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Guest Blog: techUK members McKinsey explore which technologies have the most momentum in an accelerating world and identify the trends that matter most.

As all things digital continue to accelerate, which technology trends matter most for companies and executives? To answer that question, we developed a unique methodology to identify the ten trends most relevant to competitive advantage and technology investments.

These trends may not represent the coolest, most bleeding-edge technologies. But they’re the ones drawing the most venture money, producing the most patent filings, and generating the biggest implications for how and where to compete and the capabilities you need to accelerate performance.

Unifying and underlying them all is the combinatorial effect of massively faster computation propelling new convergences between technologies; startling breakthroughs in health and materials sciences; an array of new product and service functionalities; and a strong foundation for the reinvention of companies, markets, industries, and sectors.

In the next decade, according to entrepreneur and futurist Peter Diamandis, we’ll experience more progress than in the past 100 years combined, as technology reshapes health and materials sciences, energy, transportation, and a wide range of other industries and domains. The implications for corporations are broad. Consider the compressive effects on value chains as manufacturers combine 3-D or 4-D printing with next-generation materials to produce for themselves what suppliers had previously provided and eliminate the need for spare parts. Watch retailers combine sensors, computer vision, AI, augmented reality, and immersive and spatial computing to wow customers with video-game-like experience designs. Imagine virtualized R&D functions in science-based industries like pharma and chemicals or a fully automated finance function in your company.

Will your organization make the most of these trends to pursue new heights of rapid innovation, improved performance, and significant achievement? This interactive covers how fast these trends are moving toward you, their level of maturity, and their applicability across industries. It also presents the key technologies underlying each trend, along with their current applications and the disruptions they portend for companies going forward. These disruptions may be significant. A recent McKinsey survey describes how, during the pandemic, technology further lowered barriers to digital disruption, paving the way for more rapid, technology-driven change. Survey respondents in every sector say their companies face significant vulnerabilities to profit structures, the ability to bundle products, and operations. We’ll have more to say soon regarding the impact on specific industries—as well as the strategic questions these trends suggest for your industry, your business model, and your unique organizational capabilities. Until then, our new research helps make sense of a noisy and complex technology landscape.

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