Faking the Future

We are regularly invited to speak at and participate in events which have the future as their theme. One of the most striking things about many such events is how little genuine exploration there is of anything beyond the next 12-18 months. The bulk of the topics and speakers tend to focus on describing the recent past or the present. The often unspoken assumption is that the trends, ideas and developments we are seeing now are the key factors that will shape the next 5-20 years. An example of this was the recent Nesta FutureFest event held in London. While many of the talks were interesting we only saw two out of about 15 sessions that we attended make any attempt to go beyond the present day. We acknowledge that for many of the audience the chance to reflect on things that were not on their radar was an eye opener – and we appreciate that most of these events are not designed for futurists as the target audience. However why not be honest about the present day focus of such events rather than trying to suggest they are genuinely forward looking?

We do feel that the lack of ambition in many of these events is doing the audience a disservice and in some cases there is an almost deliberate attempt to provide an official and safe perspective on what the public needs to know. Whether or not these events explore them, fundamental shifts are taking place that could have a profound effect. Digital transformation and disruptive innovation are reshaping jobs, professions, firms and industries. Developments in cybercurrencies and the underlying blockchain technologies could reshape entire economic and political systems. Groundbreaking bio-medical advances hold out the prospect of dramatic changes in everything from life expectancy to human capability and cognitive performance. Automation is eliminating even highly skilled professional roles – a recent Oxford University study of over 700 different jobs suggests that 47% of them could be completely automated in the next 20 years. At the same time the nature of the jobs market is changing, the new knowledge based and highly automated industries require far less and more highly skilled employees than those who are typically losing their jobs. Indeed, recent data suggests that, since the most recent economic downturn, only one out of every 40 jobs created in the UK has been a full-time position.

With these and other equally fundamental shifts in prospect, it is essential that we don’t try to ‘fake the future’ and present a sanitized view of what’s to come. It is perhaps more important than ever that event owners, the media and governments recognize their responsibilities in preparing society for the possible shocks and transitions on the horizon. We have to raise awareness, stimulate interest, encourage debate and enable more informed decision making on the far reaching developments taking place and the deep transformations they could bring about for individuals, society, governance and the world of work.

Originally written for March 24th issue of FutureScape. View the full issue here.

Business 2025 – Pathways to Transformation – An experience in aid of Street Kids International

Monday- May 19th 2014 – 5.30pm – 9.00pm

The Forward Foundation, Centro 3, 19 Mandela Street London NW1 0DU

Price £45.00 (£37.50 + VAT)
To register please go to: http://bit.ly/QE6yUp 

Fast Future Transformation Experiences:

We are pleased to announce the first event in a series of Fast Future multi-sensory transformation experiences. The aim is to kickstart the debate on how businesses, key industry sectors and individuals can transform themselves to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing reality. Each experience will include a range of multi-sensory activities designed to stimulate the mind, body and soul of attendees. 100% of the proceeds from each experience will go to Fast Future’s chosen charity – Street Kids International http://uk.streetkids.org/

Business 2025 – Pathways to Transformation

The main speaker for this first event will be Rohit Talwar – a global futurist, transformation advisor and CEO of Fast Future Research (see profile below). Rohit will share the results of Fast Future’s latest research on foresight driven transformation. Rohit will argue that future success demands a complete rethink of the mind, body and soul of business. He will describe critical drivers reshaping the business landscape, highlight the resulting strategic imperatives and present a framework for driving genuine organisation-wide transformation. Rohit will illustrate this highly interactive talk with case studies of how organisations across the globe are using future insights to drive their transformation efforts. For an expanded discussion of the topic see ‘The Case for Total Transformation’ below.

Here are some recent videos of Rohit in action:

Anticipating 2025 – “Driving forces, global challenges and potential disruptions”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwcLQCIfxpY 

A World in Transition – http://www.colliers.com/en-gb/uk/insights/multimedia

A Multi-sensory Experience

Reflecting the theme of total transformation, the evening will offer a range of stimuli for mind body and soul which are all included in the entry price. These stimuli will be delivered by a cast of brilliant individuals who are all kindly giving their time in support of Street Kids International:

Transformational speed coaching by Claudie Plen of Openness Consulting – A highly experienced coach and expert in leadership development, innovation, soft skills and team building http://www.opennessconsulting.co.uk/

Desire speed coaching by Kapil Gupta – an inspirational life coach focused on helping people unlock desire across all aspects of their lives http://www.desirecoaching.com/

Chair massages delivered by Auralay Martin – A truly exceptional massage therapist, Reiki practitioner and life cleanser http://www.auralay.com/ 

Refreshment for the body and soul sponsored by Fast Future Research and provided by Joanne Thomson and Chas Hines – founders of Food Alchemy – offering healthy bites and nibbles that reflect the growing ecological changes we are challenged with today foodalchemy@hotmail.com

Photography by Iveta Kovacova – A very talented event and life experience photographer
http://www.ivetakovacova.com/ 

An art exhibit by the incredibly gifted painter Lubka Strháková – with a portion of the proceeds going to Street Kids International http://souldrops.co.uk/ 

More cast members will be announced in the following days.

