Emerging industries: Tech trends create markets and industries  

Last summer, ERGO and Munich Re's "Tech Trend Radar" covered 44 trends in five topic areas, which we will take a closer look at here on //next in a series before the "Tech Trend Radar 2023" is published soon. We have already analyzed "Wellbeing", "Hyperconnectivity", "Data & AI" and "Cyber & Crypto" in detail, and now we turn to the fifth and final topic area, "Emerging Industries": What are the individual trends behind this?

At the beginning of almost every industry, there was - and still is - a breakthrough technology that creates a market and puts players on the map. When screening technologies for trends that will shape the insurance industry, the creators of the "Tech Trends Radar" ("TTR") therefore also deliberately look left and right at other industries and observe how technologies shape their business - and how this development could affect the insurance sector. By the way, you can find a background interview with the creators of "TTR2022" here.

Which trend has which maturity level?

Details on the eight trends in this trend field can be found below, but first let's remember: The study divides all trends into the four different maturity levels:

• hold (“Put on the watch list”)
• assess (“think about what this could mean for your company”)
• trial (“first initiatives should be launched in the most affected business areas”)
• adopt (“take full advantage of this technology!”)

But which recommendation applies to what?

One time „adopt“…

BAccording to the “Tech Trend Radar 2022”, insurers should implement the following trend:

1. AG Tech: This trend is about increasing efficiency and quality in the agricultural sector through the use of IoT and AI technologies. We have already had a basic article on this topic on //next entitled "Smart Farming" and have also reported on a harvesting robot as an example.

... three times „trial“, …

1. Robotic Revolution: The application areas for robotics are wide-ranging, from manufacturing and IoT coupling to household helpers. ERGO also already has hundreds of software robots in use and has also recently published a white paper on the introduction of RPA technology ("Robotic Process Automation").
2. Smart Cities: This buzzword was also already a topic at //next and stands for entire ecosystems full of sensors, networked devices and services ranging from communication to healthcare, security and task automation of private homes, public buildings and urban spaces to make our cities more sustainable and liveable. The "digital twin in urban planning" aspect is also part of this. This results in fascinating applications for all kinds of industries, including the insurance industry: "trial!"
3. Autonomous Things: Behind this are drones and other devices that work autonomously without human control. Leaps in development in the field of artificial intelligence are increasingly expanding the range of applications for these machines, which benefits numerous industries, such as logistics.

... three times „assess“ ...

1. Advanced Batteries: Battery technologies are also developing rapidly, and next-generation energy storage devices are likely to supply vehicles, gadgets and smart and sensor-equipped objects with significantly more power than representatives of previous generations, which will significantly broaden the range of applications for all this hardware. The extent to which the insurance industry will also benefit from this is something that needs to be explored: "assess!
   
2. Cellular Smart Grid: The more our power supply is converted to renewable energy sources, the more decentralised it will become - and the higher the demands on intelligent and autonomously operating energy distributors and grids will increase. This also holds great opportunities for insurers - among other things, for investment.
3. In-Space Economy: The term "New Space" describes the commercialisation of space travel and its increasing integration with the classical economy. More and more companies from numerous industries are using satellite-generated data for applications as diverse as smart farming (see above), logistics, Industry 4.0 or autonomous driving. In the USA, large tech companies have already entered the space market in order to secure long-term access to data generated in space by setting up their own satellite constellations. Munich Re is therefore a founding member of the cross-industry initiative "New Space made in Germany".

... and one time „hold“

1. Micronuclear Power Plants: Nuclear reactors of the latest generation are significantly smaller than previous nuclear power plants and, with up to 300 megawatts, also less powerful, but are considered to be significantly safer, modularly producible and decentralisable. Investments in new nuclear power plants in the European Union are also to be considered climate-friendly under certain conditions, but this is highly controversial - just as the question of the use of nuclear fission generally divides the population. In addition, there is renewed hope that the principle of nuclear fusion, which is considered to be significantly safer, could now become controllable in the medium term after all. Against this highly complex background, the "TTR2022" classifies micro-nuclear power plants only as a low-priority trend for the time being: "hold!"