Engineering a more responsible digital future

The world is being battered by technological disruption, as innovations such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things, blockchain, 3D printing, and virtual reality change how societies and economies work. Individually, each of these technologies has the potential to transform established products, services, and associated support networks. Taken together, they will upend old business models and institutions, heralding a new era of economic, social, and political history. Major economic transformations typically produce far-reaching change. During the first Industrial Revolution, in the 18th and 19th centuries, new manufacturing processes eventually led to huge improvements in human well-being.