We live in incredible times. Even a momentary pause to consider the world
around us reveals a fascinating array of exciting and challenging developments.
Consider for a moment some of the changes and events we have and
continue to experience in our time; whether we think about the way we communicate and share our lives through social media connecting the world like
never before; capture and store our often considerable catalogue of data with
organisations and platforms we use; take our music, news, films, television,
and books with us in our mobile devices; shop and conduct our banking whilst
on the move; see the benefits of medical advances unfold, such as mapping
the genome, developments in stem cell technology, medical device implants,
and robotic surgical machines; experience the largest Global Financial Crisis
in capitalist history that unfolded devastating consequences across the globe;
or respond to a global pandemic that put the brakes on the world and locked
it down in a way we have never experienced in our lifetimes, these truly are
times of opportunity and challenge. Now, look forward and consider what
may be on the horizon. Here, we see the green shoots of further truly amazing
opportunities that not so long ago would have been considered science fiction, such as the arrival of advanced robotics1
, technologies that enable organ
growth from cells, autonomous vehicles that allow us to change their colour
at the touch of a button2
, through to the creation of the metaverse and nonfungible tokens to enable our digital lives.