According to Peter Diamandis of Singularity University, the most dramatic change in our global economy is about to occur between 2016 and 2020. He says that 3 to 5 billion new consumers, who have never purchased anything, never uploaded anything and never invented and sold anything, are about to come online and provide a mega-surge to the global economy. He calls this group the “Rising Billions.”

Technology giants like Google, Facebook, and SpaceX are all working to connect the world. Once connected, this exploding online community introduces new markets, creating a $30 trillion consumption opportunity by 2025 – and emerging markets will grow 75% more rapidly than developed markets. As discussed in a recent post on Changing Beliefs, this shift from developed to emerging markets requires a change in the approach used to win in these markets, as products and services from developed markets cannot simply be transplanted into emerging markets. But these rising billions are more than a market opportunity. They are a source of ideas, innovation, knowledge, skills, capacity, passion, learning, insight, and foresight.

They are a rapidly forming Human Cloud that represents an independent work force and an opportunity to stay close to emerging needs. As work is increasingly decomposed into granular tasks, the Human Cloud is set to address some of those tasks – yet another example of an ownership to access shift. Their rise means that Ecosystems will have more participants as depicted in the visual above. As ecosystems like the Smart Home form, industry boundaries blur and stakeholder participation rises. These billions that come online become new participants in these ecosystems, sourcing ideas, skills, insight and more. In the process, these expanding ecosystems bring complexity. The shift from a world of traditional value chain participants to ecosystems that involve new types of stakeholders is complex.

It demands a collaboration excellence not exhibited by most organizations to date, and an edge effectiveness that challenges traditional forms of engagement. It begs us to leverage insight and context in ways we’ve never imagined, and forces us to rethink our traditional beliefs. As these billions join the hyper-connected world, one of the greatest challenges is the need to quickly understand emerging needs. These needs will come from places we have never heard of and cultures we don’t understand. The learning required to extract value can be enhanced via these ecosystems, and through the insights and behaviors of these 3 to 5 Billion new consumers. Tune into Coffee Break with Game Changers on February 10 where a panel will discuss the rising billions further.