toys and games that nudge kids into more active lifestyles.
rank 137ftsg-tech-trends-2020-137
Connected toys and games require data to work properly, and privacy experts are concerned about how children’s data are being collected, used and safeguarded.
rank 138ftsg-tech-trends-2020-138
rank 139ftsg-tech-trends-2020-139
One of the new business verticals within the cannabis industry is cannabis you can drink.
rank 140ftsg-tech-trends-2020-140
Cannabis supply chain logistics is challenging.
rank 141ftsg-tech-trends-2020-141
With the industry heavily regulated, it can be difficult for dispensary companies with business units located in different states to keep track of compliance.
rank 142ftsg-tech-trends-2020-142
Unlike traditional CRM or customer databases, marketers in the cannabis space have additional regulations to contend with.
rank 143ftsg-tech-trends-2020-143
Banking is a big hurdle for dispensaries and their parent companies in the U.S. Visa and MasterCard can’t work with the cannabis industry because that would expose the financial institutions to the risk of federal prosecution.
rank 144ftsg-tech-trends-2020-144
Beauty, science, and technology have always been intertwined.
rank 145ftsg-tech-trends-2020-145
Last year was terrible for the electronic cigarette industry, and worse for the hundreds of people who became very ill after using the devices.
rank 146ftsg-tech-trends-2020-146
If you need to manage stress or focus, you might look to “nootropics,” cognitive enhancement drugs that promise to help keep you calm and attentive.
rank 147ftsg-tech-trends-2020-147
Neuroenhancer devices aim to record brain waves and send feedback.
rank 148ftsg-tech-trends-2020-148
The notion that gaming, apps, and other digital products can interfere with a person’s day-to-day life used to be a punchline.
rank 149ftsg-tech-trends-2020-149
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Consolidation continues as regulations shift in the U.S. and margins shrink for traditional media companies.
rank 151ftsg-tech-trends-2020-151
Whether you call it a subscription, a membership or a donation, we’re living in the age of audience revenue.
rank 152ftsg-tech-trends-2020-152
As voice interfaces proliferate in people’s lives, publishers and other organizations face a new strategic consideration: Is our content optimized for voice search?
rank 153ftsg-tech-trends-2020-153
News organizations must do better at explaining how algorithms and big data shape our world.
rank 154ftsg-tech-trends-2020-154
“Software as a Service” is a licensing and delivery model, in which users pay for on-demand access.
rank 155ftsg-tech-trends-2020-155
Newsletters, podcasts and niche networks can captivate and connect with small, loyal audiences.
rank 156ftsg-tech-trends-2020-156
News organizations are using pop-up newsrooms and limited-edition products to achieve strategic goals.
rank 157ftsg-tech-trends-2020-157
The spread of misinformation will continue until platforms and news organizations adopt norms and standards for accountability and trust.
rank 158ftsg-tech-trends-2020-158
INFORMS STRATEGY REVISIT LATER ACT NOW KEEP VIGILANT WATCH HIGH DEGREE OF CERTAINTY LOW DEGREE OF CERTAINTY IMMEDIATEIMPACT LONGER-TERMIMPACT social media platforms—but other states only prevent the government from regulating speech, allowing private entities to do as they please.
rank 159ftsg-tech-trends-2020-159
The founding promise of the digital world was broad connectivity where information could flow freely.
rank 160ftsg-tech-trends-2020-160
It may seem counterintuitive, given that there is so much talk of regulating big tech, but government agencies worldwide expect tech companies to help fight against the spread of misinformation, propaganda and terrorism.
rank 161ftsg-tech-trends-2020-161
Digital tools now give government agencies the ability to edit, distort, or outright censor content made by citizens.
rank 162ftsg-tech-trends-2020-162
Within the next decade, there could be as many as 50 billion devices online generating enormous amounts of data.
rank 163ftsg-tech-trends-2020-163
With the proliferation of smart cameras and speakers, developers are building edge systems that can recognize natural language, people, pets and objects.
rank 164ftsg-tech-trends-2020-164
All of the new streaming services—Apple TV+, Peacock, Disney, HBO Max, Quibi—are entering a crowded field dominated by Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and YouTube.
rank 165ftsg-tech-trends-2020-165
In October 2019, Google researchers published a paper in the journal Nature as well as a blog post on the company’s website explaining that they had achieved “quantum supremacy” for the first time.
rank 166ftsg-tech-trends-2020-166
New kinds of processors are being designed to add-on to existing equipment, to give classic computers a quantum boost.
rank 167ftsg-tech-trends-2020-167
The latest (or fifth) generation of mobile networks, 5G is an upgrade from today’s 4G (or LTE) networks and will offer higher speeds, low or even no latency in data transfer, and the ability for billions of devices to connect to each other.