Auction and Raffle

During the evening, we will be auctioning an in-house speech by Rohit Talwar, coaching sessions and a painting by Lubka Strháková. We will also be holding a raffle with some very special prizes. All proceeds will go to Street Kids International. If you have a prize that you’d like to donate to the auction or raffle please contact rohit@fastfuture.com

Event Schedule

17.30 Registration, networking and multi-sensory stimuli
18.15 Transformation inspiration
18.50 Presentation and Q&A
20.15 Networking and multi-sensory stimuli
21.00 Close

Registration

Price £45.00 (£37.50 + VAT)
To register for the event please go to: http://bit.ly/QE6yUp 

If you would like to pay for this event from your charitable donations budget, please select the appropriate option on the registration site and send a cheque for £37.50 per ticket made payable to:

Street Kids International, 1st Floor, 1 Creed Court, 5 Ludgate Hill London, EC4M 7AA

http://www.fastfuture.com/
Tel +44 (0)7973 405145

Download our recent reports:

100 Drivers of Change for the Next Decade
http://www.accaglobal.co.uk/en/research-insights/accountancy-futures/drivers-change.html

Reinventing the Airport Ecosystem
http://www.amadeus.com/airlineit/resources/reinventing_the_airport_ecosystem/index.html?OADS=78

Hotels 2020: Beyond Segmentation
http://www.amadeus.com/hotelit/beyond-segmentation.html

Twitter http://twitter.com/fastfuture
Blog https://widerhorizons.wordpress.com/
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/talwar
View past presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/fastrohit
Signup for our newsletters / Download past editions at http://fastfuture.com/

FutureScape – November 27th – Reimagining and Financing Tomorrow’s Cities

Welcome to our latest newsletter. In this edition we would like to share with you the highlights of several excellent events we attended during the last few months with a strong focus on innovation and tomorrow’s cities. We would also like to offer readers a discount on the latest in a series of inspiring Re.Work futures conferences to be held in London on December 13th.

As always we welcome your feedback, contributions and suggestions for future topics.

Please feel free to forward the newsletter to your contacts and networks.

Regards

Rohit Talwar
CEO
Fast Future

rohit@fastfuture.com
Tel +44 (0)7973 405145

Skype fastrohit

www.fastfuture.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/fastfuture
Blog https://widerhorizons.wordpress.com
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/talwar
Signup for our newsletters / Download past editions at http://www.fastfuture.com
Watch a short video of Rohit at http://www.travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php?id=14300

