Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)

14 Juin Technology Outlook 2021

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
June 2021
Authors: Claudia Schärer et al. Main themes: early identification, technology Nature of publication: study SATW’s key mission of early identification comprises the detection, description and assessment of technologies that will be significant for Switzerland’s economy and society in coming years1. Every two years, these activities are wrapped up in the publication “Technology Outlook”, which in 2021 has reached its fourth edition. The Technology Outlook 2021 builds on the 2019 edition. The technologies described back then have been newly assessed with regard to their technological maturity. Those having a time horizon of less than three years till market maturity have been excluded. In collaboration with SATW’s two early identification bodies, we have identified new relevant technologies that will gain significance in Switzerland and that correspond to the targeted time horizon of at least three years until product maturity. The Technology Outlook 2021 presents a total of 45 technologies and areas of application. For this edition, SATW has again collected quantitative data on the different technologies and used the four-quadrant diagram “Economic significance of technologies for Switzerland / Available research competence in Switzerland”. This allows for the first time to identify certain trends.
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14 Juin Autonomous mobility

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2021
The future aim of highly and fully automated vehicles with corresponding drive systems is to free drivers from often tedious tasks, eliminate them as a source of danger, and make more efficient use of infrastructure. They require an almost unimaginably high level of digitalisation, artificial intelligence usage and innovative networking to enable extremely complex systems to emerge. Autonomous vehicles are currently at an early stage of development, planning or even testing. Details of initial authorisations and commercial availability are still far off: sceptics dismiss this as just hype, proponents talk about it soon becoming a reality. This is supported by billions in investment from large countries such as the USA, China, and Germany, as well as gigantic technology and service conglomerates such as Alphabet-Waymo, Uber and leading automobile manufacturers. A realistic timeframe seems to be 20 years until highly automated vehicles penetrate the market, with at least 40 years for fully automated versions. Autonomous shuttles, taxi fleets, computer-guided lorry convoys and traffic on the outskirts of major cities will most likely lead the charge. The small brochure provides a detailed overview of the current challenges on a technical, legal, environmental, and social level, and shows some potential benefits.
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01 Jan Factsheet “Autonomous Mobility”

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
January 2020
Authors: Wolfgang Kröger et al. Main themes: autonomous mobility Nature of publication: factsheet English abstract (150 to 200 words): The future aim of highly and fully automated vehicles with corresponding drive systems is to free drivers from often tedious tasks, eliminate them as a source of danger, and make more efficient use of infrastructure. They require an almost unimaginably high level of digitalisation, artificial intelligence usage and innovative networking to enable extremely complex systems to emerge. Autonomous vehicles are currently at an early stage of development, planning or even testing. Details of initial authorisations and commercial availability are still far off: sceptics dismiss this as just hype, proponents talk about it soon becoming a reality. This is supported by billions in investment from large countries such as the USA, China, and Germany, as well as gigantic technology and service conglomerates such as Alphabet-Waymo, Uber and leading automobile manufacturers. A realistic timeframe seems to be 20 years until highly automated vehicles penetrate the market, with at least 40 years for fully automated versions. Autonomous shuttles, taxi fleets, computer-guided lorry convoys and traffic on the outskirts of major cities will most likely lead the charge. The small brochure provides a detailed overview of the current challenges on a technical, legal, environmental, and social level, and shows some potential benefits.
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21 Oct Technology Outlook

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2015
Switzerland has a significant industrial sector today, which contributes almost 20 percent to the country’s gross domestic product. If we look at the next five to ten years, however, new technologies and processes are already emerging, the mastery of which will be fundamental to the success of Swiss industry. SATW has compiled the Technology Outlook which takes up these technological challenges and shows their relevance to Swiss Industry. For the Technology Outlook, experts from an academic and industrial background analysed comparable reports from major economic powers and compared international trends in the Swiss export industry. This revealed that certain key technologies will be crucial for the success of all sectors. These technologies have been illuminated with the help of industry representatives in a context where they should enable the breakthrough of essential innovations. Clear recommendations for decision-makers in the political and economic world conclude the outlook.
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21 Oct Measuring the use of natural resources and its impacts (20 pages) German French English