rank 168ftsg-tech-trends-2020-168
The industrial internet of things (or IIoT) refers to all of the hardware that’s collecting, sharing and using data within industrial settings.
rank 169ftsg-tech-trends-2020-169
Cloud robotics and automation is a field in which physical robots share data and code and perform computations remotely via networks, rather than within their containers alone.
rank 170ftsg-tech-trends-2020-170
Collaborative robots—or cobots—work alongside humans or together with other machines.
rank 171ftsg-tech-trends-2020-171
Autonomous robot swarms are coordinated and distributed to perform complex tasks in a more efficient way than a single robot or non-networked group of robots.
rank 172ftsg-tech-trends-2020-172
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) enables businesses to automate certain tasks and processes within offices, allowing employees to spend time on higher-value work.
rank 173ftsg-tech-trends-2020-173
A new generation of robots can now self-assemble, merge, split and repair themselves.
rank 174ftsg-tech-trends-2020-174
Today, the process of designing, programming and building robots is time-intensive—and the robot’s capabilities are limited by its original specifications.
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Imagine robots that are pliable and soft to the touch, more like certain biological forms, and can operate in unpredictable environments.
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Quadrupedal robots have four articulated legs and can move around difficult terrain, making them useful tools for inspections and security applications.
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Robots could bring an end to forced labor and lead a new era of ethical manufacturing.
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Some believe that we have moral obligations to our machines, and that, like people, robots should have rights too.
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These computers, no larger than a grain of dust, are so light they can stay suspended in midair.
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Ownership of powerful, commercial drones may be out of reach, financially, for some companies who need occasional—rather than ongoing—access to aerial logistics.
rank 184ftsg-tech-trends-2020-184
Why bother with fixed security cameras when a flying drone could patrol your home?
rank 185ftsg-tech-trends-2020-185
Robots harnessing neural networks and artificial intelligence can make inferences and decisions when programmed to do so.
rank 186ftsg-tech-trends-2020-186
Drone platform provider Matternet launched a new trial program with UPS in 2019 to deliver medical supplies—documents, blood samples, and other items—via a secure drone carrier.
rank 187ftsg-tech-trends-2020-187
Better cameras, faster processing, and smarter algorithms will soon help drones generate live maps while hovering in previously unknown areas.
rank 188ftsg-tech-trends-2020-188
Smaller, rugged, A.I.-powered drones can access dangerous and hard-to-reach spaces.
rank 189ftsg-tech-trends-2020-189
The Department of Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded new research in drones capable of making deliveries—and then disappearing into thin air.
rank 190ftsg-tech-trends-2020-190
Drones aren’t just for air and land—they can operate underwater, too.
rank 192ftsg-tech-trends-2020-192
Drone adoption will push the development of “air lanes” for both manned and unmanned aircraft where different types of aerial vehicles are grouped into categories and traffic lanes.
rank 193ftsg-tech-trends-2020-193
“Follow-me” functionality popularized by consumer drones will drive the development of sense and avoid technology for autonomous vehicles of all sizes.
rank 194ftsg-tech-trends-2020-194
Drone swarms are groups of drones that fly and move together.
rank 195ftsg-tech-trends-2020-195
Proactive driver safety functions are becoming more advanced as we get closer to autonomous driving.
rank 196ftsg-tech-trends-2020-196
Cars, trucks and buses aren’t the only vehicles driving battery-powered transportation.
rank 197ftsg-tech-trends-2020-197
The business models supporting transportation are starting to change as more players provide pay-per-use structures, such as ride, bike, scooter and car-sharing services.
rank 198ftsg-tech-trends-2020-198
When a provider like Microsoft or Google changes a keyboard shortcut or switches the delete and archive button, the result can be a lot of frustration.
rank 199ftsg-tech-trends-2020-199
The saying, ‘They don’t make them like they used to’ will soon become they literally don’t make them like they used to and they can’t be repaired like they used to.
rank 200ftsg-tech-trends-2020-200
More than 90% of traffic deaths are caused by human error.
rank 201ftsg-tech-trends-2020-201
The first truly autonomous vehicles won’t be transporting humans, but rather goods like pizza.
rank 202ftsg-tech-trends-2020-202
Our outdoor spaces are changing fast.
rank 203ftsg-tech-trends-2020-203
After years of successful trans-Atlantic flights, the age of supersonic jet travel came to an end in October 2003, when British Airways permanently grounded the Concorde.
rank 204ftsg-tech-trends-2020-204
Early in 2018, an oil tanker caught fire after colliding with another boat in the East China Sea, killing more than two dozen people.
rank 205ftsg-tech-trends-2020-205
5G networks and new autonomous robots and vehicles will help optimize warehouse management.
rank 206ftsg-tech-trends-2020-206
Pressure from investors, customers, and governments—in addition to extreme weather events and trade tensions—has resulted in new efforts to build sustainability into the supply chain for many companies.
