十大新兴技术报告

I N S I G H TR E P O R T Contents Foreword Technology, foresight and the desirable future ahead1Everything-to-grid energy2Direct lithium extraction3Passive radiative cooling materials4PFAS destruction5Precision fermentation6Exosome drug delivery7Personalized mRNA cancer vaccines8Quantum simulation for drug discovery9World models10Lattice-based cryptographyThe emerging landscapeAppendix: MethodologyContributorsEndnotes DisclaimerThis document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contributionto a project, insight area or interaction.The findings, interpretations andconclusions expressed herein are a resultof a collaborative process facilitated and ©2026 World Economic Forum. All rightsreserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced or transmitted in any formor by any means, including photocopying Foreword Frederick FenterChief Executive Editor, Jeremy JurgensManaging Director, Every year, a small number of scientific advancesreach the point where they are ready to changethe world. The Top 10 Emerging Technologiesreport, now in its 14th edition, is how we find andshare them. The technologies we bring forwardare chosen for their novelty, development progressand potential impact. Above all, they are chosen Looking across the 10 as a group, three thingsstand out. Many of these technologies arebecoming more personal, designed around onepatient or one context rather than a standardizedwhole. Many are becoming more distributed,producing food, energy and critical materialscloser to where they are needed. A third tendencyis that many of these technologies do more with This year’s edition arrives at a time of deepuncertainty. Systems have grown more fragile,and resilience has become a priority across sectorsand regions. The question of what technology canoffer in response is one worth sitting with, becauseeach of the 10 technologies featured this yearis extraordinary. A cancer vaccine can now besynthesized from a patient’s own tumour, teachingthe immune system to recognize cells it hadpreviously missed. A coating has been developed Each technology in this report is presented in twoparts: an overview of what the technology is today,and a strategic outlook, developed with the Dubai The technologies in this report are, by design,not finished stories. We are grateful to the advisorycouncil members and to the many researcherswhose expertise shaped this year’s selection.What happens next with each of these technologies Technology, foresight and Khalfan BelhoulChief Executive Officer, Decision-makers are often challenged to balancevisionary thinking and bold action with on-the-ground realities. During periods of rapidtechnological acceleration, acting on the futurewithout addressing critical questions can becomethe norm. Conversely, when market realities shiftand disruptions take hold, we are quickly reminded Together, this lens and the 10 megatrends thatshape it form the Dubai Future Foundation’s viewof the future. It is through this perspective that eachof the 10 technologies in this report is assessed. –Work backwards to understand what –Evaluate the technical and contextualconditions required for the technology Technologies are the mechanisms by whichinnovative ideas are delivered, enabling publicand private sector organizations to capture andsustain value. Rather than reacting to short-termhype, technological foresight enables organizationsto deliberately explore futures – acting on near-term opportunities while anticipating longer-term –Assess the regulatory, organizational, sectoraland societal factors that accelerate or obstruct –Identify the risks that delay development andthe decisions that determine whether those While the strategic outlooks presented here maynot fully reflect your context, we encourage youto use this approach to inform your own technology Everything-to-grid energy Turning every building, vehicleand factory into a power source. Hot summer evenings, when air conditionersare running at full capacity and the sun has justdropped below the horizon, place the greateststress on grids. A sudden spike in demand canpush the grid out of balance, even as potentialsources of flexibility are available but remain In 2025, lithium-ion batteries surpassed traditionalnickel-based batteries in global electric vehicle The hardware that moves power between thesebatteries and the grid has evolved in step, withnew semiconductors preserving almost all of theenergy during round trips and new control systemsletting distributed storage actively stabilize thegrid rather than passively feed it.4Coordinationsoftware stitches millions of these assets into asingle orchestrated resource, and compensation Everything-to-grid energy closes that gap. Everybuilding, vehicle and device becomes a place thatcan store power, return it and help balance supplyand demand in real-time, turning the grid into a The most consequential change is happeninginside the battery itself, where a generation o