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2012
Natural resources are essential for all life – and they are finite. The growing consumption of resources per capita and the rapid growth of the world population are increasing the pressure on the Earth’s ecosystem and could become a burden for future generations. Must we limit our consumption? Or can we combat the scarcity of natural resources through technological advances and greater efficiency alone? It is up to society to decide how it wants to use natural resources. It must however quantify and measure the use of natural resources and the problems associated therewith, for example by means of indicators. In this brochure “Measuring the use of natural resources and its impacts” current methods and indicators for the four natural resource categories materials, land area, energy and water are presented and – as an example of how they are used – applied to the production of one kilogram each of the metals copper, lithium, neodymium and platinum. The spectrum of users today extends from individuals (for example in purchase decisions) and companies (for example in improving production processes) to nations or international communities of states (for example in political decisions as to whether to promote new technologies). The “100-year GWP” for example found practical application in Swiss legislation13 on the taxing of fuels.
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21 Oct Cloud Computing

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2014
Die Veränderungen der Informationstechnologie durch Cloud Computing (CC) birgt ein grosses Potenzial für Innovationen und Effizienzsteigerungen in sich. Diese sollen in allen Sektoren der Schweizer Volkswirtschaft bestmöglich genutzt werden. Entsprechend hat die SATW-Themenplattform ICT im April 2012 einen Workshop unter Experten zum Thema CC durchgeführt. Als Resultat wurde ein White Paper aus der Perspektive der Schweiz mit einer Situationsanalyse, Fokusthemen und einem Aktionsplan zum Thema Education Cloud erstellt. Die Studie soll Chancen und Defizite aufdecken, um sicherzustellen, dass die Schweiz eine führende Rolle in der Thematik übernehmen wird.
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21 Oct Towards a knowledge-based research policy?

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Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering (IVA)
2014
A comparative study of some European countries, IVA project Research Outlook, 2014, 44.
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18 Oct Rare Metals

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2010
Through their increasing use in innovative technical products our society is dependent upon rare metals as never before. It is unclear how the rising demand can be satisfied in the future. Workable deposits of rare metals are often restricted to just a few regions, resulting in political and economical critical dependencies. Generally, moreover, rare materials are not mined in isolation, but occur as by-products of the extraction of other elements. Thus the availability of rare materials is not just influenced by the direct demand for a specific element. An added complication is that rare metals are nowadays only recycled to a limited extent. The concrete examples in this paper show that the way we handle rare materials today could lead to critical situations in the future. We therefore need to find more sustainable ways of handling them. This will require a better understanding of the corresponding material cycles and specific, coordinated measures anchored in international institutions.
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18 Oct Is nano sustainable?

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2010
If we are to achieve sustainability and meet the great challenges of our time, such as climate change or the increasing scarcity of resources, we have to have the will as well as the right instruments. These latter undoubtedly include technical innovations. And today the nanotechnologies are delivering these many times over. Thanks to synthetic nanoparticles, harmful substances can now be replaced with harmless ones; resource and energy-intensive processes are becoming more efficient. It is important, however, to recognize at an early stage the possible risks that could ensue from nanotechnologies, and to carefully evaluate these risks and discuss them openly. Switzerland is making every endeavour to ensure that nanotechnologies are used safely, thereby helping this discipline to find long-term success
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18 Oct Circular economy – improving the management of natural resources

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Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
2014
This brochure gives an insight into the current implementation of Circular Economy at national level by presenting three country case studies and their different approaches to achieving the same goal of a more sustainable planet. China, besides being a huge economy, has the political power for a top-down approach to shape a completely restructured industrial and social system. Germany on the other hand is subject to external constraints in the form of EU directives along with national, regional and local demands. Finally Switzerland adopts a step-by-step approach based on finding solutions through the involvement of all stakeholders. In the section Analysis and Comparison, the three countries are investigated according to a number of indicators and consideration is given to the kind of indicators that could serve for a meaningful annual audit of countries’ Circular Economy performance. In the concluding section we give recommendations for possible future actions to take relevant steps towards the vision of a Circular Economy.
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