6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends

Opportunity #1: Increased automation - factories, cars, offices, homes

• (a) I found this opportunity on the website Global Change 
• https://www.globalchange.com/10-trends-that-will-dominate-our-future-all-predictable-changing-slowly-with-huge-impact.htm

• (b) I think this opportunity exists because less people, specifically in America, are seeking manual labor jobs, like construction or many hands-on/getting down and dirty jobs that don't necessarily need a bunch of degrees for and this creates an opportunity for automation to excel and have more introduced.

• (c) The prototypical customer here, or at least the people that would be "gaining" with this opportunity are corporations or "the big man" with the companies that create these automatic machines to be incorporated in the work field. I think, because a lot of Americans are now seeking to earn college and post-graduate degrees in desired career fields, this opens up the chance for automation to grow, but at the same time, these labor-type jobs are still necessary to employ the people that are actively looking for work and may not be qualified or have the degree to get higher-paying and more sturdy employment.

• (d) I think this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because we already are living in an automated world, we rely on these machines to wake us up in the morning (alarms) because we don't trust ourselves, we rely on these same machines to remind us of birthdays and our kid's soccer practice times because we no longer write things down or rely on our own memory. Because automation surrounds us today, I think it would not be hard for big companies to eventually replace factories, cars and homes as we know it, because we might not see it even if it's before our eyes.

•  Why? I think I saw this opportunity in this way because of the influence and experience I've had in my own life. Last semester, I was enrolled in a Minorities in American Society class that really opened my eyes to what's been going on in our country that we might think isn't on a daily basis and automation was one of those trends.

Opportunity #2: Huge growth in life expectancy in most nations

• (a) This was found on the same site was the first one.
• https://www.globalchange.com/10-trends-that-will-dominate-our-future-all-predictable-changing-slowly-with-huge-impact.htm

• (b) This exists because of the medical advances and technology that we're developing constantly. Life expectancy is said to be increasing by a year in every four years, according to the trends cited on the website.

• (c) The customer in this opportunity is all of us, but really millennials and the generation that follow after, as they would be the ones who live to older ages.

• (d) I think because of the advancements we are making medically and health wise, this might be easier to exploit.

• Why? I think most people would see this opportunity in a similar as me, but although medical advancements are for the most part seen in a positive light, there may be a counter-argument out there that suggests a lot of these technological advancements are becoming un-natural and could potentially have risks and side effects to them.

Regulatory Trends

Opportunity #3: Workplace Diversity and Inclusion in the years to come

• (a) I found this on a 2019 forecast of disability related trends
• https://riskandinsurance.com/2019-forecasts-for-absence-and-disability/

• (b) I think this exists because of the current lack of inclusivity in the workplace among people with different skill sets and abilities; many people with disabilities (of any kind) have a difficult time getting hired for jobs or keeping jobs because of their limited skill sets and it is hoped to be improved in the near future. 

• (c) The customers who would benefit from this opportunity would be the currently employed or potential employees with disabilities (whatever they may be), who would be able to apply their own individual knowledge and diverse skill set and bring it to the table at that work place. 

• (d) I think this opportunity would be relatively difficult to exploit because many company owners and employers although would like to expand their companies and include a more diverse community, on the surface level, there are biases, assumptions and discriminations made by these employers that can't always be blamed because they may be ignorant on how to handle or interact with individuals with disabilities but also, should open up their mindset into learning more about this population and what they may need from their employers as well as the unique and individualized skills they can provide to the company.

• Why? I feel that this opportunity hits close to home for me. As someone who has experience and works with individuals with disabilities daily as a career as a behavior therapist for individuals with autism, it's easy for me to confront this opportunity and apply the perspective on the disabilities side of it. Others who may not have as much knowledge or experience with this population may not understand why this opportunity is one, or why it should be, but may offer a different perspective that I may not have.

Opportunity #4: Regulatory Trends in Privacy and Cybersecurity 2019

• (a) Found this here:
• https://blog.procircular.com/regulatory-trends-in-privacy-and-cybersecurity-2019

• (b)  I think this exists because the ironically increasing lack of privacy on the individual level of citizens in the United States. An excerpt from this article struck out to me, where it compared the privacy regulations of the United States and Europe. The U.S enforces privacy regulations and security of it's own federal government and businesses but when it comes to the citizen's privacy, the U.S lacks to secure it as much as Europe manages to secure the privacy and rights of their citizens. Simply put, the U.S prioritizes it's government and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance privacy over their own people.

• (c) Every individual with a right to privacy and possessing personal information.

• (d) There are groups out there working to protect the privacy rights of the individuals and citizens of this country so that a, as it was phrased in the blog, "Privacy Apocalypse" doesn't occur and we can only be optimistic that it will improve.

• Why? Often times, this issue is not put out there and many people believe that our privacy is just that, OURS. But it is hard for me to be convinced that our personal information is not out there being exploited when cases of breach of privacy are constantly occurring, not to mention lawsuits coming out with companies like Facebook and others that initially claim (to their consumers) to be with-holding consumer personal information for no one to see but can actually be reached.