GLOBSEC Megatrends 2019
We live in a dynamic world, where predicting the future is becoming increasingly challenging
because the risks we are facing are more complex than ever. Fascinating high-tech innovations and technological
disruption bring a new dimension to nearly every aspect of life on the planet from the public sphere to
strategic actors in the way we live, work, communicate, travel, and consume news. The rapid pace of
transformation has proven that the future will look nothing like the present. In order to face the challenges
of the future, we need to identify them and prepare for them now.
The top experts of the GLOBSEC Policy Institute have decided to take on this challenge, in the form of
a short experimental exercise. Based on year-round research activities at GLOBSEC, they identified major
trends related to their areas of expertise, which they believe are of the utmost importance when it comes to
the future of our societies. It would be a rather hopeless task if the list had the ambition to be exhaustive or
if the trends, we are writing about were to be properly explained or described. We aim to call the readers’
attention to important trends and exciting technological disruptions already happening now or are to
come in the near future. To spark our readers' imagination, we included a number of “what if?” scenarios
not to fully prepare you for hypothetical events, but to stimulate your mind to think ahead, be innovative,
creative, and open to solve new challenges. Therefore, this publication is a collection of essays to spark
your mind and challenge you.
Each year, several thousands of participants gather at GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum over three days to take
part in dozens of events and sessions with topics spanning from technology, innovation through trade,
to security and defence, and beyond. The level of detail and richness of debate at Central Europe’s leading
forum on international issues can indeed be overwhelming. We invite you to cluster the details around
several major trends and join GLOBSEC Policy Institute experts in discussing these strategic issues.