rank 207ftsg-tech-trends-2020-207
Cold chains are temperature-controlled supply chains.
rank 208ftsg-tech-trends-2020-208
Additive manufacturing allows us to create objects one layer at a time, and we can now do this using different materials.
rank 209ftsg-tech-trends-2020-209
In many countries, the electric grid is a sprawling network of generators and connectors that links citizens to energy distributed by government agencies and private companies.
rank 210ftsg-tech-trends-2020-210
While citizens are demanding action on climate change, some governments around the world are now relaxing or eliminating rules and regulations designed to mitigate human-caused environmental damage.
rank 211ftsg-tech-trends-2020-211
Sustainable technologies are built to reduce the human species' short- and long-term impact on the environment.
rank 212ftsg-tech-trends-2020-212
Renewable energy is collected from sources that can be replenished on a reasonable timescale.
rank 213ftsg-tech-trends-2020-213
In the coming years, an unprecedented number of charging stations for electric vehicles will come online, driving demand for a new kind of car and disrupting the traditional gasoline supply chain and retail business.
rank 214ftsg-tech-trends-2020-214
In the near-future, we will transport clean energy from production sites to areas where power is needed using a new kind of power grid being tested in China.
rank 215ftsg-tech-trends-2020-215
rank 216ftsg-tech-trends-2020-216
Laptops, earphones, mobile devices, and even portable batteries will be chargeable without wires in the coming years.
rank 217ftsg-tech-trends-2020-217
In 2018, companies in Singapore started buying and selling renewable energy certificates on a blockchain-powered system.
rank 218ftsg-tech-trends-2020-218
In the future, we could see a natural gas plant capable of capturing all of its emissions at zero cost using a technology called carbon capture and storage, or CSS.
rank 219ftsg-tech-trends-2020-219
In an attempt to increase nuclear proliferation, Russia is working on a new kind of energy plant that can float and move with currents, thereby withstanding certain harsh environments.
rank 220ftsg-tech-trends-2020-220
Siemens and ABB are each building a new kind of distribution center underwater.
rank 221ftsg-tech-trends-2020-221
rank 222ftsg-tech-trends-2020-222
rank 223ftsg-tech-trends-2020-223
rank 224ftsg-tech-trends-2020-224
Climate change is forcing people from their homes and communities, which can undermine a region's economic stability.
rank 225ftsg-tech-trends-2020-225
rank 226ftsg-tech-trends-2020-226
Scientists are building tubular bioreactors, filling them with green algae, and letting them eat away at the carbon captured from our environment.
rank 227ftsg-tech-trends-2020-227
Carbon dioxide captured from industrial factories can be repurposed as building materials.
rank 228ftsg-tech-trends-2020-228
Also known as solar radiation management, this technique involves injecting tiny particles into the sky that would reflect sunlight back into space.
rank 229ftsg-tech-trends-2020-229
Inspired by maritime observations, this geoengineering technique would try to expand the coverage of the long clouds left by the passage of ocean freighters on the open water.
rank 230ftsg-tech-trends-2020-230
Some scientists are working on enormous, mirrored parasols to be launched into the stratosphere, which would reflect sunlight back into space and theoretically cool Earth’s atmosphere over time.
rank 231ftsg-tech-trends-2020-231
Oceanic iron fertilization involves dumping enormous amounts of iron sulfate into wide expanses of the ocean.
rank 233ftsg-tech-trends-2020-233
The notorious mass of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean is bigger than we originally thought.
rank 234ftsg-tech-trends-2020-234
Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan sets targets for sourcing, supply chain, and production throughout its operations.
rank 235ftsg-tech-trends-2020-235
Corporations have set ambitious goals to become net-zero energy consumers, which means that the energy they use will be equal to the amount of renewable energy created on their campuses.
rank 236ftsg-tech-trends-2020-236
It’s no mystery that the shipping industry is a huge contributor to climate change, due to its carbon dioxide emissions and endless thirst for fuel.
rank 237ftsg-tech-trends-2020-237
Virtually every business will be impacted by extreme weather events, sea level rise, and global warming.
rank 238ftsg-tech-trends-2020-238
Plastic has long been the bane of the environment, piling up in oceans and landfills.
rank 239ftsg-tech-trends-2020-239
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son have both invested in vertical farming, the burgeoning industry in which crops are grown in stacked layers inside of climate-controlled environments.
rank 241ftsg-tech-trends-2020-241
Many countries lack the land mass or infrastructure to produce high-quality produce, so they’re bringing traditional agriculture indoors and underground, using high-tech robotics, irrigation, and lighting systems to cultivate food.
rank 242ftsg-tech-trends-2020-242
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology now crunch data to come up with “plant recipes” that can improve indoor food production even more.
