What does 2024 hold in store?

As the year comes to a close, 360info is turning to the experts to find out what issues are set to define 2024.

The year ahead is to set to be bruising and costly. Wars in Ukraine and Gaza look certain to drag on, and the spectre of a global recession will again threaten to plunge the world into economic turbulence not seen since the global financial crisis in 2007.

But there’s also hope for change and renewal. Next year is slated to bring 40 national elections, sending around 41 percent of the global population to the polls. The optimistic perspective is that this could help the world be more democratically representative, more indicative of contemporary concerns and more peaceful and prosperous in 12 months’ time.

To reach that better place, the work needs to be done. Economies and elections are at risk if authorities and institutions become complacent and stagnant. Already, risks of corruption, self-interest and inadequate resourcing are hampering the work of many democratic bodies around the world.

Meanwhile, in tech, two letters dominated in 2023: AI. The breakthrough year for artificial intelligence has given the feeling to many that the future is closer than ever before.

The evolution of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has upended education, medicine and commerce despite continued fears that it would instead trigger the end of the world.

While AI has led such a whirling debate in 2023, can it keep up the pace in 2024, or will it suffer the sophomore slump as regulation, copyright cases, and increased competition emerge?

AI is just one of the major issues that will shape 2024, according to 360info experts.

As the medical world works out how to integrate AI into its Hippocratic framework, the quest to understand the fundamental workings of the human body presses on.

The world’s first precision gene editing therapy approved for use in the UK and US will target sickle cell disease, but despite its high price, it will offer new solutions for age-old illnesses.

As the world reels from the hottest year on record, new and innovative approaches to sustainability continue with hydrogen-powered homes and commercial airlines running on “waste fats and plant sugars” attempting to propel the globe toward net zero emissions.

As commercial aviation shifts toward sustainable fuels, the rocket propulsion industry is set for a bumper year, with as many as 12 missions that could land on the Moon in the next 12 months.