What is the Future of Frontier Tech for Development?
A Futures Exploration Cycle • Mar-May 2023
Frontier technologies continue to have huge potential for changing development work across the world, for the better.
New technologies create opportunities to approach long-standing development challenges in a different way. They can establish new markets, lay the foundation for novel solutions and better, more efficient ways for development actors to operate.
New technology also brings significant risks. That’s why we are asking ourselves:
Between now and 2030, what are the most exciting frontier technologies from a development perspective and how might the next seven years of technological change impact the way we do development?
Topic Brief
All our Futures Cycles begin with a Topic Brief.
This sets the intention and direction of the exploration.
We outline the key questions and preliminary research that led to them.
Initial insights from desk research that we used to inspire conversations with experts.
In this summary we share:
3 emerging technologies
Trends in the development of tech
6 cross-cutting enablers and barriers to the implementation of frontier tech in development
Surface Phase Research
Deeper insights from the desk research.
A 27-page presentation in which we share:
6 areas of tech innovation emerging over the next 7 years
8 megatrends that will impact how those technologies evolve
How we see these frontier technologies evolving by 2030
The impact these trends could have on the way we do development
In-Depth Desk Research Summary
As part of our initial research, we conducted some high-level speculation. Combining data with tech trends to create this set of 18 emerging use cases for frontier technologies.
Our hope is that they inspire you to see what the possible benefits of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, big data, quantum computing, sensors, and extended reality might be in the future.
Emerging Use Cases
The 5 Speculative Scenarios that we developed as the culmination of the work on this exploration. The report includes:
Short versions of each scenario.
Data providing the current context for each scenario.
The key risks that will need to be mitigated to realise the benefits of each scenario.
Recommendations for what development organisations might do now to act on the opportunities and challenges that each scenario presents.
An appendix with longer versions of each scenario.
5 Speculative Scenarios
Grab a cuppa and watch this 20-minute video summarising everything we explored over the last few months.
The Exploration in a Nutshell
If you’d like to learn more about how we run an exploration, and what our key takeaways are from this one, check out our blog here.
Contributors
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Phil Outram
Tech and Innovation Adviser at FCDO, Programme Lead for the Frontier Tech Hub
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Abi Freeman
Innovation Director at the Frontier Tech Hub, leading Futures explorations. Founding Partner at Brink.
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Jim Ralley
Learning Lead on Futures, working at Brink, part of the Frontier Tech Hub consortium
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Nada Ibrahim
Project Manager on Futures, working at DT Global, part of the Frontier Tech Hub consortium.
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Nicholas Veerapen
Researcher and Community Manager on Futures, working at DT Global, part of the Frontier Tech Hub consortium.
Contact
For any questions regarding this work, contact ftlenquiries@dt-global.com
About
This initiative is part of Frontier Tech Futures, which in turn, forms part of the Frontier Tech Hub.
At the Hub, we are a team of strategists, technologists, and international development and innovation experts from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Results for Development, DT Global and Brink.
We know that the future is uncertain and technology is bringing about rapid change.
We believe that opening the door to questions about the future and exploring them as a team can foster the mindsets, relationships and knowledge to come up with bolder, more imaginative ideas to tackle the gnarliest problems of our time.
Through Futures, we explore trends in frontier technologies.
Through this multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral community, Futures fosters intentional networks that facilitate FCDO thought leadership, action and impact in each theme.
Like the rise of mobile technology and advances in AI, cryptography, and distributed systems to understand how they are transforming how we think about big themes.
We believe that these technologies have the potential to change our lives, and the context in which FCDO seeks to meet its objectives.