Metatrends are drivers of change, they operate as system functions as well as powerful motivations that guide individual action. Metatrends differ from other trend types (e.g. socio-cultural trends, technology trends, consumer trends, zeitgeist and fashion trends, microtrends) in terms of duration, ubiquity, globality and complexity. They span several decades, manifest themselves in all areas of society (in the economy, in the value system, in the media and the political system), can be observed all over the world, and are complex, interactive and multidi-mensional. Metatrends comprise (sub-)trends that constitute societal instantiations of metatrends in a particular application field. Subtrends can be instantations of many metatrends.

Globalization describes the increasing cultural, social and economic integration of the world community and the dissolution of limitations in the description of challenges and approaches to solutions. Especially in the economic field, the world is now more integrated than ever - whether it is in terms of production, trade, capital mobility, foreign direct investment, and mobility of highly skilled labor. Read more...

The future of mobility lies in the technical development of clean means of transport (CO2 neutrality through electromobility, alternative fuels such as hydrogen, and more efficient, sustainable drives), in automation (connectivity, communication, on-board networks, data security, sensors, IT/software, intelligent and Robust planning, artificial intelligence) and the digitally supported integration of multiple modes of transport - including operational and vehicle components - into the overall structure of smart (mobility) cities and intelligent transport systems (IST - Intelligent Transport Systems). In the future, mobility must be thought of as a systemic whole of road, rail, runway and river course. Read more...

Data are the fuel, or at least the lubricant, of the 21st century. They are considered to be a source of new added value across all sectors. Today, concrete problems can be better understood using algorithm-based data processing. Thereby, decision-making can be optimized based on evidence. The potential of our data-driven era is limitless, encompassing all areas of life and economic sectors. At the individual level, networking and connectivity, which will continue to increase for the foreseeable future, will bring about significant changes in individual behaviors and daily habits. The personal environment and formative structures in which people are embedded change significantly as the digital and physical identity merge into each other.

Today, urban areas in technologically advanced countries operate as the living labs of societal change, innovation and progress in action. Due to their condensed nature, densely populated areas are at the forefront in the use of digital technologies that are can extract, exchange, and evaluate data at unprecedented volumes, speeds and scopes. Fueled by this, the ‘Urban spatial organisation’, i.e. the physical and organisational outcome of the process of producing, governing and using urban space, is in flux.