Research Guides United Nations Office at Geneva Library & Archives

Science & Emerging Technology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology comprises methods, tools and processes to change or create living organisms. Genetic engineering, advancements in life sciences and the creation of products through organisms also fall in this category.

Robotics

The field of Robotics is about the combination of sensors, control algorithms and actuators. Robots are usually considered as (autonomous) agents that are located in a specified environment, however also automation of systems in a broader sense falls into this category.

Additive Manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing is a technology for building an object by adding and combining raw material in a way determined by a digital model of the product. The raw material can consist of metals, plastics or biological tissue. The related term 3D Printing is often used for creating objects by adding different layers built from thermoplastic filament.

Space Technology

We use the category Space Technology for developments in the field of space science, satellite technology, weapons, space flights and exploration and aerospace.

About this page

On this page you will find introductions to important emerging technologies, along with some suggested resources for further information about them in UN Library Geneva's collections.

Latest articles from key sources

Loading ...
Loading ...

Distributed Ledger Technologies

Distributed Ledger means in general that a record of transactions or contracts is stored in a decentralized way without a central authority. Blockchain is one particular method to achieve this by creating a chain of encrypted blocks as datastructure.

Cyber and 5G

We use the category Cyber and 5G for the very broad area of connected digital systems, interaction of humans in virtual worlds and the infrastructure that facilitates digital information and data exchange.

Machine Learning and AI

The category Machine Learning and AI refers to methods that enable perception, recognition and decision-making through machines and virtual agents. 

Quantum Computing

Quantum Computing relies on phenomena from quantum physics and allows to achieve computations through quantum bits (qubits) that do not rely only on the binary bits 1 and 0 but also on superposition of them. This technique promises to solve highly complex computational problems, that are infeasible for classical computers.