RIYADH — “The next world war is a cyber war, as national security increasingly is defined by advancements in Artificial Intelligence, next generation 5G mobile networks, and quantum computing,” Bloomberg said in its “New Economy” global survey released Tuesday.

Seventy two percent of Saudi Arabian respondents strongly agree or agree with the prediction.

There is strong global consensus that if there is another world war, then it is likely to be a cyber war. Globally, 68 percent of respondents strongly agree or agree with this prediction. There is more fear of this from emerging countries (72 percent strongly agree or agree) than from developed countries (where 61 percent strongly agree or agree), but concern runs high around the world.

The survey gathered the views of 2,000 business professionals in 20 markets on what the future will hold as the balance of global power shifts towards new economies. Faced with a series of predictions about the world in 2035, the survey revealed sentiment from business professionals from emerging and developed economies on a range of issues including the role of technology, urbanization and climate change.

Overall, data shows that emerging country business professionals are more optimistic than developed markets about change, and have markedly higher expectations for the role that technology will play in the economy, business and daily life in the decades to come.

“It is noteworthy that emerging economies are more optimistic than developed markets about the power of technology to shape a better world by the year 2035,” said Andrew Browne, editorial director of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. “Developing countries in general see technology more as an opportunity while the developed world has a greater sense of technology as a threat.”

Thirty three percent of Middle East respondents, higher than the global average of 28 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘OPEC has been disbanded’.

Sixty five percent of Middle East respondents, higher than the global average of 54 percent, strongly agree or agree with the prediction that ‘China and India have eclipsed the US as the world’s center of tech innovation’.

The majority of business professionals across the world agree that by 2035, we will be reaching the point of no return on climate change. 58 percent globally strongly agree or agree, with sentiment running strongest in developed economies such as United Kingdom (64 percent), France (63 percent) and Germany (59 percent).52 percent of global business professionals also agree that rising sea levels will have already wiped the first low-lying country off the map by 2035.

Thirty nine percent of global respondents agree that Beijing will be the world’s top tech city by 2035

Globally, 54 percent of respondents strongly agree or agree that by 2035, China and India will have surpassed the US as the world’s centers of tech innovation.

A substantial percentage (49 percent) of respondents in developed markets including US respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the prediction that China and India will eclipse the US in technology. Even more (59 percent) respondents in emerging markets are betting that China and Indian will dominate the sector by 2035.

Among the highest were South Africa (73 percent strongly agree or agree), Egypt (69 percent strongly agree or agree) and Saudi Arabia (67 percent strongly agree or agree). Chinese respondents were more conservative about the prospect of China and India surpassing the US in technology, with just 40 percent strongly agreeing or agreeing.

Thirty nine percent of global respondents believe that Beijing will be the world’s top tech city by 2035, with more respondents (45 percent) in emerging markets strongly agreeing and agreeing than in developed markets (31 percent).

Respondents in Asia believe self-driving cars will be more common than individually owned automobiles in 2035. While respondents in China (70 percent), Vietnam (69 percent) and India (65 percent) strongly agree or agree that self-driving cars will dominate the automobile market, there is disagreement on this point in Western countries with strong automotive industries, including the United Kingdom (38 percent strongly disagree or disagree), United States (36 percent strongly disagree or disagree) and Germany (35 percent strongly disagree or disagree). — SG