Internet for billions in 100 countries with no current access and hope for transplant patients worldwide in new World Economic Forum emerging technologies report

The World Economic Forum, in association with Frontiers, new Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2024, released today (25 June), shows that among technologies emerging globally, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) and High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) have the potential to connect billions worldwide who currently have no internet access.  

The report also highlights how advances in genetically engineering animal organs for use in human transplantation gives hope to the millions on waiting lists worldwide. Other technologies in the top ten that that could transform lives and societies globally include:  

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled discoveries that could lead to improved disease management, better understanding of our bodies and minds, and new materials that benefit health and economies worldwide. 

• Climate change-addressing technologies, ranging from engineered organisms that convert carbon dioxide emissions into products and elastocalorics that emit heat under stress and absorb heat when relaxed, transforming energy use and efficiency.  

“Organizations make better choices when they understand the factors shaping the future. The report identifies technologies poised to significantly influence societies and economies,” said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director, World Economic Forum, and Head of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “The report spotlights technologies with immense potential for revolutionizing connectivity, addressing the urgent challenges of climate change and driving innovation across various fields.” 

Frederick Fenter, Frontiers’ Chief Executive Editor, commented, “Drawing on the expertise of Frontiers’ field chief editors worldwide brings our shared commitment to transformative science into clear focus, offering insight and clarity to breakthrough technology that has the ability to change societies, economies, and lives for the better. This is open science in action, and we are delighted to partner with the World Economic Forum in bringing these technologies to the attention of business, science, and political leaders across the globe.” 

The full top ten list is as follows: 

• AI for Scientific Discovery: Pioneering New Frontiers in Knowledge 

• Privacy Enhancing Technologies: Empowering Global Collaboration at Scale 

• Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: Transforming Wireless Connectivity with Smart Mirrors 

• High-Altitude Platform Systems: Bridging the Internet Divide from the Stratosphere 

• Integrated Sensing and Communication: Building Next Generation Networks with Digital Awareness 

• Immersive Technology for the Built World: Laying New Foundations for Construction and Maintenance 

• Elastocalorics: Powering Heat Systems to Work like Muscles 

• Carbon Capturing Microbes: Engineering Organisms to Convert Emissions into Valuable Products 

• Alternative Protein Feeds: Revolutionizing Animal Nutrition for Sustainability 

• Organ Transplant Genomics: Gene-editing Organs for Transplantation Advancements