The Future of Work blog
The official blog for the Future of Work Community, a membership organisation of HR, IT and facilities professionals. Go to blog
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Insights curated by Experientia, the UX research and design consultancy
Category Foresight
Critisising “The World is Flat”
Thomas Friedman’s influential book The World is Flat has been strongly critisised for its bias, simplicity and sloppiness: – The Daily Telegraph (Robert Hanks) – The Daily Telegraph (Noel Malcolm) – The Economist – The Guardian – The Hindu –…
Sun Microsystems “Participation Age” event at U.N.
The Participation Age is all about access, built on a model of networked human beings who share, interact, and solve problems, via telephone, internet, and a myriad of other ways of connecting. Their participation creates ideas, information, opportunities, and value-social…
When the consumer is in control [BBC]
The people who make films, TV and music are trying to work out how to survive in a digital era where the consumer is in control. This was the predominant theme at a conference on the future of digital content…
The future of European e-government [The Guardian]
Last week was not a great time to unveil a new pan-European initiative. Yet the programme is an important source of funding for IT-based innovations in public services. It is aimed not at putting services online (most already are)…
Shell Global Scenarios to 2025 and 2050
The newest scenarios from Shell, the company that has been trendsetting the use of scenarios in strategic planning. Go to website
Made in Europe: Italy seeks renaissance of industry [International Herald Tribune]
Many of the largest European economies are casting about for a blueprint to remain competitive in the 21st century, as the forces of globalisation and technology shift the fault lines of economic power across the globe. Read full story
Philips Design research projects
Aside from the many (sometimes older) projects, the website showing Philips’ design research projects also contains an interesting movie on foresight (Delphi movie). It seems that the most recent projects are under “Smart Connections”. Go to website
Sensors and pixels everywhere
Anatole Gershman, global director of research at Accenture Technology Laboratories, interviewed about Accenture’s vision for the future of technology, which includes interactive grocery carts and the ability for your wardrobe to communicate with stores. Read full story
Korea’s plan for key future technologies and their implications
Between 15 and 20 years into the future, Korean people’s long-time wish of living longer and healthier lives will come true and Korea will enter an era of space travel by completing the development of manned spaceship. Such predictions came…
Microsoft’s social computing symposium 2005
The Social Computing Symposium 2005, sponsored by Microsoft Research, will take place April 24-26 in Redmond, Washington. The goal for this event is to foster an awareness of research and innovation in social technologies, and create new lines of communication…
Can Europe survive? [Red Herring]
Europe gave the world Linux, GSM, and the web, but got little of the fortune and less of the glory. To get what it is due, some old world ways will have to change. Read full story
Can ‘Made in Europe’ survive? [International Herald Tribune]
While luxury products still benefit from a “Made in France” label, more mundane industries are vulnerable to foreign competition. Read full story
Neil Gershenfeld on the coming digital revolution in the world of manufactured physical goods
First we experienced the digital revolution in computation. Then we experienced it in communications. And now, according to Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, the digital revolution is moving into surprising new territory: the world of…
It’s a flat world, after all [The New York Times]
In 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail for India, going west. He had the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He never did find India, but he called the people he met “Indians” and came home and reported to his…
Revenge of the right brain [Wired Magazine]
Logical and precise, left-brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age – ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion. Read full story
Vodafone’s Future Vision
“In the Vodafone Future Vision website you can explore what we think that future might look like, experience some of the changes we believe will happen, and tell us what you think of them.” Go to website
A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
Lawyers. Accountants. Radiologists. Software engineers. That’s what our parents encouraged us to become when we grew up. But Mom and Dad were wrong. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind.…
The future, just around the bend [The Economist]
Ray Kurzweil is an accomplished inventor, but he is best known for his wild prognostications about the future. Is he as crazy as he sounds? Read full story
E-culture advisory
“Digital media have not only made in-roads in the way visual artists, musicians, designers, film makers and other cultural practitioners work – they have created a new context”. Michiel Schwarz’s insightful Dutch policy paper on “e-culture”, that has just…