rank 243ftsg-tech-trends-2020-243
Using sensors, algorithms, and optimization analytics, farmers can now quantify the progress of every single crop—down to a single cherry tomato hanging on a particular vine.
rank 244ftsg-tech-trends-2020-244
Deep learning is being used to identify food for a number of reasons: to help computers have more robust conversations with us about the content and origin of what we’re eating, to calculate the number of calories in a dish, and to spot spoiled or tainted food.
rank 245ftsg-tech-trends-2020-245
Technology companies are getting into the agriculture business.
rank 246ftsg-tech-trends-2020-246
CO2 is the undisputed culprit when it comes to climate change.
rank 247ftsg-tech-trends-2020-247
Advancements in agriculture both depend on and will generate new investment in smart packaging.
rank 248ftsg-tech-trends-2020-248
While some cultures eat a variety of bugs as part of their daily diets, bug-based cuisine isn’t a worldwide phenomenon.
rank 249ftsg-tech-trends-2020-249
Cellular agriculture refers to the production of agricultural products from cell cultures, and it’s key to producing lab-grown meat.
rank 250ftsg-tech-trends-2020-250
Terraforming—literally, “earth shaping”—is a concept from science fiction.
rank 251ftsg-tech-trends-2020-251
rank 252ftsg-tech-trends-2020-252
Researchers are developing a new technique that might someday enable us to upgrade our children before they’re born.
rank 253ftsg-tech-trends-2020-253
Synthetic biology is being used to discover and produce molecules on demand.
rank 254ftsg-tech-trends-2020-254
Researchers had previously developed artificial cells that come very close to the real thing, but last year, scientists at the University of California-San Diego discovered a technique that creates cells capable of sending protein signals to other cells and triggering behavior—mimicking what biological cells do on their own.
rank 255ftsg-tech-trends-2020-255
A team of scientists at Arizona State University and Harvard University created single-stranded DNA—which is capable of self-folding into origami-like shapes.
rank 256ftsg-tech-trends-2020-256
The Human Genome Project-read (HGPread)—an initiative to sequence the human genome and to improve the technology and costs associated with sequencing DNA— wrapped up in 2004.
rank 257ftsg-tech-trends-2020-257
In an experiment at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, researchers successfully printed and implanted synthetic ovaries in mice that resulted in a successful pregnancy.
rank 258ftsg-tech-trends-2020-258
Last year, synthetic biologist George Church and a team at Harvard’s Wyss Institute combined three different gene therapies related to cellular decay into a single compound to see if it might reverse obesity and diabetes while also improving kidney and heart function.
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rank 260ftsg-tech-trends-2020-260
Sometimes the gene editing process results in breaking the double strands of a DNA’s helix.
rank 261ftsg-tech-trends-2020-261
A new CRISPR, which scientists call “prime editing,” could make the editing process much more precise and result in more accurate modifications.
rank 262ftsg-tech-trends-2020-262
In 2008, researchers for the first time created cerebral organioids—tiny blobs grown from human stem cells that could grow into brain-like tissues.
rank 263ftsg-tech-trends-2020-263
In 2019, a massive outbreak of swine fever devastated China’s stock—nearly a quarter of the global pig population died.
rank 264ftsg-tech-trends-2020-264
In 2019, China’s first cloned cat was “born.”
rank 265ftsg-tech-trends-2020-265
One of the fastest-growing datasets in the world is made up of our human genetic data.
rank 266ftsg-tech-trends-2020-266
In 2018, scientists from Microsoft Research and the University of Washington achieved a new milestone: They figured out how to create random access on DNA at scale.
rank 267ftsg-tech-trends-2020-267
Synthetic biology is an emerging field that builds new life: replacement organs and soft tissue, as well as entirely new kinds of organisms never before seen on Earth.
rank 268ftsg-tech-trends-2020-268
We may all be guilty of causing a mass genocide, which is happening right now in our guts and in the environment.
rank 269ftsg-tech-trends-2020-269
New genetic screening techniques to test embryos before implantation are making Microbiome Extinction We may all be guilty of causing a mass genocide, which is happening right now in our guts and in the environment.
rank 270ftsg-tech-trends-2020-270
In January 2020, a new coronavirus named 2019-nCoV (also known as novel coronavirus or Wuhan coronavirus) spread rapidly throughout China.
rank 272ftsg-tech-trends-2020-272
Researchers are working on the first-ever comprehensive map of all of the 37.2 trillion cells that make up the human body.
rank 273ftsg-tech-trends-2020-273
Imagine wearing a temporary tattoo instead of taking a handful of pills every day.
rank 274ftsg-tech-trends-2020-274
For many people, implanted electronics are required to live a healthy life, but the machines require surgery, can be costly, and the devices sometimes need replacement parts.
