10 Future Innovative Technologies in Your Teens That Will Support You 10 Years Later [Reading Science]

McKinsey & Company Publishes 'Top 10 Future Innovation Technologies' Report
KISTEP: "Korea Must Focus on Customized R&D and Build Global Leadership"
Helps Personal Career Choices, Startups, and Long-Term Business Strategies

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] We live in a society where understanding science and technology reveals the future and becomes 'money.' The global consulting firm McKinsey & Company recently selected the top 10 innovative technologies that will drive future changes over the next decade, analyzing and presenting technology trends, development prospects, and ripple effects, attracting attention. This will be helpful for young people choosing hopeful careers, companies' business strategies, and startup ventures.

1. Next-Generation Process Automation and Virtualization

This refers to technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), robots, collaborative robots, robotic process automation, digital twins, and 3D/4D printing. The report forecasts that by 2025, 50% of current production and work activities will be automated or handled in virtual reality. Robots that learn and operate autonomously will replace human labor, accelerating workforce restructuring and redeployment, leading society to face issues such as utilizing idle labor and unemployment due to labor substitution. Additionally, with the advancement of advanced simulations and 3D-4D printing technologies, product and service lifecycles and development cycles will shorten, resulting in new revenue generation strategies and significantly impacting corporate operations.

2. The Future of Connectivity - Ultra-High-Speed Networks

With the development of technologies such as 5G communication and IoT connectivity, by 2030, 80% of the world's population will use 5G. Ultra-high-speed connectivity will be possible regardless of distance, accelerating the emergence of new services such as remote medical care and surgery, live VR (virtual reality), and more. Furthermore, various online connected business models are expected to be created.

3. Distributed Infrastructure

This refers to cloud computing and edge computing technologies. The report predicts that by 2025, over 75% of enterprise-generated data will be processed by cloud and edge computing. As demand for building and operating servers and IT infrastructure within organizations is replaced by cloud computing, companies will be able to utilize related personnel for enhancing competitiveness, such as software development.

4. Next-Generation Computing

Quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, and other computers much faster than existing ones will emerge. By 2035, the value of quantum computing utilization will exceed $1 trillion. This will lead to enhanced high-performance computing capabilities such as molecular-level simulations, driving innovation across industries including materials, chemistry, and pharmaceuticals. It will also promote personalized product and service development. On the other hand, existing cybersecurity systems may face disruption due to quantum computing's ability to break current encryption within seconds, necessitating the introduction of new encryption security algorithms.

5. Artificial Intelligence Applications and Utilization

With advancements in computer vision, natural language processing, and speech technologies, by 2050, over 75% of digital services will feature user-customized or significantly enhanced convenience interfaces like voice assistants. As a result, simple repetitive tasks such as document creation and organization will rapidly disappear, and AI will support specialized service personnel in fields like remote medical care and advanced engineering.

6. The Future of Programming

With the advent of the Software 2.0 era, the report analyzes that by 2050, the time required for software development and analysis will be reduced by up to 30 times or more. Consequently, software development complexity will decrease, efficiency will increase, and demand for data management, analysis, and related infrastructure will further grow.

7. Trust Architecture

With the development of technologies such as zero-trust security and blockchain, by 2027, up to 10% of the global GDP is expected to be linked. Trust-based business activities between companies and individuals without intermediaries will expand, enabling cost reductions. However, the report anticipates various government regulatory and supervisory attempts.

8. Bio Revolution

The report foresees that technologies such as biomolecules/omics/biosystems, biomachines/biocomputing/augmentation will develop, achieving the same results as the past decade's human genome sequencing at 1/45th of the cost. Omics, which integratively analyzes specific types of molecules within the body, enables rapid analysis of genetic material, bringing innovation to fields such as fast vaccine development, personalized medicine, and gene therapy. Computing technologies using biological materials like DNA are also expected to significantly improve the limitations of data storage capacity.

9. Next-Generation Materials

Nano materials, graphene and 2D materials, molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles, and others are expected to be mass-produced in the future. By 2050, the number of patents registered between 2008 and 2018 is expected to be produced tenfold. If these 'dream materials' are widely used, they will improve the economics of various products and services and promote corporate structural reorganization. For example, combining graphene, which has excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, with solar power generation materials will achieve much higher efficiency than before.

10. The Future of Clean Technology

Technologies such as nuclear fusion, smart distribution/measurement, battery/battery storage, and carbon-neutral energy will also drive significant changes. Major governments worldwide are currently aiming to replace 75% of total energy with renewable energy by 2050 to prevent global warming. This will greatly impact business models centered on carbon fuels, and numerous new laws and regulations related to climate change will emerge, making changes to companies' balance sheets inevitable.

Moreover, these future innovative technologies will have varying degrees of impact across different industries. The advancement of next-generation process automation and virtualization technologies will significantly affect almost all industrial sectors, including transportation, logistics, autonomous driving, chemistry, electronics, information, and communication. However, next-generation materials are expected to have particularly strong influence in advanced industries and electronics sectors such as semiconductors and batteries.

Past experience shows that leading future innovative technologies leads to pioneering innovation and securing a monopolistic position in related industries. For example, in the U.S. S&P 500 index, companies that succeeded in innovation based on IT technology since 2000 account for more than 25% of the total stock value, whereas it was less than 10% in 2000.

The Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) recently analyzed and evaluated this report, presenting implications. It pointed out that Korea should focus on research and development (R&D) to secure future technologies and adopt a strategic approach to establish itself as a global leader amid intensifying technological hegemony competition among the U.S., China, and the European Union (EU). It also concluded that considering future economic and industrial environmental changes such as the acceleration of the 4th Industrial Revolution after the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to bridge the digital divide across society are necessary.