1.  Looking for Speaking Opportunities in New York and Rio de Janeiro / Sao Paolo Rohit will be visiting New York City regularly over the next few months for various speeches and events. He will be available for additional speeches and workshops on the following dates: December 9th and 10th January 6th – 10th, 29th – 31st February 3rd – 7th March 3rd and 4th Rohit will also be in Rio de Janeiro from February 8th-15th observing the training of local trainers as part of his role supporting Street Kids International (SKI). While there he’d be happy to deliver presentations to local audiences with the proceeds going to SKI. During his trip Rohit will be delivering talks on the following:  Future law firm strategies and the impact of IT on the legal industry over the next decade  Global drivers of change for business and the accountancy profession  From muscle to magic – how smart firms create the future  Futureshock – a timeline of science and technology developments shaping the next 50 years The future of travel, tourism, business events, airports and aviation. If you would like to discuss booking Rohit for a speech for your organization, please contact rohit@fastfuture.com 2.  Announcing the forthcoming RE.WORK Summit – London –  December 13th 2013 – 30% discount for our readers On September 19th this year we attended the excellent  RE.WORK Technology Futures Summit in London. This  extremely well designed and curated event was created by  founder Nikita Johnson. A strong panel of speakers  explored  the themes of future urban landscapes,  wearable and embedded technologies, the internet of  things (IoT), big  data, the future of health and medicine  and many other  themes. A series of inspiring talks  provided genuinely new  insights, ideas and perspectives  and challenged the audience  to think well beyond the  here and now.You can find a summary of the sessions from September 19th  here: https://widerhorizons.wordpress.com/. Based on our experience at RE.WORK Tech, we’d strongly recommend attending the forthcoming RE.WORK Cities Summit https://www.re-work.co/cities.  The event will take place on December 13th in London and will focus on the potential of technology to make our cities more efficient, safer and sustainable. Attendees will have the chance to gain insight into breakthrough innovations that will have an impact on our future urban areas. The sessions will explore how open data and sensors, nanotechnology and synthetic biology could affect future cities. Participants will be encouraged to brainstorm ideas on tomorrow’s city and have the opportunity to meet and network with start-ups, entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders and academics. The aim of RE.WORK Cities is to bring together the most influential technologists, entrepreneurs, academics, business leaders and Government officials to collaborate and reshape our future cities. There will be over 30 speakers and a target of around 200 attendees at the event, including Carlo Ratti, MIT; Fabio from Future Cities Laboratory, Andrew from UCL Bartlett, Alicia from Libelium; Enrico Dini, d-shape. The agenda will be split into themed sessions including: Data and the Changing Dynamics of the City; Digital Fabrication & 3D Printing; and Synthetic Biology and the Living City. Sessions will include short talks from speakers plus a group discussion session. There will also be an interactive brainstorming session moderated by the Future Cities Catapult. Throughout the day there will be a showcase area featuring exhibitions from Arup, The Design Museum and prototypes from a joint wearable technology hackathon from Wearable Futures and RE.WORK. RE.WORK Partners include: The Future Cities Catapult, Arup, Wearable Futures, The Observer, The Guardian, TechCityNews, BBC Future, BBC Focus, The Global Urbanist, BBC Worldwide, Google Solve for X and the Singularity UK. As supporters of the event, our readers can take advantage of a reader discount. To claim the 30% FutureScape discount please use reader discount code fastfuture30. https://www.re-work.co/cities 3.  Financing Tomorrow’s Cities  On 19th November, the newly elected Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf introduced the Financing Tomorrow’s Cities initiative – a joint project by the City of London Corporation and  Z/Yen  Group. The goal of the initiative is to  create a  debate around innovative financing mechanisms for t  tomorrow’s cities through  shared research, a series of  events and online  discussions.The Lord Mayor’s introduction was followed by a  panel discussion with representatives from the  banking, legal, insurance, engineering, construction and policy sectors.  A critical observation highlighted by the panellists is the fact that cities will have to finance and build more infrastructure in the next 40 years than they did in the past 400. The associated challenges range from smart allocation of capital to assets that need to be built through to climate change mitigation and a transition to a circular economy.  Although responding to these challenges is not easy, the panellists argued that future city leaders should focus on three key change levers: Learning from best practices from around the world Encouraging more collaboration among the numerous stakeholders in a city such as education providers, businesses and architects, and Incentivising future-proof thinking. 4. Financial Times Innovate  The 2013 FT Innovate Event entitled ‘’The New Groundbreakers’’ took place  in London on 6th-7th November.  Over the course of two days, innovators  from  academia, corporations, start-ups and innovation agencies were  informed,  inspired and entertained by a series of talks delivered by start-ups  like Decoded and VoxPopMe,  corporations such as Samsung and P&G and digital  innovators such as  Facebook, Amazon and Dropbox. In this issue of FutureScape we decided to highlight the talk delivered by  INSEAD  Professor Hal Gregersen as it  captures the essence of innovation,  explains why some people are more innovative than others and suggests  how  to improve our  innovation capacity. Clearly, innovation is the ability to create value, driven by bright ideas. But  how do innovators come up with  those ideas that disrupt industries?  Gregersen argues that the answers can be found in rigorous research  undertaken by  Clayton Christensen, Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen and summarized in the book  “The Innovator’s  DNA’’. As the research suggests, innovators come up with great ideas through the utilization of key discovery skills,  including observing, networking, experimenting, associating and questioning. Innovative leaders like Jeff Bezos  and Steve Jobs think differently, challenging the status quo, but also act differently – discussing and experimenting with new ideas. Gregersen suggested that all individuals and companies can learn to be more innovative because innovators are not born but made. The starting point is to remain as curious as children who are open to the world and not afraid to ask questions. Everyone can be an innovator – we just have to unlock our potential. You can watch Hal’s inspiring talk here: https://www.ft-live.com/ft-events/ft-innovate-2013/sessions/the-innovators-dna 5.   Rohit on the Road In the next few months Rohit will be delivering speeches in Dubai, Karachi, London, Maastricht and New York. If you would like to arrange a meeting with Rohit in one of these cities or are interested in arranging a presentation or workshop for your organisation, please contact rohit@fastfuture.com Image Sources: 1 – http://www.knowtex.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/REWORK-e1380281535382.jpg 2 – http://tb.bizwiz.ro/Cele-mai–destepte–orase-din-lume-si-cum-e-viata-intr-o-asemenea-metropola-a-viitorului/2177f164692a07a96f/588/331/2/70/Cele-mai–destepte–orase-din-lume-si-cum-e-viata-intr-o-asemenea-metropola-a-viitorului.jpg 3 – http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3673/10724585325_52d4ec19b1_m.jpg

RE:WORK Technology Summit 19th September 2013, London

On September 19^th this year we attended the excellent RE.WORK Technology Futures Summit in London. What follows is a short summary of the presentations delivered on the day:

Bruce Schlee, Co-Founder, Helical Robotics – Bruce discussed how robots and automation can change industries by mitigating risk and increasing profitability.

