What's the trend that is going to impact business landscape 10 years from now?

As all types of resources become more in demand, we are moving to more commodity-driven market places. Oil has lead the way, with wheat and corn close behind. These three items drive cost of living indexes, and the daily patterns of us all. We like to think we live in the age of technology, and to be sure, innovation is increasing rapidly. However, it is traditional commodities that now drive our markets in ways we could never have imagined.

Globalization only expounds this phenomenon. Commodities are much more heavily contested and traded (driving prices further). We are feeling the full weight of population explosions, as global population growth and consumption has finally outstripped our ability to increase resource delivery. As the American dollar plunges in value, the USA's ability to purchase resources becomes crippled, while other nations abilities is enhanced. (There is a positive side to this, as the USA has the opportunity to become more of a producer of resources, mitigating its huge consumption trend.) This upset will take years to stabilize, and will create new way of doing things. Off/on-shoring will take an entirely new meaning.

What does this mean for technology? Technology will move to a more utility role. It will be the medium/tools that the new global commodity market is driven with. Innovations will center more on telecommunications, logistical mapping and control, trading, and process analysis. Business solutions, as opposed to consumer solutions (which have driven technology over the last 5 years). As consumer consumption slows down and business demands increase, this is already beginning to show in the market. Technology will always be innovating, however it will now be the tools of innovation, not the product of innovation.

As with technology, everything else will be driven by the acquisition and transfer of resources. Developing countries are well positioned to take advantage of this, which will ultimately balance the global economy in a way that is difficult for us Americans to imagine. The great fortunes, innovations, and entrepreneurs of the next age will be the innovators of this model.