Trend · rank 24 of 250

Technology diffusion & productivity gaps

Advanced tools and effective management practices are reaching smaller firms slowly, sustaining wide productivity gaps between leading and lagging enterprises within industries and holding down national output.

Production & InnovationPeople, health & workmanufacturingwork skillsinequality

Second pass: Added in the second pass. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
24of 250
Sensitivity
20.0rank 25
Breadth
2of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
42.2rank 77
Eigenvector
1.6
Betweenness
64.4
Links
11trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
40.9

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
119
Over a year
+20%Rising
Over three years
+34%
Peak
17315 Feb 2026
Sources
Bothagreement -0.13
Coverage
14languages · 60 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (14 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English63%114+27%
Russian9%87+4%
Spanish6%97+6%
Chinese5%97+13%
German5%93+8%
French3%106+16%
Indonesian3%78+41%
Ukrainian1%83+20%
Italian1%96+35%
Polish1%84+3%
Arabic1%112+84%
Dutch1%97+17%
Korean1%70−29%
Hebrew0%63−23%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Singapore

Ethiopia

China

Kenya

South Korea

Nigeria

Ghana

United States

Australia

Philippines

South Africa

Malaysia

100

90

68

64

62

48

45

44

40

40

38

37

The 12 highest of 60 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English107−18%+8%+25%
EuropeGoogle in 7 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch89−17%+7%−23%
ChinaGoogle in 1 country97+5%+129%+105%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 7 countries + Wikipedia in Chinese, Korean, Indonesian83−5%−9%−25%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country93−26%−13%+10%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Arabic, Hebrew77+2%−16%−40%
AfricaGoogle in 2 countries58−51%−43%−60%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish84−3%−14%−25%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian63−8%−11%−58%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
ArgentinaGoogle83−2%−27%−10%
AustraliaGoogle103−32%−11%+60%
BrazilGoogle76−0%−31%−30%
CanadaGoogle90−39%+9%+6%
ChinaGoogle97+5%+129%+105%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French86−12%−8%−24%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German83−15%−6%−30%
IndiaGoogle93−26%−13%+10%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian72−14%−8%−40%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian96+2%+14%−15%
JapanGoogle82+25%−24%−21%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean70−6%−40%−28%
MexicoGoogle67+28%−38%−45%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian87−22%+4%−26%
South AfricaGoogle95−11%−26%−33%
United KingdomGoogle128+1%+100%+47%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English109−16%+5%+29%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
4 · HighAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
4 · HighA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
3 · ModerateCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
3 · ModerateAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
2 · LowCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
2 · LowA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
2 · LowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
2 · LowA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
4 · HighResearch & development intensityPeople, health & work18
3 · ModerateEntrenched opportunity inequalityPeople, health & work9
3 · ModerateIndustrial policy competitionTrade, industry & supply chains26
3 · ModerateBatteries & energy storageTrade, industry & supply chains42
3 · ModerateBusiness dynamism & start-up formationPeople, health & work85
3 · ModerateYouth population expansionPeople, health & work146
3 · ModerateIndustrial robotics & automationPeople, health & work150
3 · ModerateFoundational learning deficitsPeople, health & work162
3 · ModerateGraduate skill mismatchPeople, health & work178
3 · ModerateGender participation divergencePeople, health & work192
3 · ModerateConstruction productivity & housing supplyPeople, health & work235