Rachel Armstrong, Co-Director, AVATAR, University of Greenwich – Rachel talked about her research which investigates opportunities to transform cities into soil-producing systems. Initial findings suggest that it may be possible to design synthetic soils that will help us transform waste into useful substrates which will however require a complete redesign of our buildings.

Skylar Tibbits, Director, Self-Assembly Lab, MIT – Skylar highlighted the potential of self-assembly and self-programmable materials for our future built environments. Smart materials that make decisions and self-configure themselves could certainly lead to innovation in construction, manufacturing and also to more sustainable cities.

 

The Future of our Urban Landscapes

Hedwig Heinsman ,Co-Founder, DUS Architects – Hedwig focused on 3D-printed buildings and what they would mean for the future of architecture. She revealed DUS Architect’s idea to 3D-print a version of the traditional Amsterdam canal house with the  building process taking place at an open source construction site that functions as an expo- and event space.

Wearable Technology, Embedded Technologies & Design

Chris Brauer, CAST co-director and Senior Lecturer, Goldsmiths, University of London – Chris described how his team used mixed ethnographic and quantitative research methods to investigate the applications and impact of wearable technologies.

Despina Papadopoulos, Owner, Studio 5050 – Despina focused on the relationship between design, technology and ethics and highlighted how design principles can inspire sustainability.

Andy Goodman, Fjord – Andy gave several vivid examples of how emerging technology is changing our lives, increasingly blurring the lines between digital and physical, between the human body and the machine.  

 

The Internet of Things, Data & the Citizen

Anab Jain, Founder, Superflux – Anab presented Internet of Things Academy –Superflux project that encourages creativity, collaboration and technological literacy. The IoTA is a web-based platform to that aims to help people build projects, share expertise and tackle the biggest challenges of our time.

Vlad Trifa, Co-Founder, Evrythng – Vlad explained how everyday products become smarter when they are connected to the web – allowing users to connect to their belongings in a smart ways as well as brands to build one-to-one relationships with their customers.

 

Emerging Tech, Creativity & Innovation

Anna Haupt, Founder, Hövding – Anna presented Hövding’s incredible invention – a bicycle helmet cleverly disguised as ordinary clothing. The airbag is worn like a stylish collar or a scarf around the neck. In the case of an accident, it inflates to protect the cyclist.

Cathrine Kramer, Founder, The Centre for Genomic Gastronomy – Cat introduced the Centre for Genomic Gastronomy, where she and colleagues research the biotechnologies and biodiversity of human food systems. The various projects and events run by the Centre for Genomic Gastronomy aim to map food controversies and prototype alternative culinary futures.

Damien Walter, Columnist, The Guardian – Damien’s inspiring talk argued how fostering a culture of creativity is the key to both personal and economic growth. He argued that the creative fulfilment of every human being should therefore be a mission for educators, government officials and business leaders.

 

Technologies in Resource-Constrained Environments

Ken Banks, Founder, kiwanja.net and Erik Hersman, Co-Founder, Ushahidi – Ken and Erik discussed how technology, combined with the right approach, could bring about positive social change in the developing world.

 

The Future of Health & Medicine

Aubrey de Grey, Chief Science Officer, SENS Foundation – Aubrey argued that in the next few decades  it will be possible to control aging and extend life due to rapid  advances in neuroscience and regenerative medicine.

Hagan Bayley, Prof. of Chemical Biology, Oxford University – Hagan discussed the importance of basic research for both scientific and economic progress.

Giuseppe Battaglia, Prof. of Molecular Bionics, Dept of Chemistry, UCL – Giuseppe discussed how interdisciplinary approaches combining basic science and engineering could lead to new solutions for clinical challenges  such as the delivery of drugs in the brain, to solid tumour treatment.

Mohammad Hajihosseini, Sr. Lecturer in Developmental Neurobiology, University of East Anglia – Mohammad highlighted how eating disorders are increasingly straining health budgets in countries around the world. He argued that since appetite is regulated by the brain, rewiring the brain might be the most effective solution to tackle eating disorders and to control eating habits.

 

Digital Health: a New Revolution

Joel Gethin Lewis,Co-Founder, Hellicar & Lewis – Joel showcased the work of Hellicar & Lewis – software that produces visuals based on music and how this has been applied in projects like Hello Cube (Tate Modern 2013).

 

Big Data & AI Predictions

Stuart Armstrong, James Martin Research Fellow, Future of Humanity Institute – Stuart delivered a truly interesting talk discussing what we can learn from the success and failure of famous AI predictions.

Shamus Husheer, CEO, Cambridge Temperature Concepts – Shamus presented DuoFertility – an innovative solution that helps women battle infertility and start a family without expensive fertility treatments.

