Hyundai analyzes 12 trends that will shape the world of 2030
Of course the project would also use that information to determine how that world will affect the transportation industry. And it happens to share its name with the company's newest eco-friendly model.
The first part of Project Ioniq is under way with the Ioniq Lab. This lab will be run by Dr. Soon Jong Lee, a professor at Seoul National University. Lee is also in charge of the Korea Future Design and Research Institute, and ten researchers and ten consultant experts will assist him on the project.
Phase one has now yielded what Hyundai sees as 12 "megatrends" that will affect how the world changes and develops in 2030. This will in turn affect what people are looking for as far as transportation and mobility, and may inform what technologies and segments Hyundai invests in in the future. The 12 megatrends are as follows:
- Hyper-connected Society
- Hyper-aging Society
- Eco-ism
- Multi-Layered Mash-up
- Context-awareness-based Individualization
- High Concept Society
- Decentralization of Power
- Anxiety and Chaos
- Sharing Society
- Co-evolution
- Mega-urbanization
- Neo-frontierism
The team has detailed descriptions of each megatrend, and they are interesting, but we'll try to sum up all twelve of them for you here. If you want to check out all the details, be sure to check out the press release at this link.
Overall, we're looking at a world where there are many more old people, and a large majority of the population will live in urban areas. Not everyone will live in urban areas, and some people may have new living opportunities because of advancements in aerospace and aquatic engineering. It will be a much more diverse world as well that we will be even more connected with, sharing information more and more. This will make understanding what people share and how they do so vital. Society will also start sharing everything much more, something akin to Uber and ZipCar today, but expanded.
Companies will be looking to combine technologies and collaborate more to be involved in a wider array of businesses. The environment as well as cyber crimes and terrorism will remain ever-present issues. We will also see the development of significantly more capable robots and artificial intelligence. This will see benefits in convenience and development of new technologies, some of which will allow our devices of all types to instantly respond and adapt to our physical and emotional conditions. All of this new technology could also lead to competition in certain labor sectors, but will also lower barriers-to-entry of many industries allowing people to use more artistic and creative skills to become competitive in these industries. These skills will become increasingly valuable, too.
None of this is too groundbreaking, but if these predictions all come to fruition, we'll be looking at an interesting future. Taking a look far into the future to help ensure the company isn't left behind is a wise move, as long as the predictions prove somewhat accurate. We just hope there will still be room in this future for enthusiast machines. Who knows how wild a 2030 Veloster could look?
