Technology Foresight of Politecnico di Milano has conducted foresight activities to explore potential opportunities and challenges, preparing for a technological paradigm shift in personal health. The aim was to identify the most disruptive technologies in the realm of personal health and assess their impact on shaping future scenarios. The time frame extends from the present to 2040.

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Methodology:

• Mapping the landscape: Desk Research on the Future of Health: Selection, from foresight studies and scientific publications, the 50 most recurrent technologies and innovations expected to be transformative.  
• Experts’ preliminary analysis: identification of 28 core technologies.
• Extended and in-depth analysis to identify the most promising 10 technologies, engaging Politecnico di Milano’s community and a group of physicians through a dedicated survey. 
• Impact and Relevance Assessment to shape the final outcome.

The top 10 technologies are:

• Applied Artificial Intelligence (Applied AI)
• Biomedical imaging techniques
• Biosensors
• Data Science
• Digital Twin/Modelling
• Drug Delivery Smart Systems
• Genetic Editing
• Implantable devices
• Neurotechnology
• Next Generation Vaccines
  

Each technology description includes: examples of potential fields of application, the phase(s) in which the technology is relevant (prediction/prevention/diagnosis/treatment/rehabilitation), opportunities, requirements, risks, impacts.

The report continues with a series of insights, derived from the analysis of alternative visions of the future associated with health, with both positive and negative elements, aiming at understanding the opportunities and challenges posed by each context and at identifying the conditions that will allow moving in the preferred direction, without neglecting risks and possible barriers.

This report showcases the results of the two-round Dynamic Argumentative Delphi survey carried out within the project “S&T&I for 2050. Science, Technology and Innovation for Ecosystem Performance – Accelerating Sustainability Transitions”. The overarching ambition of this project is the “identification and mapping of future scientific and technological developments that can radically improve ecosystem performance”. The main outcome is to provide “reflections towards the 2nd Strategic Plan of Horizon Europe (HE), in its broad direction to support the Sustainable Development Goals.”

To this end, quantitative and qualitative methods were employed, among which this report refers to:  

• Patent and bibliometric analysis for selecting the most dynamic Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) domains; 
• Horizon scanning through web mining and human evaluation for identifying key STI directions and specific examples of technological/scientific breakthroughs within these directions; 
• Dynamic Argumentative Delphi engaging relevant experts from around the world in an argument-based exploration regarding the contribution of STI to the capability of ecosystems to flourish from now to 2050.