IBM recently released its annual ‘five in five‘ list of 5 trends that have the potential to significantly change the way we live, work and play in the coming 5 years. A rough summary:

1. smart energy solutions will proliferate and make it easier to control one’s carbon footprint
2. driving will turn smart and more clean as well, thanks to intelligent traffic systems and car-road communication.
3. you will know (more about) what you eat as food is tracked and checked from field to plate.
4. your cell phone will become the control centre of your life: wallet, concierge, bank, shopping assistant, parking meter, …
5. doctor’s will gain enhanced insight into your body through hypersensitive sensor systems, intelligent connected diagnostic systems, etc.

Check out the video.

That the impact of such technologies available and operated at a large scale is/will be high is beyond doubt. Note however … whether it is the short 5 years time horizon or a biased US-centric point of view, most developments are already reality today (some even since a few years) in many places in Europe or Asia, albeit not always at a mainstream level of use.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 16:14 and is filed under business, future, technology, trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.