The ten emerging technologies set to transform the World in the near future

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published its annual Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report, highlighting a group of scientific and technological advances that it believes are approaching a tipping point between research and widespread adoption. Produced in collaboration with scientific publisher Frontiers and developed with the Dubai Future Foundation, the report focuses on innovations expected to reach significant commercial and societal scale within the next three to five years. According to the WEF, this year’s list reflects a broader shift towards technologies that are more distributed, personalised and resource-efficient, with potential implications for energy systems, healthcare, manufacturing, environmental management and digital security.

Now in its fourteenth edition, the report draws on AI-assisted analysis of scientific literature, investment activity and expert assessment to identify technologies that are expected to scale within five years. The findings were released alongside the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, taking place in Dalian, China, from 23 to 25 June under the theme “Innovating at Scale”.

The ten technologies identified in the 2026 report are:

1. Everything-to-grid energy systems, which allow buildings, vehicles, factories and data centres to both consume and supply electricity, helping improve grid resilience and make greater use of renewable energy.
2. Direct lithium extraction, a process that can recover lithium from brine within hours rather than months while using less land and water than conventional methods.
3. Passive radiative cooling materials, which cool buildings and equipment without electricity by reflecting sunlight and releasing heat into the atmosphere.
4. PFAS destruction technologies, designed to break down persistent “forever chemicals” that have proven difficult to remove using traditional treatment methods.
5. Precision fermentation, which uses microorganisms to produce ingredients and materials for sectors including food, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
6. Exosome drug delivery systems, which use naturally occurring cellular particles to transport therapies to targeted locations within the body, including potentially the brain.
7. Personalised mRNA cancer vaccines that train the immune system to recognise mutations unique to an individual’s tumour and reduce the risk of recurrence.
8. Quantum simulation for drug discovery, enabling researchers to model molecular interactions with greater accuracy and potentially accelerate the development of new medicines.
9. World models, a form of artificial intelligence that creates shared representations of physical environments using multiple data sources to improve prediction and planning.
10. Lattice-based cryptography, which is designed to protect digital systems against both current cyber threats and future quantum computing capabilities.

Stephan Mergenthaler, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, said the technologies collectively point to changing approaches in energy, medicine and manufacturing.

“While each of these technologies has the potential to make a meaningful impact on its own, together they tell a broader story about where innovation is heading,” he said. “They reveal new patterns across energy, medicine and manufacturing that could challenge long-held assumptions about how we use technology to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, such as food insecurity, climate change and untreatable diseases.”

The report suggests that technologies such as everything-to-grid energy, direct lithium extraction and precision fermentation could reduce reliance on centralised infrastructure and traditional geographic constraints. In healthcare, personalised mRNA vaccines, exosome delivery systems and quantum simulation tools point towards more tailored approaches to treatment and drug development.

The WEF also highlights the potential of PFAS destruction technologies, passive cooling materials and lattice-based cryptography to address long-standing environmental, infrastructure and security challenges. However, the report notes that their success will depend on factors including infrastructure readiness, regulation, manufacturing capacity, public trust and investment.

Frederick Fenter, Chief Executive Editor of Frontiers, said open science would play an important role in turning emerging research into practical applications. “Understanding which technologies are approaching a true inflection point requires access to the best available evidence and expertise,” he said. “Open science enables researchers around the world to build on one another’s work, accelerating discovery while improving transparency and trust.”