Paul Watson, Professor of Computer Science, Newcastle University – Paul discussed how advanced digital technologies and pervasive computing can considerably improve the lives of both young and old people who are victims of social exclusion. He gave an example of how a sensors embedded in utensils can help old people suffering from Dementia execute simple everyday tasks such as cooking.

Daniel Hulme, CEO, Satalia – Daniel explained how Satalia bridges the gap between academia and industry in the field of software development and highlighted some of the implications of Big Data on the future of work and jobs.

 

The Future of Robotics

Jamie Paik, Director of Reconfigurable Robotics Lab, EPFL – Jamie explained the Robogami (robotics origami) concept and discussed the challenges associated with the building of fully functional Robogamis.

Nick Hawes, Senior Lecturer in Intelligent Robotics, University of Birmingham – Nick explained why we still see robots mostly in highly constrained environments such as factories and discussed the challenges and approaches taken to transfer truly autonomous, intelligent robots from research labs to the real world.

Nick Bostrom, Director, Future of Humanity Institute – Nick discussed the changes in the human condition over the past 100 years and highlighted that that rapid technological progress might lead to either a post-human society or to human extinction, depending on both our use of technology and our values. 

Resilience Parenting – Raising a Self-Reliant Generation

Article by Anne Boysen – Futurist

How will the next generation of young adults differ from the ones growing up today?

The conventional answer is ‘more of the same’. From ad agencies and tech magazines, we get the message that we should expect a generation that is more hyper-parented, more narcissistic, more individualized, more connected, and more inseparable from their digital devices than any generation before them. But are these projections realistic?

The synchrony of biological age and historic events has an effect on our identity and is often called the “generational” or “cohort” effect. We carry into our adulthood some of the child rearing ideas and values that influenced our parents when we were children. We also distance ourselves from – and determine not to repeat – traumatic aspects of our own childhoods. The over-parenting trend we are witnessing in many countries today is to some degree Generation X correcting for their own under-nurtured childhoods that were characterized by latchkeys and dissolving families.

After two decades of the women’s liberation movement many daughters reacted to their maternal trailblazers by shelving their Ivy League degrees so they could stay at home to breastfeed on demand or home school their own children. Suddenly, we were told daycare is harmful for children, and progressive child rearing styles like attachment parenting made strange bedfellows with conservative Christian think tanks like Focus On The Family (http://www.focusonthefamily.com). “Choice feminism” now introduced relativism to the women’s liberation movement, signalling that it was OK for professional women to opt out of the workforce. [1]

Until recently the idea that ‘more is better held  sway over  many parenting philosophies. The more  exposure towards flashcards, positive feedback,  rewards and protection you could offer, the better  off your child would be. Borne out of the self- esteem movement, positive nurturing has become  the epitome of a happy childhood and predictor of  future success. At least until terms like overindulgence” and “helicopter parenting” entered our vernacular.

College administrators and job recruiters report unrealistic expectations and smug narcissism. The notable discrepancy between Millennials’ trophy-adorned childhoods and the recession-ridden reality that met them as emerging adults gives us reasons to believe that the “more is better’ approach in parenting is reaching its climax. Which is why we are now seeing growing interest in parenting styles that embrace the ‘less is more” principle. A fringe movement has been dancing to the beat of a different drum for a while, but is now becoming the focus of op-ed pieces and literature. Let’s just call it “Resilience Parenting” – since the overarching idea is to raise kids that fair well during adversity. These approaches are far less glamorous and could earn their pioneers the reputation of being ‘stingy slacker’ parents, so few are willing to be the odd one out.

Instead of touting early academic achievement and reward charts, ‘resilience parents’ strip away extrinsic rewards in an effort to teach fulfilment through personal experiences of mastery. Instead of bolstering success, they allow, even encourage, their kids to experience failure. The idea is that children learn the essential coping skills to move on when faced with disappointment. Boredom is no longer a sign of under-stimulation, but the rare window of protracted time that nurtures creativity. Above all, the ‘resilience parent’ reclaims child-driven autonomy. Without freedom there is no room for personal growth. For the sheltered Millennials who will enter their parenting years in the coming decade, it will be all about finding their own voice, and it’s not that likely they will want their progeny to grow up as supercharged versions of themselves.

Anne Boysen is a futurist who specialises in studying and writing about the future of the youngest generation we know – the generation born after the early 2000s – sometimes called the New Silents, Generation Z or Homelanders.

info@afterthemillennials.com  http://www.afterthemillennials.com Twitter @aftermillennial

[1] Recent findings indicate the reduction in female employment in the 2000s was due to women reaching an impasse in their careers as they struggle to maintain both careers and families, at least in the U.S. Attitudes toward full time work among mothers show an interesting U-shape with full time work being least popular during the time period when many Generation X parents had young children (see Pew Research statistics). Of course, the resurging preferences for full time work could be a reflection of economic hardship brought out by the sluggish economy rather than a true change in values.

Street Kids International

 “Where others see a problem, we see potential. Our work is sustainable, innovative and effective.” 