rank 275ftsg-tech-trends-2020-275
Tiny robots capable of delivering medicine to a specific area of the body, or assisting with micro-surgery, are here: They can be steered, threaded, and unfolded to patch wounds, dislodge swallowed objects, perform biopsies, and deliver targeted medications.
rank 276ftsg-tech-trends-2020-276
“Smart thread” uses electrical currents to transmit information to doctors after surgery.
rank 277ftsg-tech-trends-2020-277
Nearly a decade ago, Microsoft experimented with “skinput,” which projected a digital overly onto a person’s arm and turned it into an interactive interface.
rank 278ftsg-tech-trends-2020-278
Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) communicate information from your wearable devices back to medical servers, app manufacturers, and your home computer.
rank 279ftsg-tech-trends-2020-279
Artificial exoskeletons and soft exosuits improve human mobility after a traumatic incident, serving as replacements for human limbs.
rank 280ftsg-tech-trends-2020-280
Movies like Iron Man and Avatar depict mechanized suits that can give average humans superpowers.
rank 281ftsg-tech-trends-2020-281
For many years, Japanese and Chinese workers who must wear protective suits during summer’s intense heat have used wearable fans to keep cool.
rank 282ftsg-tech-trends-2020-282
University of California-Los Angeles computer scientist Jacques J. Vidal first talked about “brain machine interfaces” in the 1970s.
rank 283ftsg-tech-trends-2020-283
Consumers can choose among hundreds of different smartwatches from traditional watchmakers and big tech giants.
rank 284ftsg-tech-trends-2020-284
Last year, Amazon unveiled the Echo Loop smart ring, which functions as a speakerphone, digital assistant, and smart sensor.
rank 285ftsg-tech-trends-2020-285
In-ear computers, otherwise known as earables, are here.
rank 286ftsg-tech-trends-2020-286
One increasingly common form of wearable devices is the type of headsets used for virtual and augmented reality.
rank 287ftsg-tech-trends-2020-287
In the past, connected clothing has required wires and sensors, which can make fabrics stiff or uncomfortable.
rank 288ftsg-tech-trends-2020-288
Welt Corp sells a smart belt that can detect falls—and it sends push notifications if it senses that you’ve eaten too much.
rank 289ftsg-tech-trends-2020-289
In Kenya, a researcher invented smart gloves that can translate sign language into speech.
rank 290ftsg-tech-trends-2020-290
Researchers are developing new prosthetic skins and limbs that restore not just movement, but touch as well.
rank 291ftsg-tech-trends-2020-291
The world’s largest technology companies—Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook—are all working, in some way, on connected devices that you wear over your eyes.
rank 292ftsg-tech-trends-2020-292
The Impact Healthcare is a $3 trillion market, and with its inflated pricing and outdated systems, it is particularly ripe for disruption.
rank 293ftsg-tech-trends-2020-293
Demand for patient data is on the rise.
rank 294ftsg-tech-trends-2020-294
Dictating patient notes is a core task in a clinical practice.
rank 295ftsg-tech-trends-2020-295
Medical and health knowledge is increasing exponentially, and new artificial intelligence systems promise to transform how we understand and care for patients.
rank 296ftsg-tech-trends-2020-296
The average person isn’t aware of how much data they’re shedding.
rank 297ftsg-tech-trends-2020-297
Smart home technologies aren’t necessarily easily interoperable.
rank 298ftsg-tech-trends-2020-298
As smart home devices become more ubiquitous and affordable, people are working to retrofit old homes with new technologies.
rank 299ftsg-tech-trends-2020-299
A decade ago, companies that sold printers made tweaks to their technology to prevent generic ink cartridges from being used.
rank 300ftsg-tech-trends-2020-300
Big tech companies are getting into the real estate market.
rank 301ftsg-tech-trends-2020-301
rank 302ftsg-tech-trends-2020-302
Amazon’s Ring includes an app called Neighbors that allows users to post the videos they’ve recorded—it also encourages them to post videos and photos of suspicious activity, crime, and other notable occurrences within neighborhoods.
rank 303ftsg-tech-trends-2020-303
For the past decade, researchers have worked on something called device handoff, aiming for more efficient communication among devices across a network.
rank 304ftsg-tech-trends-2020-304
The last few years saw the launch of smart fitness equipment, including mirrors, bikes, and treadmills.
rank 305ftsg-tech-trends-2020-305
Video content creators must improve tagging, titles, and meta-data automation—and fast.
rank 306ftsg-tech-trends-2020-306
Major appliance manufacturers are including smart screens in upcoming models, supported by Alexa and Google Assistant.
rank 307ftsg-tech-trends-2020-307
Open source genealogy website GEDmatch allows users to voluntarily share their genetic profiles for free, as a way to find relatives and trace their genealogies.
rank 308ftsg-tech-trends-2020-308
In response to social media hacks and government-sponsored surveillance programs worldwide, journalists have relied on closed, encrypted messaging networks like Keybase and Signal to send secure messages.
