The Global Technology Revolution
PrefaceThis work was sponsored by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) to inform its publication of Global Trends 2015 (GT2015). GT2015 is a follow-on report to its 1996 document Global Trends 2010, which identified key factors that appeared poised to shape the world by 2010.
The NIC believed that various technologies (including information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology (broadly defined), and materials technology) have the potential for significant and dominant global effects by 2015. The input presented in this report consists of a quick foresight into global technology trends in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and materials technology and their implications for information technology and the world in 2015. It is intended to be helpful to a broad audience, including policymakers, intelligence community analysts, and the public at large. Supporting foresight and analysis on information technology was funded and reported separately (see Hundley, et al., 2000; Anderson et al., 2000 [212, 213]).
This project was conducted in the Acquisition and Technology Policy Center of RAND's National Defense Research Institute (NDRI). NDRI is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the defense agencies, and the unified commands.
The NIC provides mid-term and long-term strategic thinking and intelligence estimates for the Director of Central Intelligence and key policymakers as they pursue shifting interests and foreign policy priorities.
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