TrendBook 2014 presents an analysis of the five top trends which, I believe, we will be dealing with next year. In this year’s TrendBook, you will find the following chapters:

1. Internet of Places – the trend is closely related to the development of the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or Bluetooth Smart technology. It enables our mobile devices to recognize context in which they are, so they can be really intelligent. Today, the Holy Grail of this technology is mainly trade, but its applications are almost unlimited provided we assume that the most obvious usage of Bluetooth Smart is linking a physical location with digital information.
2. Connected car – cars seem to not have changed much in the past years. However, “seem” is the key word here, because the change has indeed been happening, but under the hood. Over the last years, cars have evolved from machines into electronic devices, something we cannot see at first glance. Today, they are nothing more than driving computers. Internet connection in cars was only a matter of time. The next step will be to get rid of the driver altogether.
3. Robots are coming – generally, there is no category today in which we would not have to deal with robots. We have the so-called consumer robots (personal robots), industrial robots, robots used in toys, medicine and space, flying robots (drones, UAVs) and a lot more. Their universality and the widely progressive automation will affect many aspects of our lives, including the labour market. It is said that robots will leave us jobless. Yes, they will, but they will also create new career opportunities.
4. Sustainable development – in the early twentieth century, the global population was less than 2 billion; today, it is 7 billion, and by 2050, this number is expected to reach 9 billion. Hence, it is not surprising that the resources which once seemed unlimited are depleting at an alarming rate. We started to perfectly understand the need for sustainable development in business a long time ago, but today, sustainable development as part of corporate image is not enough – it must be an integral part of corporate strategy. As a result, the traditional 4P has changed into: people, planet, profit, purpose.
5. Economies of unscale – economies of unscale are best explained as the opposite of economies of scale, which implies that a production increase entails the reduction of the overall costs in the long term. It means that the larger the company, the greater its competitive advantage on the market. Economies of unscale work exactly the other way around – due to rapid technological development, open source movement, collaborative economy and multitude sources of funding, even the smallest player can compete effectively (and even become the world leader in his category) on the market so far reserved only for the largest global companies or government entities.

This year’s trends are commented on by the most important, most influential and most well-known experts in their respective categories:

• Internet of Places: Jakub Krzych – co-founder and CEO of Estimote, the best hardware start-up at TechCrunch Disrupt 2013;
• Connected car: Nancy Lee Gioia – Director of Global Electrical, Connectivity and User Experience in Ford Motor Company,
  recognised as one of the most influential women in the technology sector in the world; Elliot Garbus – Vice President of Internet of Things (IoT) Group and General Manager of the Automotive Solutions Division at Intel Corporation; Scott Sedlik – Vice President of INRIX – a leading global provider of traffic information services for companies like BMW, Audi, Ford and Toyota;
• Robots: Prof. Russ Tedrake, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, member
  of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. considered one of the greatest professors of robotics in the U.S.;
• Sustainable development: Katarzyna Dulko-Gaszyna – Head of Sustainable Development at IKEA; Thomas Kolster – author of Goodvertising, Guardian columnist, Director of the Goodvertising Agency, dubbed “Inspirational Leader” by Huffington Post; Gary Niekerk – Director of Corporate Citizenship at Intel’s CSR Office;
• Economies of unscale: Chris Anderson – an American author and entrepreneur, former WIRED editor and co-founder and CEO of 3D Robotics, Maciej Wojnicki – designer, audio/video developer, violinist, composer, founder of „O” – a studio specialising in the development of interactive multimedia installations.

In this year’s TrendBook, you will also find the summary of last year’s predictions. The commentators are:

• from abroad: Matt Webb – co-founder and CEO of BERG, recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies; Chris Dancy – known mainly as “the most connected man in the world”; Simone Rebaudengo – interaction designer at Frog, the author of acclaimed Addicted Products project;
• from Poland: Bartosz Rychlicki – CEO, Quantum Lab, Michał Sadowski – founder and CEO of Brand24, Bartosz Nowakowski – Business Development Manager, FanTuner.

Traditionally, the sixth part has been prepared by Tadeusz Żórawski, CEO at Universal McCann. In this edition, it is entitled CERCO means “seek.”

Intel Polska is the Strategic Partner of TrendBook. Universal McCann is the Edition Partner.

Download TrendBook 2014 (PDF, 3,84MB; 84 pages).

See it on SlideShare.