rank 309ftsg-tech-trends-2020-309
As we connect more and more devices to the Internet of Things—fitness trackers, mobile phones, cars, coffee makers—those devices are having extended interactions with each other and with the companies that make them.
rank 311ftsg-tech-trends-2020-311
In the U.S., a number of DMV’s—departments of motor vehicles—are selling the personal data of drivers to third parties, including insurance companies, private investigators, vehicle manufacturers, and prospective employers.
rank 312ftsg-tech-trends-2020-312
Throughout 2018, researchers showed how Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home devices could be used to eavesdrop on users by employing techniques similar to conventional phishing attacks.
rank 313ftsg-tech-trends-2020-313
In 2018, when staff at Google, Microsoft and Amazon discovered their companies were engaged in programs to aid U.S. government agencies with surveillance, they published open letters, staged walkouts and protests, and formally organized into activist groups.
rank 314ftsg-tech-trends-2020-314
Who, exactly, owns our data is a topic of great concern worldwide.
rank 315ftsg-tech-trends-2020-315
Whether it’s a connected fitness device, a smart earphone, or a pair of smart glasses, consumers will find themselves continuously being monitored by third parties.
rank 316ftsg-tech-trends-2020-316
Berkeley-based Oasis Labs develops cryptographic techniques that allow companies to use personal data in their algorithms without seeing our individual data points.
rank 317ftsg-tech-trends-2020-317
The #MeToo movement brought to light thousands of stories of sexual harassment and resulted in the takedown of several high-profile men.
rank 318ftsg-tech-trends-2020-318
Many social movements worldwide have encouraged the leaking of sensitive information to the press, to hackers and to other governments.
rank 319ftsg-tech-trends-2020-319
In the years since President Donald Trump was elected, the number of anonymous opinion pieces, sources and leaks rose dramatically compared to previous administrations.
rank 320ftsg-tech-trends-2020-320
Trolling is a specific type of cyber-bullying that often involves spamming, hatespeech, doxxing attacks, and other forms of harassment.
rank 321ftsg-tech-trends-2020-321
In an era of deepfakes and digital mistrust, some networks are building new tools to verify real people.
rank 322ftsg-tech-trends-2020-322
A data retention policy is a formalized protocol for retaining information, and historically companies have enacted them for regulatory compliance.
rank 323ftsg-tech-trends-2020-323
The historical tension between security and privacy will unleash new challenges in the near future.
rank 324ftsg-tech-trends-2020-324
Revenge porn is the practice of uploading an individual's intimate, typically explicit photographs or videos without their knowledge or permission, as an act of vengeance.
rank 325ftsg-tech-trends-2020-325
Drones now come in all shapes and sizes, and they can be used in a variety of settings for surveillance.
rank 326ftsg-tech-trends-2020-326
In September 2018, Facebook revealed that a breach had affected more than 30 million people’s user information, while a month later Google reported that it discovered a glitch in its now-retired Google+ network that could have exposed the private data of 500,000 users.
rank 327ftsg-tech-trends-2020-327
A zero-day vulnerability is a flaw within a hardware or software system that developers didn’t discover during the testing process.
rank 328ftsg-tech-trends-2020-328
With all of the hacking scandals that have plagued us in the past several years, we will see an increase in popularity of something called “zero-knowledge proofs,” which allow one side to verify data without conveying any additional information (such as how or why something is true).
rank 329ftsg-tech-trends-2020-329
While they sound malicious, backdoors— purposely programmed entry points to access the inner workings of an app, operating system, device, or network, meant for internal usage or in cases of extreme extenuating circumstances—aren’t necessarily bad.
rank 330ftsg-tech-trends-2020-330
As our technology becomes more immersive, we’ll have an increased need for remote kill switches.
rank 331ftsg-tech-trends-2020-331
Security expert Bruce Schneier has been warning of an ongoing problem: The supply chain is insecure.
rank 332ftsg-tech-trends-2020-332
Rather than malicious actors simply stealing data, in 2020 you can expect to see new kinds of attacks, in which hackers access and then manipulate data for longterm damage.
rank 333ftsg-tech-trends-2020-333
With the proliferation of smart devices— connected speakers, mirrors, and fitness gadgets—hackers have a wellspring of new targets in 2020.
rank 334ftsg-tech-trends-2020-334
New forms of insurance, intended to help businesses protect against hackers, will begin to enter the marketplace.
rank 335ftsg-tech-trends-2020-335
Thanks to advancements in A.I., one of the big trends in security is automated hacking—in short, software that’s built to outhack the human hackers.
rank 336ftsg-tech-trends-2020-336
The protocols underpinning the web were written long before we had connected microwaves and billions of daily users.
rank 337ftsg-tech-trends-2020-337
A Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS) attack happens when a hacker sends so many requests to machines that the entire network goes down.
