A healthy curiosity
What changes will the future bring? How will our kids live in comparison to how we live today? One thing is certain: Thanks to developments in technology, we can help shape the future ourselves. So anyone who knows the technological trends of the next ten to twelve years, and which current trends will be distant memories by the year 2020, has a crucial advantage. Find out why German schools are exchanging offline tools and methods for the latest state-of-the-art solutions. Learn how medical technology and IT can impact the entire health sector and improve the quality of life for patients. Discover why cars are getting back in the fast lane – and how ICT will enable us to work whenever we like, wherever we like. Join us as we take a fascinating trip into the future.
Germany still lags behind other countries when it comes to deploying cutting-edge teaching resources, such as computers and the Internet. And barely 13 percent of the country’s children gain their IT knowledge at school. In 2020, teachers will coordinate and facilitate knowledge rather than impart it. And every child will have access to teaching materials, tailored to his or her needs, via a learning platform, such as T-Systems Edunex.
Telemedicine systems, such as Motiva, are already helping to reduce the number of visits to doctors and hospitals made by the chronically ill. Solutions of this kind will one day be available anytime, anywhere. Vital signs, such as pulse and heart rate, will be continuously transmitted to a central platform via a wristband or chest strap, whether the patient is relaxing in a deck chair or cycling along the beach.
Office of the future
The office of the future is everywhere. Today, more than half of all Germans are employed as knowledge workers, both by companies and by public-sector organizations. In 2020, these people will increasingly decide for themselves when and where to work, and spend only a small proportion of their time at the office. And when they do, they will be hot desking. The 25 to 44-year-old digital natives who have grown up with the Internet will perform significantly more than half their work as part of global teams. These will consist of people based at multiple locations, often in different time zones, collaborating via an IT platform.
In the near future, mobile devices will consolidate traffic and weather information from a vast array of sources, increasing travel flexibility and making life a whole lot easier for people on the move.
Read more about life in the future in the print edition of Best Practice.
