While artificial intelligence dominates tech headlines, the most transformative innovations for global development are quietly operating in the shadows. The Frontier Tech Hub’s latest report: Beyond the Hype: Nine Underhyped Frontier Technologies for International Development looks at overlooked breakthroughs that could reshape how we tackle climate change and sustainable development.
Beyond the hype: nine game-changing technologies you probably haven't heard about
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While artificial intelligence dominates tech headlines, the most transformative innovations for global development are quietly operatingin the shadows. The Frontier Tech Hub’s latest report Beyond the Hype: Nine Underhyped Frontier Technologies for International Development looks at overlooked breakthroughs that could reshape how we tackle climate change and sustainable development.
The Frontier Tech Hub delivers the FCDO funded Frontier Technologies programme, which supports evidence-based technology exploration and adoption in international development. They conducted extensive research to identify technologies with significant potential but which are getting minimal attention. Their methodology involved analysing 142 technologies through a multidisciplinary approach, using foresight methods and consulting a Global Brain Trust of experts and community representatives.
What makes a technology “underhyped”? The report defines this by comparing attention levels (media buzz, patents, research) against actual potential for addressing development challenges. These nine technologies possess significant capacity to support locally defined priorities yet receive little recognition due to dominant narratives favouring top-down, market-driven solutions.
The selected technologies focus on practical applications that can power off-grid communities, optimise water cycles, and accelerate renewable energy transitions. Rather than seeking the next viral breakthrough, the research prioritises accessibility, autonomy, scalability, social justice, and ecological balance.
The report offers five key recommendations for policymakers, funders, and technology implementers, emphasising long-term frameworks that safeguard technological sovereignty while ensuring ethical adoption and community empowerment.
For researchers interested in evidence-based technology policy and sustainable innovation, this report challenges conventional thinking about what deserves our attention.
Read the full report: Beyond the Hype – Nine Underhyped Frontier Technologies
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Welcome to Professor Sir John Edmunds, who has joined FCDO as the successor to Professor Charlotte Watts, in the role of Chief Scientific Adviser and Director of Research and Evidence Directorate.
In 2024, the International Growth Centre (IGC) launched their Transformational Change methodology: a renewed approach to understand how their work influences policy and to further evidence its impact.
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