rank 338ftsg-tech-trends-2020-338
In the U.S., citizens must continually hand over their social security numbers as a badge, which is the hacking community’s equivalent of an Oscar.
rank 339ftsg-tech-trends-2020-339
Last year, ransomware devastated companies and even entire cities.
rank 340ftsg-tech-trends-2020-340
Hackers-turned-activists have had a busy few years, hacking in support of causes they believe in.
rank 341ftsg-tech-trends-2020-341
Now that Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have moved from the fringe to the mainstream, we can expect to see targeted attacks of these popular voice interfaces.
rank 342ftsg-tech-trends-2020-342
Glitches are so common now they don’t always make the news.
rank 343ftsg-tech-trends-2020-343
Companies that use open source tools will need to perform daily, rather than occasional, security checks this year.
rank 344ftsg-tech-trends-2020-344
Late in 2018, more than 200 companies (including Microsoft, Google and Facebook) and 50 countries signed an international agreement on cybersecurity principles to end malicious cyber activities in peacetime.
rank 345ftsg-tech-trends-2020-345
Many people confuse the deep web—hidden parts of the internet that aren’t usually indexed by search engines—with darknets, which are niche spaces promising anonymity, often for illegal activities.
rank 346ftsg-tech-trends-2020-346
The past several years have been dramatically successful for hackers.
rank 347ftsg-tech-trends-2020-347
It’s odd to think that in 2020 the world still relies on magnetic tape—those clunky old cartridges that were used decades ago to store data.
rank 348ftsg-tech-trends-2020-348
Kaspersky researchers found that in the third quarter of 2019 alone, about 33% of the systems that use and store biometric data were targeted by malware attacks.
rank 349ftsg-tech-trends-2020-349
It’s now well known that Russian hackers have targeted voter registration databases in more than 20 U.S. states, and there is evidence that the Russian government had a long list of targets that went far beyond American politicians running for office—targeting thousands of people, from defense contractors at Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, to Ukrainian lawmakers, to the Pope and his executive team.
rank 350ftsg-tech-trends-2020-350
Researchers recently discovered critical security flaws impacting infrastructure— bridges, traffic systems, radiation monitoring, dams, power grids, etc.—in major U.S. and U.K. cities.
rank 351ftsg-tech-trends-2020-351
Last year marked the tenth anniversary of the U.S. and Israel joining forces to deploy a devastating worm known as Stuxnet, which took down parts of Iran’s covert nuclear weapons program.
rank 352ftsg-tech-trends-2020-352
Antitrust laws exist to ensure and promote fair competition between companies, in part to protect consumers.
rank 353ftsg-tech-trends-2020-353
In our current and near-future political climate, there is great uncertainty in what key technology, environmental, and trade policies will be—not just in the U.S., but in other markets around the world as well.
rank 354ftsg-tech-trends-2020-354
A digital dividend would give citizens a cut of the profits derived from their personal data.
rank 356ftsg-tech-trends-2020-356
This is an election year, and security experts are warning that our election systems could be vulnerable to outside attacks as well as domestic technical incompetence and mismanagement.
rank 357ftsg-tech-trends-2020-357
Amazon, Apple, and Google use different operating systems for their various devices and ecosystems, which some regulators argue is anti-competitive.
rank 358ftsg-tech-trends-2020-358
Big tech companies are standing up departments dedicated to geopolitics.
rank 359ftsg-tech-trends-2020-359
Throughout history, multilateral efforts have resulted in nations working together toward a shared purpose.
rank 360ftsg-tech-trends-2020-360
Parts of the federal government rely on comically old technology that is vulnerable and very difficult to maintain.
rank 361ftsg-tech-trends-2020-361
Cybersovereignty refers to a government exerting its control over how the internet is run, who gets access to it, and what can be done with all of the data generated.
rank 362ftsg-tech-trends-2020-362
From smart city grids to car-free zones and flying taxi parking lots, cities are poised for transformational updates to their technological systems and related infrastructure.
rank 363ftsg-tech-trends-2020-363
Historically, cybersecurity hasn’t been a top priority for cities and towns.
rank 364ftsg-tech-trends-2020-364
Blockchain is being used to facilitate a new kind of digital citizenship in some countries.
rank 365ftsg-tech-trends-2020-365
Identity management systems have seen a gradual evolution from government issued IDs to email providers and social media accounts.
rank 366ftsg-tech-trends-2020-366
In the context of blockchain technology, tokenization refers to the representation of a real-world asset or value with a digital token.
rank 368ftsg-tech-trends-2020-368
Blockchain networks like Ethereum offer new ways to track ownership and licensing for content through smart contracts.
rank 369ftsg-tech-trends-2020-369
Decentralized platforms for content will give more control to the people who originally created it, whether it be a social media post or a public speech.
