Brim Report for November 2005 A Futuristic Outlook for 2006 — by James Brimeyer The following thought-provoking forecasts were published in The Futurist Magazine, November-December 2005 issue. BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS Biotech and pharmaceutical workers, radiology specialists, gerontologists, and nurses will see a big demand for their skills in the coming decade, as baby boomers age and increase the demand for medical attention. The job outlook looks bright for solar industries, with some 42,000 new U.S. jobs by 2015. In the next decade, the U.S. solar industry could generate more than $34 billion in new manufacturing investments. Information technologies and open collaboration are toppling traditional business hierarchies. Increasingly, individuals will become “extra-preneurs.” EDUCATION Americans will find adulthood increasingly elusive. The growing demand for advanced education, coupled with higher costs and disappearing education subsidies, is forcing young people to stay in school longer before they can find well-paying jobs. The number of students who will journey abroad to take college courses will triple from 2 million to 6 million a year by 2020. In 1999, foreign-born students made up half of all engineering, mathematics, and computer science graduates in the United States, up from one-third in the 1980s. The classrooms of the future will have no walls, no clocks, and no age segregation. More and more high-school students are leaving the classroom in favor of age-diverse workshops and seminars that focus on their specific interests. Instant messaging and email will bring kids to the head of the class. In digitally enhanced classrooms, instructors will be able to give real-time quizzes and get instant feedback so they can adjust their lesson plans. ENVIRONMENT Discarded cell phones are a growing environmental problem, so researchers in the United Kingdom have developed phones with biodegradable materials. HEALTH There is an osteoporosis epidemic ahead. By 2020, half of all Americans could be at risk for fractures due to low bone mass. A shortage of health-care workers in the United States and a highly mobile culture will lead future senior citizens to hit the road for their health. U.S. nursing homes could be offshore, and aging baby boomers may increasingly become medical tourists. Global warming climate change could cause a 4.5% increase in the number of summer ozone-related deaths in the New York metropolitan area by 2050. More doctors and hospitals will make use of wireless technologies, such as wearable computers and mattresses embedded with sensors, to allow for more constant and reliable monitoring of patients’ vital signs. INFORMATION SOCIETY Digital media will dominate communications by 2010, altering all aspects of human culture. Future readers will have access to a more abundant and diverse array of texts. Rapid progress in translating technology is bringing us ever closer to the day when it will be possible to read anything ever published by anyone at any time of day or night. RESOURCES Ocean-based energy is the wave of the future. Current and potential markets for offshore wind and tidal power will grow considerably in the next five years. The rise of hydrogen technologies that give households and businesses more energy independence could send electric utilities scrambling. SECURITY AND TERRORISM Terrorist acts will become more frequent and more violent. The forces contributing to militancy in Muslim lands—overcrowding, underemployment, and resource scarcity—are becoming more severe. Because Western nations’ policies are often perceived as the underlying causes of these problems, countries such as the U.S. should expect to be the targets of more acts of terrorism for at least the next 20 years. Future surveillance cameras will not only catch a criminal, but also stop the culprit from committing a crime. Expert-system image analysis will be able to recognize unusual activity, such as violent behavior or glass breaking, and call the police. TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE Microscopic robots may one day be able to transport specific drugs directly to affected tissue to perform precision elimination of damaged cells. Interactive reality TV will make you the star. The next generation of interactive video technology will blend the viewer’s image directly into the action on screen. A camera pointed at the viewer would take that image and superimpose it digitally into a video playing on television. Lunar vacations may become a reality by the 2020s, creating all new industries and jobs. Virtual mirrors will be able to digitally visualize what junk food, excess alcohol, and lack of exercise will do to your looks. VALUES AND LIFESTYLES The trend of two-income couples may be reversing. The proportion of married-couple U.S. households in which both husband and wife worked fell from 53.4% in 1997 to 50.9% in 2003. In the future, we will have more control over our use of time. More-flexible work schedules and 24-hour services will allow people to customize their daily and weekly use of time. Technologies such as digital recorders will let people consume television when they want to and not according to broadcasters’ schedules. TO CONTACT US We invite you to visit our web site at: www.brimgroup.com to review our current assignments or access copies of other recent Brim Reports. Contact us at: brimgroup@aol.com THE BRIMEYER GROUP ASSIGNMENTS |
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