NESTA is an independent charity that works to increase the innovation capacity of the UK. It acts through a combination of practical programmes, investment, policy research and the formation of partnerships to promote innovation across a broad range of sectors.

As such it has a really good insight into what organisations and companies are researching and investing in for the future and is certainly an organisation the BIC is closely linked to.

There are 10 NESTA predictions for 2017, let’s look at some of them:

Vegetarian Food Gets Bloodthirsty !!
In kitchens and laboratories around the world a whole new breed of veggie burger is being developed which looks like meat, tastes like meat and even bleeds like meat and would fool even the most hardened carnivore.
Supposedly healthier, more sustainable and just as delicious as the real thing, it is predicted that in 2017 hyper-realistic mock meat will start to grace our dinner tables.

Lifelong Learners
As automation expands even further into industry it is anticipated that over the next couple of decades millions of jobs will either disappear or change from manufacturing to services and the professions. Hundreds of millions of adults will have to learn new skills, from handling digital technologies to more human skills like how to collaborate, communicate or create.

As that reality dawns, attention will turn to adult education and retraining. In recent years they have been largely ignored and had their funding cut. That’s set to change.

Watch out for more talk of ‘older workers’ and ‘adult skills’, and the ‘stock’ as well as the ‘flow’ of learners. Watch out for ministers and policy-makers talking about how low adult skills threatens not just the life chances of millions, but also the productivity of the economy as a whole, not to mention widespread feelings of disempowerment.

Blockchain Powers a Personal Data Revolution
Sounds complicated but following the rise of the world wide web and increased share of information which on the up side has opened up so many opportunities to everybody there is a growing down side where we have seen a controlling and sometimes intrusive reach into our personal lives when personal information is exchanged for services.

Research is now growing on an alternative to the centralised web where everybody controls their own information and knows who has accessed them. In 2017 through Blockchain – a distributed ledger that enables individuals to transact with each other without the need of a trusted third party we will see the acceleration of efforts to apply exactly these benefits at scale, empowering users of online services to create personal data stores which will allow people to own and maintain their own data, granting and rescinding access and enabling it to be used, shared or deleted as they see fit.

Further details on the above future predictions can be found at http://www.nesta.org.uk/news/2017-predictions

Some More Predictions will be considered in my next blog ……………………

This time last year I started a Blog around Technological and Scientific Predictions for 2016 as researched by NESTA the world’s leading Innovation foundation.

Before I consider this year’s predictions I thought I would look back at one of the 2016 Predictions showing how that evolved over the year.

“Doctors will start prescribing computer games to heal you”

This hasn’t quite evolved as predicted but a virtual reality experience used to treat patients suffering with paranoia has proved ground breaking. May 2016 saw the launch of Sea Quest Hero, a 3D game which collects data on spatial navigation to help dementia research. By November data collected from 2.4 million players has led to a breakthrough that could lead to the first ever test for dementia.

At the same time a huge craze overtook the world and the UK as the Pokemon Go phenomenon hit and you couldn’t move for people walking around playing it in the streets, parks and at tourist attractions. At its height in July there were nearly 45,000,000 active users looking for a Pikachu to add to their Pokedex. The interactive game has been praised for its physical and social benefits encouraging children and parents to go out walking in their locality.

The 2016 prediction that “Doctors will start prescribing computer games to heal you” may well come true in 2017.

For 2017 the future predictions by NESTA include:

• Vegetarian Food Gets Bloodthirsty                           
• Lifelong Learners       
• Blockchain Powers a Personal Data Revolution        
• The rise of the Armchair Volunteer
• The Splinternet

• Classroom Conundrums Tackled Together
• A new artistic approach to Virtual Reality                
• Computer Says No:  the backlash
• Next Generation Social Movement for Health         
• How Brexit turned the UK German

My next few blogs will investigate these in further detail so watch this space …………….