What kind of talents should be nurtured to embrace the future? What competencies should they have? These are the perennial questions most countries have been pondering. The stakes are high when they try to identify the future direction for education and set development goals. Demands from all sides must be taken into consideration, including an understanding of the changing era and the transformations in science & technology, demands for social and economic development, as well as the challenges arising from the educational sector. These factors, as the driving forces behind 21st century competencies, affect their frameworks and connotations. This paper presents the ten driving forces identified by different international organizations and economies. Often, they fall into three categories: a) changes in science and technology: globalization, knowledge age, scientific and technological development; b) economic and social development: economic growth, occupational needs, demographic changes, multicultural trends, environmental and sustainable development; c) educational development: education equity and quality improvement.The results show that there are both similarities and differences among the driving forces identified by the international organizations and economies. Over half of the 29 international organizations or economies put a focus on six driving forces: globalization, knowledge age, scientific and technological development and information age, economic growth, occupational competencies and education quality improvement. This indicates that these driving forces are, to some extent, universal. Fewer than half international organizations or economies focus on demographical changes, multiculturalism, environment and sustainable development, educational equity. In addition, these driving forces tend to reflect regional or national demands. Some high-income economies are now pursuing knowledge economy as a priority, while some middle or lower-middle income groups are more concerned with educational equity. High-income economies are more concerned with the needs of knowledge age, which may reflect their post-industrial context. The driving force of knowledge age attracts more attention to education reform of high-income economies while the middle-or lower-middle-income groups are more concerned with educational equity.This paper concludes with three suggestions on how to generate these driving forces for various economies: a) policy-making should be based on a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the driving forces at a global level; b) when identifying the driving forces, societies should fully consider their levels of socio-economic development, cultural traditions and geographical features; and c) education policies based on driving forces need to center on the nature and developmental needs of children.