Disruptive Technologies

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Meaningful transformation will be made possible by the interplay between various disruptive technologies. In our research, we examine several of the most important of these technologies. Together, these have the potential to:
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• Profoundly change the economic and social lives of a majority of the world’s population by 2030.
• ​Have a measurable impact on attaining the targets laid out by one or more of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

We refer to these as Disruptive Technologies. We place special focus on five:​
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• ​Renewable Energy.
• Network Inclusivity
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML)
• Blockchain

There are many other nascent and exciting technologies that have captured the public imagination over the past few years - from 3D printing, to advances in genetics, to nanotechnology and quantum computing. Many of these might also be considered ‘transformative’.

We place special emphasis on these five technologies, because:
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1. They are already widely adopted, or on the precipice of mass adoption. While serious technical challenges may exist, the main barriers to wider adoption are often economic rather than technical.
2. Innovations within these domains are relevant to our core areas of focus. Cooperation and partnerships across these domains will be critical in providing solutions to these challenges.

The Technologies

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Renewable Energy & Energy Storage

A range of technologies which capture, transform, store, transport, make available, and use non-exhaustible and carbon-neutral energy to power our world.

​Network Inclusivity

The internet provides individuals with access to all public human knowledge, highly scalable processing power, and the ability to transact, store and aggregate monetary instruments and data. This facilitates the development of platforms and marketplaces upon which iterative platforms and marketplaces can be built. 

Cloud platforms and the access to processing power they provide amplify the internet’s reach and impact.

Smartphones and feature phones are handheld devices which virtualize and provide access to a wide range of functionality and physical tools, make all of those things highly portable, and provide access to the internet.

With the internet as the hub for all human knowledge and communication, smartphones as the access point to this hub, and the increasing adoption of both of these technologies - amplified by the rise of cloud computing - arises the phenomenon which we have termed “Network Inclusivity.”

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things refers to the networking of physical objects through the use of embedded sensors, actuators, and other devices that can collect or transmit information about the objects. The data amassed from these devices can then be analyzed to optimize products, services, and operations. [citation]

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (“AI/ML”)

Machine Learning is the use of computer algorithms and models, which employ a form of “learning” to improve performance at certain tasks - which can include prediction, classification, and categorization. 

Artificial Intelligence is the ability for a computer to perform certain tasks on its own, or in response to stimuli. A defining feature of AI is its ability to make logical “decisions” in reaction to stimuli or other inputs, rather than through the simple application of pre-programmed instructions.

Machine learning is a way of achieving AI.

Blockchain and Cryptographic Ledgers (“Blockchain”)

Blockchain is a distributed ledger, or database, shared across a public or private computing network. Blockchain’s core advantages are decentralization, cryptographic security, transparency, and immutability.