The World Economic Forum's recently published report defines “emerging technologies” as technologies that encompass both entirely novel innovations, as well as established technologies being applied in transformative new ways. The top 10 emerging technologies of 2025 are:
1. Structural battery composites
Structural battery composites (SBCs) combine energy storage and structural strength in a single material, reducing weight and improving efficiency in vehicles and aircraft. Though still emerging, SBCs offer major sustainability and cost benefits. Challenges remain in performance, safety and regulation before widespread adoption can be achieved.
2. Osmotic power systems
Osmotic power systems generate clean, steady energy from differences in water salinity using membranes. Recent advances in materials and design have revived this once-stalled technology. With pilot plants under way, osmotic power offers promise for sustainable electricity, water purification and resource recovery, pending further investment and cost reduction.
3. Advanced nuclear technologies
As energy demand surges, advanced nuclear technologies are gaining momentum. Innovations like small modular reactors (SMRs) and next-gen cooling systems promise safer, cheaper, and scalable green energy. With global investment rising, fission leads near-term deployment while fusion remains a long-term goal for a zero-carbon energy future.
4. Engineered living therapeutics
Engineered living therapeutics are modified microbes or cells that produce drugs inside the body, offering targeted, sustained treatment with lower costs and fewer side effects. Enabled by synthetic biology, this approach could transform chronic disease care. Key challenges remain around safety, regulation and large-scale clinical approval.
5. GLP-1s for neurogenerative disease
GLP-1 drugs, originally for diabetes and obesity, show promise in treating Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s due to their neuroprotective effects. Early studies suggest benefits like reduced brain inflammation and improved cell function. While results are encouraging, more clinical trials and regulatory steps are needed to confirm effectiveness and accessibility.
6. Autonomous biochemical sensing
Autonomous biochemical sensors continuously detect health or environmental markers without human input, using wireless, self-powered systems. Enabled by advances in bioengineering and nanotech, they offer real-time monitoring for applications like glucose tracking or pollution detection. Key challenges include sensor lifespan, cost and regulatory concerns around engineered organisms.
7. Green nitrogen fixation
Green nitrogen fixation aims to reduce the high carbon footprint of conventional ammonia production, essential for global food supply. Emerging methods use renewable energy, engineered microbes or lithium-based systems to produce ammonia more sustainably. While still early-stage, these innovations could localize production and decarbonize agriculture and shipping.
8. Nanozymes
Nanozymes are synthetic nanomaterials that mimic natural enzymes, offering greater stability, lower costs and broader functionality. They’re advancing rapidly in medicine, particularly for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as in environmental cleanup and food safety. With a projected $57.95 billion market by 2034, commercialization is accelerating despite regulatory and technical hurdles.
9. Collaborative sensing
Collaborative sensing connects everyday sensors across homes, cities and vehicles into AI-powered intelligent networks. These systems enable real-time, shared decision-making for applications like traffic control, environmental monitoring, and autonomous vehicles. Key challenges include data privacy, power constraints, and developing multi-modal algorithms for seamless sensor integration.
10. Generative AI watermarking
Generative AI watermarking embeds invisible markers in text, images, audio and video to verify authenticity and trace origins. As AI content proliferates, these technologies help combat misinformation and protect intellectual property. While adoption is growing, challenges like evasion, lack of standards and ethical concerns still need resolution.
For a deeper insight, please, read the recently published report of the World Economic Forum about the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025:
https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Top_10_Emerging_Technologies_of_2025.pdf
From agentic AI to unstructured data, these 2025 AI trends deserve close attention from leaders. Based on a 2025 AI & Data Leadership Executive Benchmark Survey, Thomas H. Davenport and Randy Bean have summarized following AI trends that leaders should understand and monitor:
1. Leaders will grapple with both the promise and hype around agentic AI.
2. The time has come to measure results from generative AI experiments.
3. Reality about data-driven culture sets in.
4. Unstructured data is important again.
5. Who should run data and AI? Expect continued struggle.
To read the full article on MIT Sloan Management review and watch the follow-up video, please, click on the link below:
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/five-trends-in-ai-and-data-science-for-2025/
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We have published our latest research results in Sustainable Futures. Our study aimed to look inside the vague construct of an open eco-innovation network to reveal underlying strategic factors of combining complementary resources to overcome complexity. This study is the first to demonstrate the significance of future complementarities in open eco-innovation network evolution.
ABSTRACT
This study aims to look inside the vague construct of an open eco-innovation (OE) network to reveal underlying strategic factors of combining complementary resources to overcome complexity. Results show that uncertain economic outcomes might reduce the motives of certain partners to engage in OE. In this case, OE network transformation is needed to reduce risks of market failure, driven by bridging nodes. This transformation should focus on exploration and future complementarities of network members, instead of exploitation and existing complementarities, despite technological maturity. This study is the first to demonstrate the significance of future complementarities in OE network evolution.
Csedő Z, Zavarkó M, Magyari J: Implications of open eco-innovation for sustainable development: Evidence from the European renewable energy sector, Sustainable Futures, Volume 6, 2023, 100143.
To read the full article, please, click on the link below:
We have published our latest research results in Society and Economy. Our findings suggest that sustainability-led innovations cannot only come from sustainability change management strategies, but emerging opportunities within inter-organizational networks could also induce them. Important contextual factors of change management, i.e., regarding strategy, structure, and capabilities, however, could and should be interpreted during sustainability change management and sustainability-led innovations project planning, as these underlying factors force cooperation partners to compromise with each other in project scope.
Abstract
Managing sustainability-oriented organizational changes has received increasing attention in the international literature from the perspectives of corporations and universities. Nevertheless, researching sustainability change management (SCM) from the perspective of the cooperation of corporations and universities, especially the underlying factors of the cooperation, remained overlooked until now. Based on the change management (CM) literature, this research focuses on an international inter-organizational network with universities and corporations, and empirically studies their autonomous SCM characteristics and the collaborative planning dynamics of a sustainability-led innovation (SLI) project. Results show that SLIs cannot only come from SCM strategies, but emerging opportunities within inter-organizational networks could also induce them. Important contextual factors of CM, i.e., regarding strategy, structure, and capabilities, however, could and should be interpreted during SCM and SLI project planning, as these underlying factors force cooperation partners to compromise with each other in project scope. The results suggest that compromises could not undertake autonomous strategy alignment or capability building, only minor changes in the project scope which will still allow leveraging existing capabilities or require a few additional structural coordination mechanisms. The findings contribute to the literature by highlighting empirical examples of inter-organizational SLI challenges, deriving from autonomous balancing needs during SCM.
Csedő Z: Sustainability change management in inter-organizational innovation networks, Society and Economy 2023, online first
To read the full article, please, click on the link below:
