2.1 Emerging technologies
In broader scientific terms, the government has identified five emerging technologies in its Science and Technology framework [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (DSIT, 2024).
The identified technologies are exciting, high-potential areas of STEM, mainly at an early stage in their growth. Read through the report and see which of these areas might be relevant to your sector, or if any of these inspire you to think about retraining in a new field.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) – machines that perform tasks normally performed by human intelligence, especially when the machines learn from data how to do those tasks.
- Engineering biology – the application of rigorous engineering principles to the design of biological systems.
- Future telecommunications – evolutions of the infrastructure for digitised data and communications.
- Semiconductors – a class of electronic materials with unique properties that sit at the heart of the devices and technology we use every day.
- Quantum technologies – devices and systems which rely on quantum mechanics, to provide capabilities that ‘classical’ machines cannot.