IEEE Digital Reality: A Glance at Megatrends: Demographics, Climate Change, and Urbanization

In this webinar, Professor Roberto Poli describes three megatrends, the related windows of opportunity (when available), and exemplifies their countertrends.

The human population continues to grow at a rapid pace, and naturally, resources will be diminished, environmental pollution will increase, and the use of technologies will transform. By recognizing patterns, researchers can identify a series of changes that have been in progress for many years, typically for decades. These changes are known as Megatrends and are likely to have effects well into the future.

Megatrends have to do with major transformations that influence many other changes, profoundly altering social forms and mechanisms, and affecting diverse economic sectors. They are so deeply ingrained in the functioning of modern societies that it is almost impossible to change a megatrend, unless there are exceptional circumstances (windows of opportunity). Moreover, they are often accompanied by secondary trends that move in the opposite direction.