WEF identifies 10 emerging technologies set to transform energy, healthcare, infrastructure over next five years
New Delhi, June 23
The World Economic Forum on Tuesday unveiled its Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report 2026, highlighting a new generation of innovations that could significantly expand access to energy, healthcare and critical infrastructure while reducing dependence on geography and traditional resource constraints.
Released during the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, the report identifies 10 technologies that are expected to achieve large-scale commercial and societal impact within the next three to five years. According to the WEF, these innovations are approaching a critical stage where scientific advances are increasingly translating into real-world applications.
The technologies span sectors including energy, medicine, manufacturing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Among those featured are everything-to-grid energy systems, direct lithium extraction, passive radiative cooling materials, personalised mRNA cancer vaccines, exosome drug delivery, quantum simulation for drug discovery and lattice-based cryptography.
The report noted that many of the emerging technologies point towards systems that are becoming more distributed, personalised, and resource-efficient, potentially enabling services and production closer to the point of use.
Commenting on the findings, Stephan Mergenthaler, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum, said, "While each of these technologies has the potential to make a meaningful impact on its own, together they tell a broader story about where innovation is heading."
He added that the technologies "reveal new patterns across energy, medicine and manufacturing that could challenge long-held assumptions about how we use technology to address some of the world's most pressing challenges, such as food insecurity, climate change and untreatable diseases."
According to the report, innovations such as everything-to-grid energy systems, direct lithium extraction and precision fermentation could make production systems less reliant on centralised infrastructure and conventional geographic advantages. Meanwhile, advances in healthcare, including personalised mRNA cancer vaccines and exosome-based drug delivery, may support more targeted and individualised treatments.
The report also cautioned that the ultimate success of these technologies will depend on factors such as infrastructure readiness, regulatory frameworks, manufacturing capabilities, public trust and long-term investment.
Frederick Fenter, Chief Executive Editor of Frontiers, emphasised the role of scientific collaboration in accelerating innovation. "Open science enables researchers around the world to build on one another's work, accelerating discovery while improving transparency and trust," he said.
The WEF said the report, developed in collaboration with Frontiers and the Dubai Future Foundation, also examines the conditions that could shape the adoption and scaling of these technologies through 2031.
— ANI
Reader Comments
This is impressive! Personalised mRNA cancer vaccines could be such a boon for a country like ours where cancer care is often too expensive for the common person. But my concern is - will these innovations be accessible and affordable in India? The report mentions public trust and infrastructure readiness, which in our context means affordable healthcare and not just fancy tech for the elite. 🤔
Interesting that the WEF highlights these technologies from their Dalian meeting. The emphasis on "distributed, personalised, resource-efficient" systems is timely. For example, lattice-based cryptography could help secure our digital infrastructure as India goes deeper into UPI and Aadhaar-based services. But I wonder how quickly Indian R&D can actually adopt quantum simulation for drug discovery - we need more academia-industry partnerships.
Finally a report that doesn't just talk about theoretical stuff but mentions "critical stage" technologies! Passive radiative cooling materials could literally be a lifesaver for urban India's heat islands and reduce AC load. And precision fermentation means we can produce proteins locally without huge dairy farms. But yaar, the article doesn't mention how India can contribute to or benefit from these - we need to be makers, not just consumers of this tech.
A small point of caution: while all this sounds promising, the report itself warns about infrastructure readiness and regulatory frameworks. In India, we've seen many "transformative" technologies struggle with implementation - from EV adoption to 5G rollout. The government needs to create an enabling environment for these emerging techs, especially for exosome drug delivery and personalised vaccines, which require specialised manufacturing capabilities.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.