THE INDUSTRIES OF THE FUTURE

From the former Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a survey of technologies that will dominate the global economy in the coming decades.

From 2009 to 2013, Ross served as Clinton’s top adviser on innovation and technology, traveling to more than 40 countries to observe a variety of technological advances. In this book, he explores emerging fields, focusing primarily on the industries of robotics, genomics, and big data. The author likens the approaching robotics age to the Internet explosion we have witnessed over the past two decades. He notes the significance of a burgeoning geriatric population that will require robotic assistance and the potential for nanorobots to diagnose and treat disease on a cellular level. Genomics, another field with health care implications, will soon enable earlier cancer diagnoses and genetics-based treatments as well as new opportunities for treating mental illnesses and slowing the effects of age. Ross cites “cyber” as another incipient arena, stating that recent cyberattacks on large corporations have made cybersecurity one of the fastest growing industries today, with the market currently valued at $78 billion and projected to reach $120 billion by 2017. He also discusses the social consequences of big data and its potential to solve big problems. Where will the next Silicon Valley be? Ross predicts that these innovations will be geographically diverse. The key, he claims, is openness. Russia, with its policies of extreme control, will not be a player. Estonia, which remade itself into an innovative and open technocracy after the collapse of the Soviet Union, will. Ross also points to the empowerment of women and the younger digital natives entering the workforce as factors that will contribute to leadership in these future technologies.

Discerning insights on approaching changes to our economic and social landscapes and solid advice on how we should navigate them.