Life in the very fast lane

"I remember when…" This well-worn phrase used to refer to an event from past decades, but today it as often alludes to something from last year or last month. Such is the ever-increasing speed of technological change. Consider the introduction of smartphones. Scarcely a decade on, they have reshaped modern communications. Similarly today's nascent technologies-the Cloud, the Internet of Things, nanotechnology, 3D printing-will shape our world in ways we cannot fully imagine.

Technology drives innovation, from the atomic level to issues that shape civilizations-transforming our world at an accelerating rate. Many business, service, educational, environmental, and ecosystem models that drive major industries today didn't exist five years ago. For example, media and communications platforms are revolutionizing the education of the next generation of students-and not just those in advanced economies. As affordable smart devices replace slide rules, the internet supersedes encyclopedias, and e-learning becomes an alternative to university, the economics of technology are transferring knowledge and power into the hands of people across the developing world. It is a great equalizer.

Technology's profound impact goes far beyond education, of course. Semiconductors, as the building blocks of the digital age, are essential to the functioning of modern industry and business-from computers and electronics, to cars and planes, health care diagnostic equipment, and modern defense systems. In a classic "butterfly effect," this most basic technology, the chip, has created the platform upon which countless other value-added technologies have been built. And to think, Texas Instruments introduced the first integrated circuit just 55 years ago.

Beyond revolutionizing industry, technology is now reshaping how we discover, experience, and maintain both personal and business relationships. Think of Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In. Online databases and tools now permit building a map of one's family tree dating back centuries. Of course, in the midst of this exciting new world, we face new threats. Headlines remind us daily of the ongoing battle to protect privacy, identity, and financial data. Hence, the growing need for modern versions of Defense Against the Dark Arts (thanks, Harry Potter).

With in-depth research and analysis of technologies and their impact across every major industry segment and around the world, IHS enables companies to be proactive in shaping the future amid these most exciting, complex, and challenging times.