The speech-to-speech (S2S) translation breaks down communication barriers among people that typically don’ t speak a common language. The basic purpose that such technology used to serve at its inception stages was to enable an instant oral cross-lingual communication. However, the recent developments in the market have been focusing upon accuracy of the Spoken Language Translation with capability to provide a “real-time” conversation. With globalization and frequent international travel, language difference has been acting as a serious barrier.With S2S, the expectations are to break such barrier to foster international business, international tourism, and equalize communication ability. Additionally, as of 2020, the language with a high demand around the world is Chinese (Mandarin). Ethnologue further estimates that the number of native speakers being 1.2 billion and a billion among them speak Mandarin. This is suggestive that Chinese is the most spoken globally and the second-most preferred for online applications after English. The recent technological advances and innovations to increase computational power whilst building smaller and smaller devices with higher performance has led to a strong demand for information retrieving and communication enabled technologies in the market. Further, as machine translation investments rise, the resultant is a more accurate translation.

The packaging industry is the largest consumer of hot-melt adhesives across the world, and this trend is estimated to continue during the forecast period. This is primarily due to the robust demand for packaging applications in both developed and developing countries. Hot-melt adhesives is one of the most common bonding mechanisms used in the packaging industry. EVA-based hot-melt adhesives are the majorly used adhesives in the packaging industry. It is applied along with paper, board, and plastic substrate-based packaging. They are applied in carton box sealing, paper bag assembly, and book-binding applications. They are also used in labeling beverage bottles and bonding tags and labels. The increasing organized retail sale, FMCG product sales, processed food products, and e-commerce sales are expected to increase the demand for EVA based hotmelt adhesives. Metallocene-based adhesives are used majorly in packaging of frozen food products. These are the another majorly used adhesives in the packaging adhesives market.  Amorphous polyolefin adhesives are majorly used in pallet stabilization, bottle stabilization, and in shipping tape. However, their presence in the developing market is limited due to their high-cost nature but significant in developed nations.

The deployment of energy storage system is anticipated to augment in the coming years, on account of changes associated with the power sector. The increasing development of renewable power infrastructure, coupled with the surging need for ancillary services in the power sector, is a big boost for the energy storage market. For the effective usage of renewable energy and grid resiliency, energy storage plays a crucial role. Energy storage technology aids grid operators, globally, in managing the variable energy generation from renewables, like solar and wind energy. However, the development of advanced energy storage systems has been highly limited in select regions with highly developed economies. The reason behind this is primarily the high initial cost and requirement of technical expertise. Despite the decrease in energy storage system (ESS) cost, ESS remains expensive, and the upfront investment required is difficult to overcome without government support. The energy storage market is led by pumped hydro storage, which has the majority share across the world, as it is the only matured energy storage technology. Globally, the development of distributed energy resources is growing rapidly to meet the local power demand and enable grid resiliency. The energy storage plants provide an alternative as a source of electricity in a distributed energy system. As the energy storage plants are located close to consumption centers in a distributed power system, the power transmission is minimum. Moreover, if energy storage is suitably deployed, it is expected to ensure the grid operators a flexible and fast responding resource to effectively manage variability in generation and demand.

Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) is a super engineering plastic, with a combination of high strength, modulus and impact proper ties, flame retardance, resistance to a wide range of aggressive chemicals, very low and tailorable coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE), excellent dimensional stability, thin-wall flowability, and unique processability. This balance of characteristics is the main reason for electrical and electronics applications to have one of the major commercial end uses for these thermoplastics. With the miniaturization trend of many electronic products,manufacturers are streamlining devices to pack more features into smaller packages. For instance, the pitch (spacing) between contacts in electrical connectors is narrower than ever before, and as small as 0.2 mm, when compared to older-style power connectors, with pitches exceeding 12.0 mm. Nominal wall stocks have also thinned considerably, as the overall size of connectors has shrunk. These thin-wall designs pose a challenge during the injection molding of micro connectors for devices, such as iPads, robots, computers, cell phones, and satellites. A suitable material must withstand reflow soldering without distor ting, melting, or blistering, and (LCPs) prove to be the much-needed ticket when compared to other traditional polymers. For the same reasons, LCPs are also injection molded into integrated circuit (IC) sockets, high-frequency (HF) network switches, power modules for wind and solar inverters and converters, custom high-power electrical connectors, and many other precision devices.

The worldwide demand for water, due to the growing population, increasing urbanization, and the need to address the cost implications from maintaining aging infrastructure are among the major driving factors for growth in the smart water management market. Similarly, with proliferation of IoT, smart cities across various regions are also expected to promote the growth of the market studied. Technological advancements pertaining to smart meters and their integration with communication solutions (SCADA, GIS, etc.) have transformed water management, to address the challenges faced by water utilities, residents, and industries, in terms of erroneous billing and water management. Owing to the global demand, the need to address the operational issues of the water management becomes crucial. Consequently, the adoption of smart water management technologies is expected to gain traction. The smart water management ecosystem consists of sensors, smart meters, communication infrastructure, and supporting software to enable two-way communication, thus, allowing users to gather actionable information and take informed decisions, pertaining to optimized water distribution and usage.

