Citation[]
National Intelligence Council, Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds (full-text).
Overview[]
Global Trends 2030 is intended to stimulate thinking about the rapid and vast geopolitical changes characterizing the world today and possible global trajectories over the next 15 years. It does not seek to predict the future — which would be an impossible feat — but instead provide a framework for thinking about possible futures and their implications.
In-depth research, detailed modeling and a variety of analytical tools drawn from public, private and academic sources were employed in the production of this publication. NIC leadership engaged with experts in nearly 20 countries — from think tanks, banks, government offices and business groups — to solicit reviews of the report.
Information technology[]
The report has the following to say about Information technology:
| “ | Information technology is entering the big data era. Process power and data storage are becoming almost free; networks and the cloud will provide global access and pervasive services; social media and cybersecurity will be large new markets. This growth and diffusion will present significant challenges for governments and societies, which must find ways to capture the benefits of new IT technologies while dealing with the new threats that those technologies present. Fear of the growth of an Orwellian surveillance state may lead citizens particularly in the developed world to pressure their governments to restrict or dismantle big data systems.
Information technology-based solutions to maximize citizens' economic productivity and quality of life while minimizing resource consumption and environmental degradation will be critical to ensuring the viability of megacities. Some of the world's future megacities will essentially be built from scratch, enabling a blank-slate approach to infrastructure design and implementation that could allow for the most effective possible deployment of new urban technologies — or create urban nightmares, if such new technologies are not deployed effectively.[1] |
” |
References[]
- ↑ Id. at ix-x.