The Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2023 report, a collaborative effort between open access publisher Frontiers and the World Economic Forum (WEF), identifies the key technologies expected to have a significant positive impact on society over the next three to five years. Carefully curated by an international steering group of experts, the technologies were selected from a pool of nearly 100 contenders based on criteria such as novelty, applicability, depth, and power. Frontiers, as this year's knowledge partner, collaborated with the WEF to enlist experts from its expansive research community to provide further analysis of the technologies.
For over a decade, the Top 10 Emerging Technologies report has served as an invaluable resource for business leaders, innovators, policymakers, and professionals across various industries and disciplines. It aids in anticipating developing technologies while comprehending associated risks and opportunities. In a significant expansion this year, the report incorporates a qualitative assessment of each technology's impact on people, the planet, prosperity, industry, and equity. These "impact fingerprints" draw on data collected from more than 90 experts representing 20 countries, providing in-depth analysis of the predicted influence of these technologies on society within the next five years. The selection of academics was made from Frontiers' network of scientific journal editors, while industry leaders were chosen from the WEF's Innovator Communities.
The Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2023 report also features a collection of Transformation Maps co-curated by Frontiers for each of the ten technologies, including flexible batteries, generative artificial intelligence, sustainable aviation fuel, designer phages, metaverse for mental health, wearable plant sensors, spatial omics, flexible neural electronics, sustainable computing, and AI-facilitated healthcare.
These Transformation Maps, hosted on the Forum's Strategic Intelligence platform, provide deeper insights and contextual understanding of how each technology connects to other global agenda topics. Additionally, they highlight the latest articles on the subject from trusted sources. A total of 15 Frontiers journals contributed to the report, encompassing a range of domains such as Artificial Intelligence, Batteries and Electrochemistry, Cell Signaling, Chemical Biology, Computer Science, Energy Efficiency, Fuels, Lab on a Chip Technologies, Medical Engineering, Medical Technology, Membrane Science and Technology, Microbiology, Plant Science, Systems Biology, and Virtual Reality.
The release of the report coincides with the World Economic Forum's 14th Annual Meeting of the Champions held in Tianjin, People's Republic of China, from June 27 to 29, 2023. Reviving the tradition of the Forum's "Summer Davos," this meeting brings together global leaders from business, government, civil society, international organizations, innovators, and academics. The theme for this year's meeting is 'Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy.'
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