Countries where the future has already come
Tags: Future, Blockchain, Innovation, 3D Printing, Switzerland

– I wonder what the future holds for us in 10, 20 or even 50 years?

Great! I do either! Here is my foreign passport, some money, a suitcase… Let me embark on a journey to the future starting from Domodedovo…

Top 5 countries of the future

Switzerland

I am starting my journey to the future from a country well-known among the self-respecting officials. I mean Switzerland.

Notwithstanding its small territory, this is a world-known country due to gigantic investments parked in the technological development and research.

The average annual capital withdrawn for innovative projects is estimated at 16 bn CHF (108 006 998 875 RUB).

While domestic utility workers sticking to the old Russian traditions lay asphalt only when the first November snow falls, 3D printers and robots build houses and bridges in Switzerland within several days.

Moreover, in spite of all the transparency and incorruptibility of the election system, inhabitants of this amazing country still improve anticorruption methods. Besides, the first blockchain-based municipal elections were held here.

The election was based on the state system eID, an element of Swiss digital infrastructure that allows voting by mobile phones. No need to be present at the elections, just click on this or that candidate — your voice is recorded. Imagine you order a pizza but these are elections)

Apart from eID, such digital services as eGovernment, eVoting, eBanking, eHealth, eEducation, and eCommerce are planned to be developed and introduced.

A fully transparent system of elections and state government appeared to be real in the future that has already come in Switzerland.

Japan

What is the list of innovative countries without Japan worth for?

It’s been a long time since the Land of the Rising Sun became synonyms to such words as innovations, robotics, computer technologies, sushi, anime, hentai, oops, that’s for another blog, let’s dwell on innovations.

What is the secret of the Japanese technological wonder?

It’s pretty simple: innovations are generated due to the active scientific research and technological development, then get commercialized (e.g. bring profit) turning to prospective startups that are a base of the country continuous development.

“Psst! Dude, wanna some Japanese innovations?”

“Pigeon post has one doubtless advantage over the Russian Post: pigeons don’t steal smartphones from packages”.

Meanwhile, the Japanese distrust pigeons. What if they used to work for the Russian Post? That is why they created a special driverless car to deliver correspondence directly to an addressee sending SMS notifications about the arrival.

Green technologies are also well-known in Japan. Recently, the local company Eco Marine presented the project of ships that would use both solar and wind energy to move. This will make shipping cheaper and protect the World Ocean waters from contamination. Isn’t that genius?

The USA

Of course, it will take us a long time to forgive the Americans for what President Obama did at the Russian entrance halls. However, give or take, the Yankees keep the finger on the pulse of modern technologies.

Moreover, they are among the technological heavyweights. Microsoft, Apple, IBM, and other giants of the tech universe are creations of skilled and progressive specialists of the U. S.

A new hypersonic means of transport Hyperloop can undoubtedly be called the latest hyped ongoing project.

The American authorities have already approved the building of Hyperloop in Washington D.C. and New York.

The planned time for moving from one city to another (330 km) — 29 min, flight duration — 55–75 min, by a high-speed train — almost 3 hours, by highway — 4–5 hours.

330 km within less an hour?

At last, you can visit the grandma in Yakutsk not taking a month’s vacation on your own expense! Many thanks, Elon Musk!

Sweden

A country with a comparatively small territory Sweden is always ranked among top 5 of the prestigious world’s ratings — Top Global Innovation Index. It’s a list of the most thriving and innovative countries. Unfortunately, Russia holds only the 48th place.

So, what did these white-haired Vikings do?

They invested a lot of useful things: matches, a cardiostimulator, a PC mouse, Tetra Pak food packaging, Spotify music service, Skype, Bluetooth, and IKEA, for example. My girlfriend would put the last mentioned to the top…

Meanwhile, Sweden is one of the most progressive countries by environmental protection, renewable energy sources, waste disposal, and water cleanness.

For the Swedes, it’s very important to save resources during manufacturing, exploitation and utilization as well as reduce the exhaust volume and protect the nature.

Sweden is a Scandinavian country where no one knows what corruption is. However, they do all the possible to keep officials far from this.

Thus, the blockchain-based technology for real estate registration was tested within two years. The results of the test showed the efficiency of the technology regular use.

It should be noted that blockchain accelerated the process of registration that could take from 3 to 6 months. Now, it will take several hours, and both a buyer and a seller don’t need to be on the territory of the country.

Israel

Israel is considered to be one of the most developed countries of Southwest Asia by economic and industrial development notwithstanding the never-ending war on its territory. Even Israeli girls are in the service, and even local top models! A nice try, military office)

Besides, Israel is a world’s leader in the technologies of water resources protection and thermal energy.

It is an open secret that the climate of this country is not ideal for agriculture. However, it is one of the best agricultural states first of all due to domestic innovations in this sphere.

ROOTS Sustainable Agricultural Technologies is the brightest example. Its technology lies in the placement of water fill tubes in the ground and reaching the optimal temperature. Put it otherwise, if the ground is very warm, ROOTS can cool it off and vice versa. This technology can considerably boost yield.

Tubes can fill the roots with water and fertilizers, which allows to grow plants under almost any conditions — from the Arctic to the Sahara.

Conclusion: Strange to say but not a powerful army and mass volumes of mineral deposits, which is undoubtedly important, but the absence of corruption, strong investments in modern developments and the efficiency drive both in manufacturing and everyday life are an underlying condition of country’s thriving.

What is more, please, stop producing YotaPhones and LADA Kalina. Let us stop blushing when seeing the achievements of foreign colleagues.