AI has changed many aspects of how we work and live. It is making any predictions ever harder to make, yet understanding where the world is going is now more important than ever before.
Technology predictions have always been controversial, yet they attract wide audiences because of their speculative nature and potential impact. Accurate predictions could have a substantial impact on business. The degree of speculation, as well as potential impact, is dramatically amplified with the advancement of AI.
The ability to correctly predict may differentiate the future of humanity. Similarly, technology trends may be decisive in whether industries will entirely go away, undergo a complete transformation, or suddenly start blooming. The same is true for the workforce in general as well as every individual.
Technology prediction is hard because it entails technical and business components, as well as a time dimension. Superior technologies have not always won, and those that did win sometimes took much more time to mature and ultimately reach adoption. In the end, technology success depends on technical, economic, socio-political, and many other aspects, including timing and luck.
Over the past twelve years, the IEEE Computer Society has conducted technology predictions at the end of each year. Many other organizations around the world do the same. For examples of papers on technology predictions, see the seven past special issues of IEEE Computer on Predictions (2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019). For examples of technology predictions, see the IEEE Computer Society Press Room, https://www.computer.org/press-room.
All submitted papers to this special issue are to focus on state-of-the-art technology predictions from academic, industry, and government viewpoints. The topics of interest in this special issue include, but are not limited to:
Submission Guidelines:
For author information and guidelines on submission criteria, visit the Author’s Information Page. Article templates for Word and LaTeX are available; use of a template is recommended, but not required.
Please submit papers through the IEEE Author Portal and be sure to select the special issue or special section name. Manuscripts should not be published or currently submitted for publication elsewhere. Please submit only full papers intended for review, not abstracts. All submissions will undergo peer review consistent with the editorial standards of IEEE Computer Magazine.
Authors are encouraged to clearly articulate the novelty, technical contributions, and implications of their work. Both research contributions and system/experience papers are welcome.
Contact the guest editors at co12-27@computer.org.
