Top 12 disruptive technologies that are transforming the world

May 27th, 2013 at 9:54 am

Where will the jobs be, and how can companies carve out a competitive advantage in the global economy?

Exactly what technologies and trends will change our lives are hard to predict. Few people understood just how powerful the Internet would be, dismantling entire industries and creating millions of jobs.

So what’s the next big thing? Where will the jobs be, and how can companies carve out a competitive advantage in the global economy?

McKinsey’s Global Institute discusses this in its latest report, Disruptive Technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy. It came up with a list of 12 technologies that could have a potential economic impact between $14 trillion and $33 trillion a year in 2025. The authors write that “some of this economic potential will end up as consumer surplus; a substantial portion of this economic potential will translate into new revenue that companies will capture and that will contribute to GDP growth. Other effects could include shifts in profit pools between companies and industries.”

The 12 disruptive technologies include: mobile Internet, automation of knowledge and work, Internet of things, cloud technology, advanced robotics, autonomous and near-autonomous vehicles, next-generation genomics, energy storage, 3D printing, advanced materials, advanced oil and gas exploration and recovery, renewable energy.

Here’s the breakdown of the 12 technologies and their potential for impact: