ibm-5-in-5The 5 in 5 is an annual view from IBM’s research centre, looking at five innovations that will change the way we live, from classrooms that learn to cyber guardians, within the next five years.

This year’s 5 in 5 are

1.The classroom will learn you – The classroom of the future will learn about each student over the course of their education, helping students master the skills critical to meeting their goals.

2.Buying local will beat online – Savvy retailers will tap cognitive technologies and use the immediacy of the physical store to create experiences that cannot be replicated by online-only retail.

3. Doctors will routinely use your DNA to keep you well –Computers will help doctors understand how specific mutations in a patient’s DNA have lead to growth of a cancerous tumour. They’ll recommend a cocktail of medicine shown to best attack that cancer

4. The city will help you live in it – Cognitive systems will learn to understand what people need, what they like, what they do, and how they move from place to place—so the managers of the city can respond better to their needs.

5. A digital guardian will protect you online –Security systems will acquire a 360-degree view of an individual’s data, devices and applications. They’ll readily spot patterns that could be precursors to a cyber attack or a stolen identity.

More detailed explanations of each of these 5 predictions can be found on the Smarter Planet blog along with a set of short 2 minute videos explaining each one.

Nice to work for a company that is so forward thinking.