Consumption of video on mobile devices has grown so rapidly that advertising and marketing executives now have an opportunity to convey a message ten times more powerful than traditional written content.

The market for online gaming is expected to hit $111 billion next year, and if current momentum is any indication, that figure is just the tip of the iceberg.

In five years, things will undoubtedly be very different. Our scientific and technical communities are making significant advances in the fields of artificial intelligence, natural language processing and highly interactive systems.

If Santa and his merry band of elves were real, it would take about 50 international distribution centers to re-stock his sleigh to deliver presents to millions of children around the world. 

"Ninjas" are coming to the rescue in the fight against superbugs. It's the kind of attack that this frightening wave of new bugs can't adapt to -- unlike antibiotics.

Today's public transportation systems are becoming simply too big, complex, and popular for humans to maintain. Maintaining this infrastructure is a complex task that's only becoming more complicated with the steady increase in population and the rise of megacities. But we are finding that our greatest assets in tackling these challenges are data and smarter infrastructure software. With sensors and mobile technology, we can finally create the smart networks we need to understand these ever-changing systems.

It was a child who nearly died that made me realize just how drastically my profession had to change. Because nearly 8 million children died in 2010 before reaching the age of five, in large part because of imminently treatable illnesses, and because 57 countries globally are facing a human resources health crisis and of those countries, each only has 1.13 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 13.22 per 1,000 in the U.S.

Whether in junior high or in college, many students have one thing in common: a smartphone or tablet is in their pocket or backpack. According to eMarketer, by the end of 2013, smartphone users will represent over half of all mobile phone users. And by 2016, nearly three in five Americans will have a smartphone, including students.

When I was growing up in Massachusetts, my Dad loved to work on cars. Every time he headed out to the driveway, I was right there with him. One weekend, when I was 10 or so, he told me we were off to fix a transmission. "I can't do that," I said. He replied without a pause, "People do it every day. You can certainly do it once." That straightforward advice -- and the fact that we did fix the transmission -- stuck with me.

This is the era of the city. It is also the era of the Millennial. With a growing population of bright, diverse, wired and connected young people who really care about where they live, the two are ideal for each other, but our cities must keep up in attracting the prized demographic.

Whether you live in Northern Virginia like me, New York, Nairobi, or Nice, road congestion and the ensuing traffic jams aren't just inconvenient; they can impede economic growth and impact the environment. Imagine how much more productive people are when they're not stuck in their cars or on the bus several hours per day. The good news is that help is on the way.