Technology can have a substantial impact on an industry's performance. Consider the effect of genetic engineering on pharmaceuticals, of transistors on telecommunications and of plastics on metals. Identification of the commercial potential of technological developments has dramatically accelerated world-wide, and the lag between ideas, invention and commercialization has decreased.
In the past ten to 12 years, an amazing number of new technologies have brought forth such products as video recorders, compact discs, ever more powerful and ever smaller computers, mobile phones, fax machines, new lightweight materials and highly effective genetically engineered drugs. Technological progress over the next 10 years is predicted to be several times that experienced during the past ten years; much of it will be spurred by the need to find solutions to our environmental problems. Major technological innovations can be expected in a variety of fields, especially inelectronics/telecommunications.
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