IT Revolution Will Impact Profitability and Productivity Even More
Paul Saffo, head of California-based Institute for the Future claims that the information technology (IT) revolution is in its infancy, Today, only 6% of the world’s population are online, in the developed world penetration averages 35%, but that leaves a majority yet to travel the information superhighway. Think of all the changes already brought about by the Internet, and then realize that the world is nowhere near critical mass – the point at which the impact of technology accelerates.
However, it is not the production of new technology that fuels economic growth and sustained productivity, it is the application of those products.
Money Flows Into Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Robotics
This next year will bring with it extraordinary technological breakthroughs, particularly in the fields of biotechnology, nanotechnology and robotics, many of them with immediate practical applications. The venture capital that has flowed freely into dot-coms over the past few years will be diverted to fund start-ups in these promising new areas of technology.
Nanotechnology Will Impact Every Economic Sector
"It’s hard to think of an industry that isn’t likely to be disrupted by nanotechnology," David Bishop of Lucent Technologies told USA Today.
Breakthroughs in this coming year probably will make nanotechnology the new darling of the venture capital set.
Nanotechnology is any technological exploration and development conducted on a nanometer scale. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or about three atoms across. Scientists manipulate individual atoms to build mechanical and information machines that do remarkable things. It’s been an area of serious research for 10 years or so, but it only has been in the last few years that developers have achieved practical applications such as:
- Treatment delivery systems. Cornell University is building molecular motors that are part biological and part mechanical, with molecular-sized rotors that spin at three to four revolutions per second. Bell Labs and The University of Oxford built a motor using DNA. The hope is that one day these nanomotors will propel themselves into the human body carrying disease-fighting agents, park at the site of the tumor or malfunction and precisely control the amount of drug delivered while preventing healthy tissue from receiving an unnecessary dose.
Nanocomputing. The transistors on conventional microchips can’t get much smaller, Right? Not so. Nanotubes, which were first developed in Japan in 1991, are molecules of carbon 1.4 molecules wide. They are bendable, easily adhere to surfaces, conduct electricity and modulate signals like transistors. Further down the road, with the potential to overthrow conventional computing, is the wireless computer chip, which will enable chips to be smaller and faster.