A central passion for us at Fast Future is how we create positive futures for children and young people in a  fast  changing and turbulent world where their needs can all too easily  get  overlooked. We have been looking for a charity to support that  works   successfully with the most marginalised and hard to reach – for  whom  effective interventions can facilitate truly transformative change. So  we were delighted to be introduced to Street Kids International  (SKI) and learn about their excellent work. SKI works with local delivery organisations such as NGOs to equip street youth with the skills and support they require to either start and expand small businesses, get a job, or return to education. 

700 million young people globally are living in poverty. SKI provides these young people with  access to training and opportunities, supporting them to earn a decent living and change their own lives.  SKI is a charity launched in Canada that has been working with young people in the developing world for 25 years. In the 5 years since its inception, Street Kids UK has connected with over 4000 street-affected youth between the ages of 15 and 25, in India, Ethiopia, Brazil and Ecuador and Uganda. SKI’s main programmes centre around delivering Train the Trainer workshops with local organisations and their staff on the delivery of participatory livelihoods training for marginalised youth.

We will be working with and supporting SKI in a number of ways going forward. What has been truly amazing is the level of interest that has already been shown by the  people we’ve mentioned SKI to in recent weeks and the desire to get involved and help make a contribution to an excellent initiative. If the initiative is of interest, we’d encourage you to get in touch and explore how best you can contribute.

As you can imagine, SKI is open to ideas on how best you can get involved and relies on the support of donors, fundraisers, corporate sponsors and volunteers. There are a range of volunteering opportunities. For example, SKI is currently looking for brand ambassadors and people who can help to research, analyse, structure and evaluate various strategic development options they are considering. Finally SKI is launching three new initiatives that are mentioned below and would welcome all offers of support.

Street Source – This is an innovative youth job readiness programme, offering job readiness training, integrated work placement, and on-the-job mentoring to disadvantaged and marginalised youth.  Street Source makes critical connections between participants and local industry and business, connecting trainees with fair wage employers in their communities.  Street Source offers life opportunities for youth, their families and communities to escape the cycle of poverty. The pilot project in Pune India saw 98% of participants secure gainful employment. The project is currently being extended in India and the Philippines.

SKI UK is looking for financial support to extend the initiative and for employers who are interested in taking part.

Make Change  – SKI is launching an initiative to try and get UK school children interested in the challenges facing street kids around the world, and using similar techniques, provide opportunities for students to develop their enterprise, advocacy and fundraising skills, and to interact with members of the private sector. The aim is to inspire young people in the UK to recognize the agency they have to take positive action to impact and support street youth across the globe, while acquiring valuable life and small business skills through practical experience. The goal is to reach 10,000 children within three years and then scale up to make the programme available across the whole country and potentially in other countries as well.

SKI UK is looking for financial support for the pilot initiative and for people to help develop the initiative and take it out to schools.

Impact Evaluation – As part of the next stage of its development, SKI would like to undertake a detailed evaluation of its work around the world. Using a clearly defined ‘Theory of Change’ and indicator framework, the aim is to develop an evaluation framework, research methodology and tools to measure the impact of SKI programmes at local, national and international levels for youth, youth workers and local NGOs. Survey work will need to be undertaken in each of the five countries (India, Ethiopia, Brazil and Ecuador and Uganda) where SKI UK has worked and the results analysed to assess the impact and feed back into the continuous refinement of SKI’s training materials and methods.

SKI UK is looking for consultants who can help develop the theory of change and research tools, conduct the survey in each country  and analyse the findings. This support could be provided by a single firm or by individuals operating in the relevant countries.

If you would like to offer your assistance, get further details on the three projects mentioned, or explore ideas on how you can get involved, please contact the Executive Director of Street Kids International UK – Philippa Frankl philippa@streetkids.org.

http://uk.streetkids.org/ 

Facebook:  streetkidsuk

YouTube:  streetkidsintl channel

Twitter: @streetkidsuk

How the law can do justice to emerging technologies

Here is my article  published in the Times supplement on June 11th 2013.

The relationship between the legal sector and information technology is poised to change dramatically over the next decade. Indeed, the role of IT is already changing rapidly for some in-house legal departments and law firms.

Constant and accelerating innovation is delivering analytical tools that can, for example, interrogate the characteristics and outcomes of past insurance disputes to predict the likelihood of legal success for current claims.

Clients are also becoming savvier around the cost efficiencies IT can deliver and are auditing law firm IT systems and assessing the IT capabilities and proficiency of the individual lawyers assigned to their account.

Rapid IT advances are enabling the creation of new strategies, business models, collaborative working arrangements, virtual law firms and service delivery models. A look to the future highlights several emerging technologies that could transform every aspect of the legal sector.

Coming over the horizon are developments offering the promise of automated capture of every image we see and conversation we have, intelligent virtual assistants to guide in-house counsel and external lawyers, wearable technologies and widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in the legal value chain.

