The UAE has identified 10 future trends and emerging opportunities that the emirates must prepare for over the next decade.
Released by the UAE Government Development and the Future Office, the white paper is designed for government leaders. Familiarizing officials with upcoming global trends will help them design relevant government programs. It’ll also ensure they are prepared for the impending rapid transformations around the world.
“The report explores 10 major future development trends that are still in their early stages of development, and uncovers trends shaping new global strategic directions for a better future, shares Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and the Future.
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She adds that the 10 emerging future trends constitute development opportunities worth around $20 trillion, over the next decade. The report intends to help government entities identify new prospects to ensure alignment with the We the UAE 2031 vision.
Growing role of AI
Breaking down the trends, the report anticipates that the worldwide AI market will grow from a valuation of approximately $144 billion in 2023 to about $2.7 trillion by 2033.
A major part of this growth would be the development of a new generation of Responsive Artificial Intelligence (RAI). This branch of AI is responsible for interpreting data, and extracting valuable insights from it.
RAI helps optimize processes, and enhance or introduce new competencies. The objective is to drive more informed decision-making that closely resembles how humans think and react.
Read: UAE taps AI to enhance government services, user experience
Another area AI will become more entangled with is finance. This will transform the financial system into an advanced, digital, speedy, flexible, and efficient system. The report projects this new seamless financial system to be worth about $1.1 trillion by 2033.
Talking about high-tech avenues, there are the fields of gene-editing and anti-aging techniques. Together they are helping the proactive disease elimination market be about $1 trillion over the next decade.
The emerging technologies like gene-editing, and quantum computing, along with the rapid advancement of others like AI point towards the need to overhaul traditional education systems.
As per the report new ways of learning and the integration of AI and virtual reality (VR) in education will propel the sector’s growth to $380 billion.
High-Tech growth
The report estimates the space manufacturing economy to eclipse $2.2 trillion in value by 2033, up from roughly $630 billion in 2023.
Driving this growth are new, cutting-edge capabilities that help facilitate many manufacturing opportunities in low-Earth orbit. These include the manufacture of semiconductors, which can benefit from the vacuum conditions of space.
Down here on Earth, there’s advancements in battery tech and electric propulsion. These will help the proliferation of new urban air mobility solutions like electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Read: Economy Middle East Trends: Urban mobility in the region
With the right regulatory environment, the alternative transportation market is projected to reach $283 billion by 2023.
One downside of the increased digitization is the increased opportunities for bad actors. They can latch on to developments to infiltrate, disrupt, and steal from nations, companies, and individuals.
According to the report, protection against digital deception could rise to become a $9.2 trillion market by 2033.
Sustainable future
The report also highlights several sustainable opportunities, which it predicts will be worth a whopping $1.4 trillion.
One of them is propelled by the possibilities of additive manufacturing in the construction market. It’ll go hand-in-hand with increased use of newer technologies like self-healing and greener, more sustainable materials.
Read: UAE is a goldmine for sustainability startups
Another related area of focus is the threat of water scarcity. It’ll see the emergence of newer technologies that’ll help harvest water from alternative sources.
These work with advanced agriculture techniques like precision farming to save water. Along with novel approaches such as vertical farming they’ll also help grow crops more efficiently.
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