Happy New Year everyone! The first blog post of 2014 will be about what to expect from the new year. The world is changing faster than ever. We’re connected to each other in ways that would have been thought impossible just a generation ago, enabling enormous potential but also exposing us to great strain. If we are to effectively address the challenges we face as a planet, decision-makers need to keep pace and anticipate what lies ahead.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published their analysis of the Top Ten Trends Facing The World in 2014 based on insights gained from research completed with their Network of Global Agenda Councils. Every year the WEF forecasts the 10 biggest trends for the coming year, specifically looking at how they will influence global and regional economic, political and social change. Also included are new technology developments and advances the WEF has seen in their research.
The study’s methodology relies on the WEF’s selective survey tool that generated 1,500 responses. The Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014 which includes the top 10 trends, can be downloaded here. The methodology is thoroughly explained and located on the last pages of the PDF.
The top 10 trends the World Economic Forum found based on their research are shown in the table on the right.
The WEF writes that the outlook for 2014 is complex. The experts overwhelmingly agreed that rising social tensions in the Middle East and North Africa will be the defining trend for next year, alongside increasing inequality and unemployment. Survey respondents also showed their dissatisfaction with the state of global cooperation on major challenges such as climate change, youth unemployment and poverty.
The WEF also provides extensive analysis by region and also by trend. The following is a breakout of 2014 trends by region. Please click on the graphic to expand it for easier viewing, and go to the World Economic Forum´s project website for more in-depth information.
