Trendy, Trendier, Trendiest

Luu Nguyen

Member, IEEE Future Directions Committee (FDC)

Co-Chair IEEE Quantum

AI has so overwhelmingly dominated the news cycle lately that one would think that it is the only technology game-changer in town. Where is AI heading? How will it shape the future? As Niels Bohr had said: “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” Technology predictions are harder in terms of timing and business components. The IEEE Industry Advisory Board (IAB) has mainly focused on Megatrends within the last few years to provide a broader context and insight. A Megatrend is not a temporary fashionable technology originating from a single contributing IEEE Society or is limited to a region. It influences the evolution of multiple trends and impacts multiple factors (technological, economic, ecological, and social.)

Three Megatrends were identified: Digital Transformation, Sustainability, and Artificial General Intelligence. At the February 16-17, 2024 Quarterly Review meeting of FDC in Orlando, FL, the IAB summarized the latest refresh on these megatrends. Figure 1 compares a Top-Down vs. Bottom-up view of the Megatrends against technology predictions that have popped up in 2024.