Late last year, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software & Society issued a very interesting report on Deep Shift: 21 Ways Software Will Transform Global Society. In their words, “the seamless integration of the physical and digital worlds through networked sensors, actuators, embedded hardware and software will change industrial models. In short, the world is about to experience an exponential rate of change through the rise of software and services.”

The report identified 6 so-called megatrends in software and services that are shaping society:

• People and the Internet – a combination of wearable and implantable technologies will transform the way people connect and interact with others and the world around them.
• Computing, Communications and Storage Everywhere – the continued reduction in the size and cost of computing and connectivity technologies is leading towards ubiquitous computing power with nearly unlimited storage capacity.
• The Internet of Things – smaller, cheaper and smarter sensors are finding their way into everything, from homes to manufacturing processes.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data – the rise of big data for decision-making and the ability for software to learn and evolve itself make it easier and faster to arrive at concrete conclusions based on data and past experiences.
• The Sharing Economy and Distributed Trust – The internet enables assets to be share, creating not just new efficiencies but also whole new business models and opportunities for social self-organization.
• The Digitization of Matter – 3D printing from raw materials is transforming industrial manufacturing by providing the ability to create very complex products without complex equipment, doing what a whole factory was once required to accomplish.

The report further cited 21 tipping points (shifts) that will occur during the next decade where the software driven economy will dramatically impact human health, the environment, global commerce and international relations. Virtually all of the megatrends presented a myriad of both opportunities and security risks. Not surprisingly, privacy, data trust and security, hacking, increased vulnerabilities and cyberattacks were the concerns most often cited.

In the ever evolving connected economy, the risks and consequences of poor, haphazard security are far reaching. While a new generation of connected applications rapidly advance, companies like Wibu-Systems and organizations like the Trusted Computing Group and Industrial Internet Consortium are focused on delivering the technologies, architectures and best practices for securing those applications.

If you would to learn more about some of those security technologies designed to protect connected devices and software you can download Wibu-Systems’ white paper, Licensing and Security for the IoT.