So what are the critical technologies that will shape the future of the legal sector and how should in-house legal departments and law firms be preparing for them?

To help explore and address these questions, the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) has launched its Legal Technology Future Horizons research project. This ten-month global study will explore the potential impact of new and emerging technologies for the sector, and the resulting strategic priorities over the next ten to fifteen years.

The study is designed to challenge current thinking, and provide insights and practical ideas to inform the development of future business and IT strategies for law departments, law firms and legal technology vendors.

The final report, to be delivered at the end of 2013, will outline:

• Key trends in the broader environment affecting the legal sector
• A likely timeline of IT developments and the key technologies that could impact tomorrow’s legal enterprise
• The role technology could play in future legal-sector business models in a changing business environment and as a critical differentiator in this emerging landscape
• Strategic IT imperatives for the legal industry and critical implications for the management of IT in the legal sector.

Our findings to date suggest the next ten to fifteen years will be characterised by continued global economic turbulence and uncertainty, with a significant shift of wealth, influence and power to emerging markets.

Every business sector will continue to be transformed by factors, such as shorter and faster business cycles, talent mismatches, disruptive innovation, and accelerating diffusion of advances in science and technology.

The effective use of technology is seen as critical both in responding to these forces, and in the generation of new commercial opportunities and business models for customers and law firms alike.

These global business drivers are coupled with factors such as growing client demands for transparency, information and innovation. At the same time, there are expectations of greater regulatory scrutiny along with growing concerns over security, data protection and data privacy issues.

Intense price competition, commoditisation, alternative business structures, disruptive new market entrants, demographic shifts and rapidly evolving customer expectations are changing the nature of the relationship between clients and their law firms.

Collectively, these forces are driving the need to rethink the strategies, business models, structures and operations of in-house departments and law firms.

There is a growing recognition that technology will play an increasingly central role in the emerging legal environment, streamlining legal processes, enhancing client-supplier relationships and creating future sources of commercial benefit as both a value-chain enabler and value creator, with a focus on data-driven insight.

Technology is also facilitating the move towards more online delivery of services and enabling new types of structures with different business models for in-house units and providers. Indeed the boundaries between in-house and external service firms may blur dramatically with individual lawyers moving between them fluidly.

Faced with continuing change, key themes are emerging around the role of technology in tomorrow’s legal function and enterprise:

• The technology environment will be characterised by the “internet of things” [machines “talking” to machines], social media and “social listening”, smart environments, a more immersive multi-sensory intelligent internet, increasingly sophisticated data gathering and analysis, plus widespread penetration and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).
• End-users will increasingly be mobile, supported by intelligent digital personal assistants and “lab on a chip” devices, and use wearable technologies enhanced with augmented reality (AR) and holographic displays.
• Devices will offer AI-enabled smart interfaces, automatic language translation, and support user interaction via gestures, language and thought.
• Customer service delivery could be enhanced through deep collaboration environments, portals providing tracking dashboards and total transparency on the status of individual matters, shared databases, advanced videoconferencing, touchable holographs, novel data handling tools and sophisticated security technology.
• Legal function and law firm processes could be transformed through developments in AI, knowledge management, smart data capture and analysis, predictive analytics, intelligent document production, video mining, integrated analytics and “gamification”. Emerging technologies could bring about dramatic changes in the way matters are conducted and information is analysed and presented back to clients.
• At the IT management level, the cloud will be used for infrastructure, applications, development and data. Priorities for IT management will shift from production to innovation, developing next-level services and evolving the IT staff profile, skill sets, management focus and alignment. For in-house functions, a dedicated IT and knowledge manager will become an increasing priority.

While some in-house functions and law firms are alert to and embracing the transformative potential of IT, others are struggling to stay abreast of the changes and showing reluctance to embrace these opportunities. The challenge is to help players across the sector prepare for and embark on IT enabled transformation.

Business and IT leaders need to understand the emerging technologies, explore how to integrate and manage them, and identify opportunities to leverage IT to deliver new levels of efficiency and competitive advantage.

Here is the link to the article: http://theraconteur.co.uk/how-the-law-can-do-justice-to-emerging-technologies/

UK cities are being left behind in planning for the long term

My interview for the Yorkshire Post, published on  June  6th 2013.

Lithuania, wrongly written off by some as a basket case, has a detailed national plan to guide its development to 2025.

South Korea launched a commission five years ago to look at the future integration of robotics into city life.

Developing economies are stealing a march on their rivals in the developed world with long-term plans for the future and a sharp focus on the efficient use of resources.

The UK, meanwhile, has been incredibly complacent, failed to notice what is going on and is suddenly seeing everything changing but cannot find the right answer.

This is the scenario set out by Rohit Talwar, who advises international governments and corporations on how to understand and respond to the various forces shaping the future.

