Here's to 2023. And a list of Important Things.
I wrote the list in 2017 during a period of extreme irritation with all things Brexit. It is still surprisingly pertinent...
Driverless cars and autonomous transport technology
Neo-Luddite campaigns opposed to digital disaggregation, AI and robots
Better drones enable African development without roads or rail
Electricity supply systems (power supply, microgeneration, disagregation, off-grid)
Fracking, renewables lead to declining reliance on oil (impact on economy, on geopolitics)
Private space travel
Colonising Mars
Non-national living, seastedding, artificial islands, cruise living
Declining fertility rates in rich countries
Continuing population pressures in poor countries
Migration from poor places to rich places
International migration, people trafficking, refugees
Integration and community cohesion in a world with more migration
Food production and distribution - feeding the world: GMO, animal welfare
Changing diets as poor nations become richer
Big killers - malaria, AIDS, and so forth
Antibiotics
Medical technology
Continuing urbanisation with associated health and societal problems
The future of care and health provision in an ageing society
Loneliness
Declining rates of functional literacy as technology reduces need to read and write
Ideological bias in education - especially higher education
Decline in religious worship leading to more extremism from faith groups
Intellectual property, copyright and piracy
Scientifical and technical literacy
Cyberterrorism, cybercrime and cyberwar
Pornography and sexual exploitation
Women's rights
Rogue states, civil war and terrorism
Break up of established nations - Spain, Italy, UK, USA?
Climate change - resilience, technological response, economic impact
Environmental degradation, desertification
Reforestation, rewilding
Flooding and flood mitigation
Water supply and water quality
Pollution of the oceans
Digital disruption of elite white collar business (law, accountancy, banking)
FinTech and its challenge to central banking system of financial management
3D Printing and associated technologies
Impact of Internet of Things on human productivity
The 'gig' economy, self-employment - rights and protections
Chinese monopoly of African resources
China becoming a net importer of goods
Remote warfare - drones, military robots
Nuclear proliferation
Mushrooms (or rather fungi in building, medicine and environmental management)
Nanotechnology
Biotechnology including 'bionics'
Break up of blue collar/white collar political order
Impact of digital technology on democratic institutions
England winning the World Cup (well we can dream!)
Happy New Year - ignore the doomsters even when they are right.