#3 The advent of quantum computing
Quantum computing is a radically different approach to computing, using the characteristics of quantum mechanics to tackle problems far beyond the reach of existing machines.
After years of nearing practical realisation, quantum computing is now gaining genuine commercial momentum, with substantial investment focused on enhancing computational power, reducing error rates, and tackling a range of practical challenges.
Quantum computing won’t merely be a new way of solving problems, in many ways it could be a gamechanger across a surprisingly wide range of areas.
Given the intensity of research, investment and activity, we predict that commercially useful quantum computing could start to come online before the end of the decade. We expect a marked uptick in economic output from those economies that employ quantum computing, as boosts to AI capability, finance, logistics and pharmaceuticals, amongst others, make an impact.
We expect early use of quantum computing will be critical across many sectors to maintain competitiveness.
#4 Powering the tech future
The demand for energy to power AI and computing is already driving innovation, and we expect developments in energy sourcing and efficiency to be a key feature of the next decade and beyond.
The technology sector is already prioritising the challenge of managing compute energy demands (the electrical power consumed by IT infrastructure – such as data centres, servers, AI accelerators, and personal computers). This is being addressed through two approaches: the sourcing of – and generation of – new energy sources; and achieving greater energy efficiency.
The hardware needed to support tech trends currently requires the use of rare metals. As demand increases, and geopolitical tensions rise, we are also likely to see a trend towards the development of alternate materialsto rare metals, be it more common materials [such as sodium (for batteries) or carbon (in its graphene form) for application in semiconductors], metamaterials (synthetic composite materials designed to have unique properties not found in nature) or the use of biomaterials (derived from natural sources).