rank 370ftsg-tech-trends-2020-370
Blockchains can be used as a universal index of content authorship and edits.
rank 371ftsg-tech-trends-2020-371
Distributed computing is a process in which large computer problems are broken down into smaller segments that can be calculated on multiple standard computers, instead of on centralized supercomputers.
rank 372ftsg-tech-trends-2020-372
Big tech companies are building new services and tools for banking.
rank 373ftsg-tech-trends-2020-373
It is no accident that Facebook’s Libra positions itself as a global cryptocurrency built to promote financial inclusion, a term used to describe equitable access to affordable financial services for the widest population possible.
rank 374ftsg-tech-trends-2020-374
Quantitative hedge funds, also known as “quant funds,” have been around since the 1990s.
rank 375ftsg-tech-trends-2020-375
Financial data systems are becoming more standardized and interoperable, facilitating access to banking infrastructure and analytics for third parties.
rank 376ftsg-tech-trends-2020-376
Financial service and payment providers are tapping into social interactions to facilitate financial transactions.
rank 377ftsg-tech-trends-2020-377
Countries including China and Sweden are researching how to develop their own decentralized currencies.
rank 378ftsg-tech-trends-2020-378
Big banks now use artificial intelligence to automate credit risk modeling.
rank 379ftsg-tech-trends-2020-379
Investing in cryptocurrencies isn’t for the faint of heart.
rank 380ftsg-tech-trends-2020-380
Crypto-mining malware pirates processing power on a computer, smartphone, or other connected device to mine cryptocurrencies.
rank 381ftsg-tech-trends-2020-381
In 2019, scientists did what they had always thought was impossible: They captured an image of a black hole’s silhouette using the Event Horizon Telescope.
rank 382ftsg-tech-trends-2020-382
Entrepreneurs are building and preparing to launch thousands of low-cost, high-value satellites in the next year.
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With thousands of planned spacecraft launches—microsat and cubesat constellations, in addition to heavier satellites, rockets, and spaceships with rovers and human cargo—astronomers are warning that our view of the sky, and our ability to research the cosmos, is under threat.
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Apple and Facebook are working on satellite technology that would beam internet services directly to our devices, and in the process bypass our ISPs.
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A quantum computer uses special equipment and algorithms to perform wildly complicated computations faster and more efficiently than classical computers.
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In 2018, a review board found that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope project was already $8.8 billion over budget and still many years away from taking flight.
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Mining asteroids for resources will prove invaluable to researchers back on Earth.
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New spacecraft, rockets, and other technologies are helping private commercial companies to achieve liftoff—with plenty of eager venture capitalists footing the bill.
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As the cost of sending payloads into space decreases, we will start to see more products made in space.
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Test launches for manned commercial space flight are now underway, which will help usher in a new era of space tourism.
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New technologies have spawned a new trend in space transportation: galactic ride sharing.
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NASA said it wants to send humans to Mars by 2030, and in 2016, it selected six private U.S. companies, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Bigelow Aerospace, to develop prototypes for deep space habitats.
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Researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory are working on a concept that could not only help steer satellites back down to earth when they’re decommissioned, but also clean up space clutter in the process.
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New propulsion systems for rocket engines would use mercury as a fuel, which could run the risk of spreading toxic chemicals through Earth’s atmosphere.
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Some satellites require fuel, and, as it turns out, fuel is very heavy.
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The U.S. announced the launch of a new Space Force in 2019.
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In January 2019, China became the first country to land a robotic mission on the moon’s far side.
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If climate change escalates, and we are unable to mitigate its effects, humanity is going to need a plan B to planet Earth.
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Artificial intelligence (A.I.) represents the third era of computing, one that could usher in a new period of productivity and prosperity for all.
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In order for our automated systems to work, they need both our data and a framework for making decisions.
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There are scores of new devices on the horizon that are designed to alter and enhance the way we interact both with the world around us, and with entirely new digital worlds.
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There are different categories of deepfakes, which include malicious, non-malicious and benign.
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In our increasingly stressful society, people are seeking new forms of escape from reality and mood alteration.
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We are at the beginning of a new era of computing, one that will bring powerful new computers and will eventually enable more processing at or near the source of our data.
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An autonomous vehicle is capable of sensing its environment and operating without human involvement while carrying some kind of cargo.
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Large companies around the world are highlighting sustainability as part of their core values.
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Biointerfaces act as intermediaries between a biomaterial (cells, organs, muscles, or entire bodies) and technologies.
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More than 1,000 wearable devices are now available to consumers and to the enterprise.
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Connected appliances, lights, thermostats, plugs, and other devices can be networked inside a home to automate everyday tasks.
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From ransomware attacks that targeted municipalities, to data breaches that exposed the personal details of hundreds of millions of people, to supply chain attacks that crippled global trade, malicious hacking was on the rise in 2019.
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