TechVision – Uncovering Future Market Opportunities Driven by Innovation
The TechVision Program is the flagship research of Technical Insights (TI), the Technology Research and Consulting division of Frost & Sullivan. It represents a collection of the most exciting technologies that will shape our World in the next couple of years. This body of work is a culmination of thousands of hours of relentless effort put in by over 50 global TI analysts based in six continents.
The selected technologies are spread across nine Technology Clusters which represent the bulk of R&D and innovation activity today. Theses clusters are - Sensors & Control, Materials & Coatings, Clean & Green Environment, Information & Communication Technology, Microelectronics, Sustainable Energy, Health & Wellness, Medical Devices & Imaging Technology, and Advanced Manufacturing & Automation.
The analyst team collected intelligence on several emerging and disruptive technologies and innovations from around the globe. Numerous interviews were conducted with innovators and developers. The respondents were spread across public and private companies, universities, research institutions, and R&D oriented government agencies. Next, each technology was rated and compared across many parameters such as global R&D foot print, Year of Impact, global IP patenting activity, private and government funding, current and emerging applications, current and potential adoption rate, etc. The program provides all these details for each of the selected technologies. Finally, the list was condensed to the Top 50 technologies which we believe have the maximum potential for wide-scale launch and mass commercialization.
TechVision is an annual research initiative of Technical Insights. Its primary objective is to identify key technologies that will impact our lives in this decade. This year’s research unveils the 50 most innovative technologies set to dramatically transform industries, strategies and businesses in 2013.
Up to 85 per cent of technologies developed globally never make it to the commercial world. Business and investors need to closely assess the potential of a given technology platform to understand the true market prospects it holds and to evaluate the risk-reward elements.
“Apart from identifying the top 50 technologies for 2013, our global technology team has identified various convergence opportunities enabled by a combination of the technologies. We believe these identified opportunities represent exciting times ahead for the multitude of industries and markets they will impact,” remarks Mr Shukla.
Convergence opportunities can be found across various industry sectors. One of the most interesting ones is self-healing organs. A few years ago, this was just a topic for science fiction literature and movies; now it can be achieved by the convergence of the following technologies: Carbon Fibres, Polymer Chameleons, 3D Printing. The combination of these technologies will reduce the amount of tissue rejection and also the presence of polymer chameleons that can be engineered to self-heal in case of damage and wear and tear.
Another example is interactive Augmented Reality (AR) that can be enabled for predictive remote patient monitoring. Capabilities converging in this case are ICT Technologies (Augmented reality; Cloud computing; Big Data Analytics; Data visualization) and Sensors (Ubiquitous wireless sensor network; nano-sensors and CBRNE sensors). The combination of selected ICT and sensor technologies could provide personalised disease management tools that help better manage predicted symptoms, chronic illness, and episodic acute conditions.
TechVision 2020 showcases each selected technology, closely assessing the potential of a given technology platform to understand the true market opportunities, while evaluating the risk-reward elements. It appraises technology maturity and adoption ratings, possible year of impact and patent landscape, examines private and government funding trends, and explores future technology and application roadmaps. And more interestingly, the output assesses future convergence opportunities as well as the next waves of innovation that will have a lasting impact on industries and markets.
“In order not to remain in the “Valley of Death”, investors have to understand the potential of their technology and the true value it can bring. Innovative products are different; they are not in compliance with existing standards. Sometimes, revenues are not so obvious and ROI can take more time. The important aspect here is to educate end-users and society about the benefits innovative technology and products can bring,” summarises Mr. Shukla.
For more information on TechVision, anything else, send an e-mail to Ankit A. Shukla, Practise Director, Technical Insights (Europe) at ashukla@frost.com
