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5 in 5: Five ways technology will change our lives within five years.

Radically
accelerating the process of discovery will enable our sustainable future

There is a set of worldwide problems at once so daunting and yet so pressing that solutions simply can’t wait. We must accelerate the process of discovery to address this class of systemic challenges in such areas as policy, economic trends, societal decisions, and the natural sciences.

Today, the convergence of emerging technologies ↓ including artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing is enabling us to consider a wider range of questions once thought out of reach.

Take materials, for example. The world’s demand for them is surging. We urgently need to design new materials to tackle pressing societal challenges addressed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, from fostering good health and clean energy to bolstering sustainability, climate action, responsible production–and so much more.

The process of material design and discovery is traditionally long and complex because the space of potential chemical element combinations is incredibly vast. There are more possible combinations than there are atoms in the universe.

It takes roughly 10 years and upwards of $10–$100 million on average to discover one new material with specific properties.

We aim to cut down both years and cost by 90%.

Within the next five years, we expect to make significant progress
towards this goal—positively impacting every sector of our society and economy.

To make these predictions a reality, we need to speed the discovery process and make it more effective.

Accelerating the discovery of new materials is just one example of how a scientific approach
can be used to find new methods and solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.