Innovation agency reveals 50 emerging technologies that will shape UK over next 20 years

Innovation

Source: © Eliot Wyatt/Ikon Images

List drawn up to ’stimulate curiosity, share knowledge’

From anti-ageing drugs to space-based solar power, the UK’s innovation agency has picked 50 emerging technologies that look set to shape the UK in 2040 and beyond.

‘In this report, we are not seeking to predict the future, but to stimulate curiosity, share knowledge and consider the art of the possible,’ writes Indro Mukerjee, chief executive of Innovate UK.

The 50 technologies may not be the most well-funded or the hottest in R&D circles, writes Simone Boekelaar, head of horizon scanning at Innovate UK, but they have economic and society-shaping potential. ‘Our hope is that these technologies … may inspire new applications or solutions to societal challenges.’