5. Knowledge Foundations
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5. Knowledge Foundations
Use the future to build the present
Knowledge Foundations
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Stakeholder Type
1.1Advanced AI1.2QuantumRevolution1.3UnconventionalComputing1.4AugmentedReality1.5CollectiveIntelligence2.1CognitiveEnhancement2.2HumanApplicationsof GeneticEngineering2.3HealthspanExtension2.4ConsciousnessAugmentation2.5Organoids2.6FutureTherapeutics3.1Decarbonisation3.2EarthSystemsModelling3.3FutureFoodSystems3.4SpaceResources3.5OceanStewardship3.6SolarRadiationModification3.7InfectiousDiseases4.1Science-basedDiplomacy4.2Advancesin ScienceDiplomacy4.3Foresight,Prediction,and FuturesLiteracy4.4Democracy-affirmingTechnologies5.1ComplexSystemsScience5.2Futureof Education5.3Future Economics,Trade andGlobalisation5.4The Scienceof theOrigins of Life5.5SyntheticBiology
1.1Advanced AI1.2QuantumRevolution1.3UnconventionalComputing1.4AugmentedReality1.5CollectiveIntelligence2.1CognitiveEnhancement2.2HumanApplicationsof GeneticEngineering2.3HealthspanExtension2.4ConsciousnessAugmentation2.5Organoids2.6FutureTherapeutics3.1Decarbonisation3.2EarthSystemsModelling3.3FutureFoodSystems3.4SpaceResources3.5OceanStewardship3.6SolarRadiationModification3.7InfectiousDiseases4.1Science-basedDiplomacy4.2Advancesin ScienceDiplomacy4.3Foresight,Prediction,and FuturesLiteracy4.4Democracy-affirmingTechnologies5.1ComplexSystemsScience5.2Futureof Education5.3Future Economics,Trade andGlobalisation5.4The Scienceof theOrigins of Life5.5SyntheticBiology

Trend:

5Knowledge Foundations

This platform covers areas of foundational knowledge which run transversal to the four other frontier issue platforms, and which have important consequences for us as individuals, society and in relation to the planet. It covers topics from basic sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and the humanities, which do not fall easily into one of our existing four platforms because they draw on research from multiple disciplines and have effects that span numerous human, social and environmental spheres.
1.1Advanced AI1.2QuantumRevolution1.3UnconventionalComputing1.4AugmentedReality1.5CollectiveIntelligence2.1CognitiveEnhancement2.2HumanApplicationsof GeneticEngineering2.3HealthspanExtension2.4ConsciousnessAugmentation2.5Organoids2.6FutureTherapeutics3.1Decarbonisation3.2EarthSystemsModelling3.3FutureFoodSystems3.4SpaceResources3.5OceanStewardship3.6SolarRadiationModification3.7InfectiousDiseases4.1Science-basedDiplomacy4.2Advancesin ScienceDiplomacy4.3Foresight,Prediction,and FuturesLiteracy4.4Democracy-affirmingTechnologies5.1ComplexSystemsScience5.2Futureof Education5.3Future Economics,Trade andGlobalisation5.4The Scienceof theOrigins of Life5.5SyntheticBiology

Associated Emerging Topics:

5.1Complex Systems Science

Society consists of a wide variety of densely connected, interdependent systems. These networks of networks enable the flow of information, ideas, goods, services and money. In turn, this leads to huge benefits in the form of free media, open democracy, global trade and international finance. However, this connectedness also makes our world vulnerable to extreme events in ways that are hard to imagine and even more difficult to avoid. Examples of the negative consequences of networked society include the 2008 global financial crisis, the ongoing climate crisis and the current Covid crisis. In each case, the disaster unfolded over a range of interconnected networks with powerful but difficult-to-predict feedback patterns.

