In a recently published article, Professor Rui Mingjie from the Department of Applied Economics, Fudan University School of Management explained the concept of industries of the future, as well as their potential impact on our life and the development of society. He pointed out that strategic emerging industries in China still need some time to establish their competitive advantages. Therefore, research on potential industries of the future in advance is crucial for the nation’s path of development.
Professor Rui emphasized that forward-looking technologies don’t necessarily lead to industries of future: “History has proved to us that not every technological innovation ends up giving birth to a new industry. Technology can be classified into three categories: general technology, proprietary technology and process technology. It’s often not enough to create a new industry with technological achievements from only one of these categories. Innovations bringing all three types of technologies to seamless collaboration are often essential to the birth of a new industry.” He also reminded us that in order to efficiently search for possibilities of industries of the future, we may need to develop some new theories and research methods first.