He will explore these themes and others at the Intelligent Cities Conference in Leeds later this month.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post yesterday, Mr Talwar said technological infrastructure like fast broadband is very important, but local and central governments must understand that the most successful towns and cities are sustainable, economically viable and vibrant places.

“They need to think about a lot more than just technology,” he said.

He added that planners must find new uses for high streets following the consolidation of the retail sector and suggested repurposing retail units as community resources.

Mr Talwar said public buildings such as schools could be used as “multi-service facilities” in the evenings to accommodate local libraries, community centres, doctors’ surgeries and even magistrates’ courts.

“Such moves would meet the twin goals of cutting the operating costs for local councils and taking local facilities and giving them more value to the community,” he said.

He suggested that Britain needs to shake up its education system to take account of the instant availability of academic information and increase efforts on helping pupils to learn valuable life skills to help arrest the nation’s slide down OECD world rankings and deal with the vast numbers of disenfranchised young people.

Mr Talwar said the industries of the future will develop to support the ageing population and care for the elderly.

He also highlighted the growth potential of sectors including biotechnology, biomanufacturing, human enhancements, wearable robotics, nanotechnology and advanced materials.

Mr Talwar said Leeds should host international conventions if it wants to realise ambitions to expand its healthcare sector.

This will bring academic experts and industry together and forge new global links for the city and help develop its cluster of businesses.

But Mr Talwar cautioned that “it’s not all about money”, adding that culture, lifestyle and values help make a destination and a great place to live.

The Intelligent Cities Conference takes place at Leeds Metropolitan University on June 19.

Organisers said Rotterdam’s planning for sustainability, Helsinki’s investment in energy and resources, and the IBM city control centre in Rio de Janeiro are all examples of how cities around the world are taking a smart approach.

It will include presentations from Cambium Networks, Ericsson, EE, IBM, Cisco, Arup and Aql, Leeds Data Thing, Medtech University of Leeds and Synchronoss Technologies.

Paul Hadley, deputy director of Information Economy Industrial Strategy at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, will also speak.

Mr Talwar’s business, Fast Future, helps clients identify and analyse “future trends, drivers and shocks”.

“Technology is a critical enabler of the smart city, but a truly sustainable and intelligent model requires us to go much broader and think about every aspect of what makes a city vibrant and viable,” he said. He urged governments to see technology infrastructure as part of the vision, not the whole solution.

Here is the link to the interview: http://bit.ly/1b7txL1

Transforming Education – Apps for Good – a Platform for Innovation

One of the areas we have been interested in for some time is the long term future of education and how we can transform systems around the world to equip children and adults for a changing world. One of the initiatives that has impressed us most is Apps for Good http://www.appsforgood.org/. Apps for Good is an education initiative that enables young people from 11 to 18 years old to develop their digital skills and knowledge, and create exciting new apps for mobile phones, tablets and social media platforms. Fast Future has just started discussions with Apps for Good around how they can scale up their initiative and platforms to serve a much larger audience and cover a wider range of educational topics.

The goal of this not for profit initiative is to offer an open-source technology education movement which partners with formal and informal education organisations to train educators to deliver courses to young people that teach them about technology, problem solving and entrepreneurship through the medium of learning how to write apps. The courses cover all key aspects of new product development, from idea generation, feasibility and deciding on business models to product design and marketing. Young people work together as teams to find real issues they want to tackle and how best to solve them through apps. Through this, they unlock and explore their talents, passions and skills.

Launched in March 2010, Apps for Good worked with 97 schools, 6,200 students and 150 experts. For the 2013/2014 academic year this will grow to 400 schools and 20,000 students supported by 800 educators and 400 experts. The goal is to increase this to 50,000 students in 1,000 schools for 2014 / 2015.

As a not for profit organisation, they are always looking for support and assistance. They are currently looking for schools and experts who want to be part of their programme and for people to support current and future events through provision of skills, services and sponsorship in areas such as event filming and photography, printing, WiFi provision, catering and accommodation for the student finalists. If you can help please contact Heather Picov heather.picov@appsforgood.org

Radical Abundance – Could a Revolution in Nanotechnology Change Civilization?

We recently attended a fascinating London Futurists presentation by Eric Drexler on his new book – Radical Abundance – How a Revolution in Nanotechnology will Change Civilization. In what he described as a‘banquet of indigestible truths’, the originator of the term Nanotechnology explained how he thought the term had been hijacked to mean very small things. He argued that the initial hype had led funders to focus their research investments on narrower domains of materials science rather than exploring the true potential of engineering at the molecular level. Drexler believes that such a focus on atomically precise manufacturing (APM) could yield massive low cost, zero carbon and clean advances in domains as diverse as ultra-efficient vehicles, energy production, physical infrastructure, computers and consumer products.

A video of the presentation can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z44HWIzDhQw

Book site: http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/publicaffairsbooks-cgi-bin/display?book=9781610391139