Top 10 technological challenges for the next decade.

"The bridge to the 21st century is under construction, and the only way we're going to be able to build it quickly and correctly is if we understand the technological challenges ahead of us," says Stephen Millett, manager of Battelle's Breaktrough Center and leader of technology forecasting for the Columbus, Ohio, research and development organization. "If we ignore those challenges, then we'll likely end up in the river." A team of Batelle scientists and engineers has compiled a list of the 10 most important technological challenges facing industry over the next decade. "These are market-driven challenges for industry, and anytime the marketplace challenges us, that's a tremendous opportunity for business growth up these new opportunities, and they're driving the development of new technology and products."

Affordable home-based health care. Market forces are shifting health care from hospitals and HMOs to private homes. Increasing home health care will help contain rising costs while serving an aging population and will provide people with the conveniences and privacy of taking care of themselves and their loved ones in their own homes. Home health monitors and treatments and linkages to professional care centers present a huge challenge and an enormous potential market for the health care industry. "We see a great need for simple, user-friendly medical equipment for the home," says Richard Rosen, vice president of Battelle's Product Development Group. "And they'll have to be effective and affordable to be successful. Technology developments are already leading to those products."

Renewed infrastructure. In the developed countries, the public infrastructure that provides transportation, bridges, water, and sewage is deteriorating with age. Many developing countries are without advanced infrastructures. Costs of major projects today are huge. New materials and construction methods will be required to renew the infrastructure with limited public funding. Needs will include traffic control and management systems that could reduce travel times, and clean, safe, and practical mass transit systems.

Protecting the environment and natural resources. Much of the economic growth of the Industrial Revolution was fueled by the easy exploitation of Earth's rich natural resources. Those easily accessible resources have become scarcer, so further growth will come from the smart management of remaining resources and the ability to use alternatives...