Technology

In policy pronouncements over the last two administrations, the protection of the American homeland was regularly identified as the first priority of U.S. missile defense efforts. Homeland missile defense today is provided by the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program and other elements of the larger Ballistic Missile Defense System. The limited defenses fielded today have advanced considerably since defensive operations began in late 2004, but nevertheless they remain too limited and too modest relative to emerging threats. The Missile Defense Agency’s path to improve the system may require additional effort to stay ahead of even limited missile threats. This report explains how the current system works, as well as current and potential plans to modernize the system, and the authors offer recommendations for future evolution of the system.

In the broadest sense, the sharing economy may be defined as a community of individuals lending, renting, donating, sharing, swapping and buying goods or services.

There are currently around 300 digital peer-to-peer platforms in France, many of which have an established global presence. This study looks at the state of the sharing economy – from a qualitative and quantitative slant – and analyses supply and demand trends across the following key sectors: travel, transport and storage services, accommodation, entertainment, food, consumer goods, clothing and footwear, domestic services and finance.

The study also considers how traditional players are responding – in some cases to direct competition from the sharing economy – and dissects the positive and negative forces shaping this new phenomenon, touching on aspects such as macroeconomic factors, regulation, new technologies, consumer habits and business model viability.

In addition, the authors outline a series of scenarios depicting what the sharing economy could look like in 2020 – a transition, a partnership between traditional players and new sharing economy protagonists, and an “economic bubble” triggered by unworkable business models. The study concludes with a set of recommendations on ways to foster this emerging trend through policy-making and regulation, focusing on the need to protect consumers, bolster sharing economy initiatives, and create a level playing field.

The service providers behind this study remain exclusively liable for the research methods used, as well as the findings and recommendations detailed in this report.

Preparing Europe for the next 25 years is a contribution from the Secretary General of the European Parliament to the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS). ESPAS provides a framework for cooperation and consultation at administrative level, on a voluntary basis, between the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European External Action Service, with the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee as observers, to work together on medium and long-term trends facing or relating to the European Union.

The Global Risks Report 2017 features perspectives from nearly 750 experts on the perceived impact and likelihood of 30 prevalent global risks as well as 13 underlying trends that could amplify them or alter the interconnections between them over a 10-year timeframe.
2016 saw a crystallization of political risks that have led to the election of populist leaders, a loss of faith in institutions and increased strain on international cooperation. We should not be surprised by this: for the past decade, the Global Risks Report has been drawing attention to persistent economic, social and political factors that have been shaping our risks landscape.
This year’s report will examine the five greatest priorities facing the world in 2017, their interconnections and the actions necessary to avoid their harshest fall-out.

This report highlights the game-changing technologies which will fundamentally change how retail and consumer brands do business over the next decade and shape new frontiers for physical stores, breakthrough approaches to e-commerce, new capabilities, and implications on society.

What is the benefit of digital technology in healthcare for the brain? What is the likelihood the benefit will reach the people who need it most? In this report, the outgoing World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Brain Research review five emerging themes in digital technology that may impact brain health.

Today, society faces the mammoth task of creating 1.5 billion new livelihoods by 2050 while at the same time exceeding the planet’s crucial ecological limits. With the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, human progress may either suffer through a catastrophic setback or experience a positive transformation. What will make the difference? Values.
The core values of human dignity, common good and stewardship have been widely endorsed over the centuries. Systemic change based on these values aims to meet people’s basic needs, with greatly reduced inequalities and in environments allowing individuals to thrive and live in peace. The required leadership and an understanding of the changes under way across all sectors are low demands compared to the need to rethink economic, social and political systems to respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A common values-driven direction is clearly needed.