Software reading scans and online management of mental health are examples of digital healthcare that keep up with the modernization of the world, where efficiency and patient satisfaction are two key benefits. The weight of increasing demand for services could be lifted as more options become available for patients to seek treatment, and communication across the medical field can be redesigned.

Handbags made of mushroom leather and biodegradable foodware are two examples of how white biotechnology can produce functional products that look good. With the right input feedstock, such as biomass or gases, and the right fermentation processes, the outputs of white biotechnology processes can be utilized in textiles, chemicals, and fuels.

Healthcare systems around the world are being put under increasing strain every year. Key challenges they face include overburdened medical staff and a steady rise in patients with chronic health conditions that require high levels of care.

IDTechEx have launched a new monthly podcast, 'Tomorrow's Tech by IDTechEx', bringing you up to date technology trends. In each episode our host will interview an industry expert from IDTechEx, offering insights into a range of emerging technologies.

The future of healthcare is increasingly personalized, with smartwatches that can monitor key vital signs from the comfort of the living room to genetic testing that can tell people vital information about their health. Tracking information within the body and having doctors able to prescribe personalized cancer treatments demonstrate how technologies are creating a new future of healthcare.

Tuesday 21 November 2023 - Emerging Sustainable Materials to Watch in 2024" - White Biotechnology; Sustainable Plastic Packaging; CO2 Utilization for Chemicals and Materials; Emerging Alternative Leathers

Creating a circular economy is an essential sustainability target for governments, brands, materials suppliers, and the public. Key to pushing these sustainability efforts, which range from sustainability roadmaps developed by chemical and material companies to sustainable material usage targets adopted by brands, is the danger that growing global plastic consumption poses to the environment.

In the color spectrum of biotechnology, white biotechnology stands out as the industrial production and processing of chemicals, materials, and energy via cell factories like bacteria and yeast. In the bioeconomy, in which society uses renewable biological resources to create biobased products, white biotechnology acts as a critical technology driver. It not only reduces society's dependence on fossil fuels but also consumes less energy, generates minimal waste, and produces more environmentally friendly products.

Tunneling magneto resistance sensors are rapidly disrupting the automotive and wearables industry. These tiny sensors leverage quantum phenomena to provide a performance edge over classical incumbents, including industry mainstays such as Hall effect sensors. Although they don't depend on the more exciting effects such as superposition and entanglement, in this article, IDTechEx highlights the lessons to be learned from the success of TMR sensors in the emerging quantum sensor market.

If biotechnology was a color spectrum, where different colors correspond to different application areas (i.e. medicine, agriculture, etc.), then what is white biotechnology? White biotechnology is the industrial production and processing of chemicals, materials, and energy using micro-organisms like bacteria and yeast.

Tuesday 3 October 2023 - Define the white biotechnology and its scope, versus other "colors" of biotechnology; Discuss several technology trends impacting white biotechnology; Highlight some of the biggest innovations taking place in white biotechnology; Analyze major market activity by leading and emerging players in white biotechnology; Present a 10-year market outlook for white biotechnology

The advancement of biotechnology is critical to expanding both the bioeconomy, where society uses renewable biological resources to create biobased products and the circular economy. Of the numerous colors of the biotechnology spectrum, in which different colors refer to different applications for biotechnology, white biotechnology stands out as a key technology enabler for the bioeconomy by advancing the industrial production of biobased products through biological systems.

By now, antimicrobial technologies are well known to the general public, being applied to products ranging from antimicrobial coatings to protect people from bacteria and viruses lingering on high-touch surfaces to antimicrobial infused shirts and socks to help limit malodor.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI), also known as hospital-acquired infections, are a major problem healthcare systems face worldwide. Each year, millions of patients contract infectious diseases while in hospital.

Sony recently announced 'Project Q', comprising the development of a hand-held PlayStation and corresponding high-end earbuds. The inclusion of earbuds initially seems surprising since headphones and earphones are amongst the most mature in the near hundred billion-dollar wearables market.

Wednesday 5 July 2023 - Learnings From the COVID-19 Pandemic. What are the key antimicrobial technologies on the market today? What are the key applications for antimicrobial technologies, and what are the drivers? How do antimicrobial technologies work? How do they provide residual protection against microorganisms? What product and market trends were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic? What can we expect in the next global pandemic?

IDTechEx have recently published the market research report "Antiviral and Antimicrobial Technology Market 2023-2033", covering additives and coatings that can provide residual antimicrobial protection to surfaces.

Wednesday 28 June - Where Metamaterials Meet Tele-Communications. What is a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), and why are they likely to be needed for high frequency telecommunications.; The different types of RIS (passive, semi-passive, active) and where they are likely to be deployed; Manufacturing processes and materials required for RIS production.

Consumer technology available today is impressive but still not as cool as promised by many classic sci-fi movies. Our dreams of hoverboards and holograms have been replaced by stagnating smartphone designs and doom-scrolling. Yet things look set to change.

Thursday 27 April 2023 - What is the status and outlook for the wearables industry as a whole? How do the opportunities and challenges vary between wearable sensors and actuators? How is the role of wearables in healthcare evolving? Why wearables for drug-free health management and which technologies have the most commercial potential?