From the lab to the real world: 6 emerging technologies that will change the world by 2030

Emerging technologies represent the beginning of a new era of innovation with bold solutions that, although still in their early stages, already show enormous transformative potential. The World Economic Forum selected six technologies that will have a real impact on the world within three to five years and that address the most urgent global challenges .

The analysis, conducted in collaboration with the journal Frontiers , identified those advances that have reached a critical point where mature scientific research becomes an applicable alternative with a tangible impact.

Each advancement was evaluated through a process that included expert nominations, literature review, peer review, analysis of adoption conditions, and real-world implementation possibilities.

The 2025 selection reaffirms health, sustainability, and urban resilience as strategic pillars. It also highlights the ability to generate scalable solutions to chronic diseases , environmental challenges, and the rapid evolution of generative AI .

“The research provides key global leaders with a clear view of which technologies are on the cusp of being ready, how they could solve the world’s pressing problems, and what it will take to deploy them responsibly,” said Jeremy Jurgens , CEO of the World Economic Forum.

The report outlines what's needed to scale them: investment, infrastructure, regulations, and responsible governance, and calls on businesses, governments, and the scientific community to work together to ensure their development serves the public good.

“The path from groundbreaking research to tangible social progress depends on transparency, collaboration, and open science,” said Frederick Fenter, editor-in-chief of Frontiers.

These six technological regions are undergoing a phase of massive investment that is accelerating both their development and accessibility. Their evolution is not only rapid but also interconnected, which could generate powerful synergies between them. This scenario poses a complex yet promising set of challenges and opportunities for global society.

The idea is to embed imperceptible digital signals into AI-generated content, such as images, text, audio, or video. These identifiers allow platforms, media outlets, and users to distinguish between authentic and artificially generated content.

Its application could be key in the fight against disinformation, identity theft, and deepfakes, especially in sensitive contexts such as elections, conflicts, or health emergencies.

These may be based on statistical patterns, spectral coding, or imperceptible pixel modifications to reliably identify the synthetic origin of the content without altering its appearance or functionality.

Unlike traditional watermarks, these labels are resistant to manipulations such as cropping, compression, or rescaling and can be verified using specific algorithms or cryptographic keys.

In an increasingly integrated environment, collaborative sensor networks act as a digital nervous system, linking vehicles, urban infrastructure, and emergency services to exchange data in real time.

This synergy not only optimizes road safety and traffic flow, but also allows for anticipating incidents before they occur, coordinating more efficient emergency responses, and dynamically adapting the functioning of cities.

Thanks to this distributed intelligence, traffic lights adjust to the flow of traffic and ambulances find clear routes in seconds. Collaborative detection transforms disparate data into coordinated actions that save time, resources, and lives.

Advances in synthetic biotechnology are illuminating a new generation of treatments known as living therapies, which use genetically modified microorganisms—primarily commensal or probiotic bacteria—to act as therapeutic vehicles within the body.

These bacteria are engineered with programmable genetic circuits that allow them to detect specific biological signals , such as inflammation, abnormal glucose levels, or the presence of tumor cells, and respond by releasing therapeutic compounds in a localized and controlled manner.

This approach represents a radical change from traditional treatments, as it represents a convergence of genetic engineering, microbiology, and personalized medicine.

This network of tiny sensors integrates nanotechnology, AI, and biocompatibility to perform continuous, precise, and autonomous monitoring of critical parameters such as hormone levels, inflammatory markers, environmental toxins, and early signs of disease.

They are an early warning system to discover subtle changes in body or environmental biochemistry and transmit information wirelessly to cloud-based analytics platforms, where advanced algorithms interpret the data and generate personalized recommendations.

Their autonomy, based on micro-harvesting of energy (such as body heat or vibration), allows them to operate 24/7 without the need for recharging or maintenance.

They represent a disruptive innovation in the design of electric vehicles and aircraft, combining traditionally separate functions: energy storage and structural strength.

These multifunctional materials, such as carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers embedded with solid electrolytes or conductive gels, allow parts of the chassis or fuselage to simultaneously act as batteries and support elements.

This integration significantly reduces the vehicle's overall weight by eliminating the need for dedicated energy storage compartments, resulting in greater energy efficiency and range.

It is a usable source that is generated when seawater, which has a higher concentration of salts, comes into contact with freshwater.

These technologies guarantee constant and sustainable production, ideal for complementing other intermittent sources such as solar or wind power.

From a technical perspective, one of the main challenges is the development of highly selective, durable, and resilient membranes that maximize energy efficiency and minimize maintenance. Waste heat recovery and integration with hybrid systems are also being investigated to improve overall performance.