The first flight, which used blended biofuel, began in 2008 and as of March 2019, more than 150,000 flights have used biofuels. Only five airports have regular biofuel distribution till March 2019 (Bergen, Brisbane, Los Angeles, Oslo, and Stockholm), with others offering occasional supply. To cut CO2 emissions by half, by 2050, relative to 2005 levels, and achieve the goal of carbon-neutral growth, the global airline industry, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have announced to initiate the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), from 2021. Renewable aviation fuel (RAF) produces up to 85% less CO2 over its lifecycle and has the potential to reduce the dependence on traditional aviation fuel. CORSIA is estimated to mitigate around 2.5 billion metric ton of CO2, between 2021 and 2035. Renewable aviation fuel is expected to play a significant role in achieving the industr y’s long-term emissions reduction goal. The market is driven by the strict emission regulations laid on aircraft emissions, by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). As of 2018, around 150,000 commercial flights have successfully flown on biofuels blends, and several major airlines have committed to the long-term RAF purchase agreement. Further, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has set a goal of reaching 1 billion passengers on flights, fueled by sustainable aviation biofuels, by 2025. The major factor restraining the market includes the high cost of production of renewable aviation fuel. Fuel cost account for a significant share of the total operating expenses of an airline company (30%). Hence, high fuel costs increase the operating cost for an airline company, by a considerable amount.

Smart cities are growing globally, due to urbanization, which is enabling the growth. According to projections by the United Nations, in India, 404 million, China, 292 million, and Nigeria, 212 million, urban dwellers are expected to be added to the existing populations by 2050. Smart city platforms perform various functions, such as analytics, remote asset monitoring, performance management, decision suppor t, or presentation components. Most of the technologically advanced cities are making use of the Internet of Things platform to monitor city infrastructure, to manage everything from traffic flows and parking to water and air quality, and using the resulting smart data generated to tackle longer-term planning decisions around environmental sustainability. The smar t city platforms offer a foundation for urban infrastructure, applications, and services, and various city-specific functions. One of the significant factors expected to drive the growth of the market in cities is giving priority to platform providers as compared to standalone smart solutions, because of the scalability and integration of other smart solutions. Thus, with the growing popularity of such solutions, companies are increasingly investing in such solutions. For instance, in 2018, Huawei launched a new smart city platform that helps governments and other organizations develop, test, and deploy smart urban initiatives, bringing technologies, such as AI, hybrid cloud, and the IoT.

In the current era of smart grid, massive amounts of data are being generated. Data analytics solutions, (the process of analyzing data, primarily to identify significant, useful, and interesting trends and patterns) are expected to enable the utility to transform the vast volume of information generated into profitable business insights. As energy plays a prominent role in the socio-economic development of any country, the South Asian countries, like Sri Lanka and India, are encouraging the deployment of solar panel grids to produce electricity for own consumption and business purposes. Globally, the electric power systems have been witnessing changes. These electric power systems depend on centralized fossil-fuel plants to generate electricity and extensive grids to deliver it to different end-users. The demand for cost-effective power supplies for consumers in the utility sector led the market for smart grid analytics, globally. In an ever-growing power environment, a vast amount of data is generated by smart meters, sensors, automated dispensing systems, etc. Utility owners or suppliers utilize this huge amount of data to track demand and consumption, prevent power cuts, and reduce downtime. From the smart meters installed, the organizations can collect thousands of data points and elements per month, along with various types of measurements. This technological shift was primarily enabled by the improvements in communications and metering technology, mostly suppor ted by plummeting costs for storage and processing power.

Although synthetic or chemical nematicides continue to witness a positive trajectory in demand, an emerging preference for biological nematicides has been observed in recent years, primarily due to the rapid adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques and sustainable agricultural practices, globally. Empirical observations have revealed that bio-nematicides act synergistically with other agricultural inputs as an important component under environmentally friendly IPM programs. For instance, according to a study published in the Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control, T. viride and P. fluorescens, when integrated with neem cake, yielded effective results in controlling Meloidogyne incognita (Raveendra et al. 2011, Seenivasan 2007). As per an article published the Journal of the International Organization for Biological Control, in 2017, there have been numerous developments in the commercialization of bio-nematicides in the United States, in the past few years. Extensive research has been conducted in developing Pasteuria spp. and Purpureocillium lilacinus as potential nematicides. Under the scheme, “Strengtheni ng & Modernization of Pest Management Approach (SMPMA)”, the overall use of bio-pesticides including bio-nematicides in India, increased from 123.0 metric ton during 1994-1995 to 7,682.0 metric ton during 2018-2019.

The major factors attributing to the growth of the market are the increasing number of disability cases, due to the growing geriatric population, increasing number of road mishaps, spinal cord injuries, and meningitis. These factors are likely to boost the growth of the global medical lifting slings market. As per the revised World Population Prospects, by the United Nations, the number of people aged 60 or above is expected to increase significantly, greater than double by 2050, i.e. from 962 million in 2017 to 2.1 billion in 2050, globally. This age group is highly vulnerable to different types of age-related diseases, which require personal mobility aids like medical lifting slings. According to Disabled World, currently, around 10% of the world population, or roughly 650 million people, are suffering from disability. In most of the OECD countries, females have higher rates of disability than males, and according to the UN Development Program (UNDP), 80% of the people with disabilities live in the developing countries. Therefore, the demographic trend toward an aging population and the rising incidences of chronic diseases led to longer hospital stays, which may increase the demand for medical lifting slings over the forecast period. Additionally, there has been a presence of a considerable number of companies, and the key players are focusing on acquisitions and collaborations to enhance their footprint in the global medical lifting slings market. Companies are focusing on expanding their footprint, primarily by launching innovative solutions for patients. For instance, Savaria acquired Silvalea, a sling manufacturer.