5.2Future of Education
The importance of education is hard to overstate. The UN’s fourth Sustainable Development Goal is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Education is a vital part of creating a sustainable world populated by healthy, collaborative, creative people who are able to solve problems, contribute to economic success and enjoy a high quality of life.
5.3Future Economics, Trade and Globalisation
It is apparent from the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century that externalities need to be better incorporated into the economic decisions of firms, households, and governments. Global warming continues to heat the planet with atmospheric temperatures likely to soon break the 1.5˚C of warming threshold that climate agreements had pledged to avoid. Media coverage of this imminent milestone is focusing attention on what more can be done. For this reason, all actors should be more alert to the negative consequences that their decisions have for the wellbeing of others — near or far — as well as for future generations, and for the planet. The market cannot be relied upon to drive positive change towards sustainability, inclusiveness, and resilience. Therefore, more government intervention is needed. Societies need to agree on the negative externalities created (for example by too much automation, by excessive emissions and pollution) quantify them, and shape economic choices through direct subsidies and incentives.
5.5Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology is a set of technologies which enable the modification and creation of living cells and organisms, and of their building blocks. These include genome editing,1 artificially evolving biomolecules, tissue engineering and potentially even the creation of synthetic organisms. Collectively, these could lead to major breakthroughs in fundamental biology, as well as a multitude of possible applications in fields ranging from nutrition to pharmaceuticals and engineering.2

Related Content:

Opportunity

Enabling Digital Empowerment with Trust and Transparency
In a complex, changing and interconnected world, digital twins and avatars are set to become a norm for decision-making in policy, ecology and the economy. Currently, several initiatives plan digital avatars and digital twins on the scale of individuals (in precision medicine), local municipalities (digital urban twins for city management) and the planet (climate forecasting, epidemic control). Sensor webs enable real-time synchronization of such twins and avatars with the physical world. Building trust between the science and diplomacy communities in this area is urgently needed.

Invited Contribution

Future of Archaeology
Archaeology is a young science: over the course of the 20th century, it evolved from the collection and cataloguing of artefacts to the reconstruction of the human past through the contextual study of material remains. As a relatively young discipline, archaeology has gone through a long process of epistemological development in order to reach its current methodological and professional maturity. It may seem that today is a “golden age”, with novel scientific and technological tools revealing much that was once assumed to be entirely inaccessible. Yet, like any scientific discipline, archaeology keeps evolving and reinventing itself, mainly thanks to collaborations with other fields.

Debate

Knowledge Foundations - What Do People Say?
New to the 2022 radar is the addition of a Knowledge Foundations platform. Its topics, such as Future Economics and the Science of the Origins of Life, raise fundamental questions about the future of the world, society and our place therein. Of these new topics, Future Economics received the most attention on social media and in news and blogs. Interest has grown considerably in the past 5 years, with a surge in discussions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reducing consumption through a circular economy received globally positive sentiment: it is perceived as an opportunity for emerging economies to leapfrog more established economies.

Invited Contribution

Responsible Anticipation
We live in times of great acceleration in science and technology. This acceleration promises breakthroughs with transformative impacts on human life and the planet. Anticipating these breakthroughs is critical to ensuring that we can harness the most benefits from them. Is there anything the scientific community can contribute to this process besides the creativity and intensity needed to achieve these breakthroughs?

Opportunity

Synthetic Biology, towards new geopolitical and economic frontiers
Technological advances in genetic engineering and synthetic biology lead to a fast-growing number of purposes such as biofuels, new drugs, replacement organs, and biological threats. The democratisation of such technologies, coupled with the decreasing cost of DNA synthesis, will allow a broader set of actors to generate new organisms, fuelling the need for addressing individual and societal challenges, while raising concerns about the governance of these technology innovations, capacity-building and benefit sharing. The weaponisation of biology could even lead to high impact biological attacks that would be difficult to defend against. In this context, it is essential that policymakers and regulators explore the social, environmental, economic and geopolitical implications of such technology advances.

Deep Dive

The Philosophical Lens: The Future of People, Society and the Planet(s)

GESDA anticipates scientific and technological advancements to develop inclusive and global solutions for a sustainable future. Three fundamental and overarching questions drive its work:

  • Who are we, as humans? What does it mean to be human in the era of robots, gene editing, and augmented reality?

  • How can we all live together? What technology can be deployed to help reduce inequality, improve well-being, and foster inclusive development?

  • How can we ensure the well-being of humankind and the sustainable future of our planet? How can we supply the world population with the necessary food and energy while regenerating our planet?