The Millennium Project’s latest report – the State of the Future 19.0- has recently been published. This publication is one of the few that looks broadly at the present and future of humanity. As a futurist, I find it has always provided a wider scope of analysis about the present issues than most other reports […]
We now live in the Age of Disruption. We now live in the Age of Transformation. Please stop using the word Innovation. It is a 1990s word. Everywhere I go, all the conferences and trade shows I speak at, the word innovation is on everyone’s lips. “We provide innovative solutions to….” “We are an innovative […]
During the last 10 years I have consistently spoken about the two realities we live in; the physical reality and the screen reality. The physical reality is of course based upon atoms and the screen reality is based upon digits. During this time it has become clear that the screen reality morphs more quickly than […]
Note: This first appeared on The Sarasota Institute web site, a new entity launched a few months ago. It is being reprinted here for two reasons. First, the readership of this 11 year old blog is far larger than that of the new TSI. Second, I am hoping that if you do enjoy deeper thought […]
Today the words Artificial Intelligence are widely used to describe the growth of intelligence that is non-human. This will ultimately go away as a meaningful phrase. Frustrated by the over simplified discussion about AI – robotic overlords, machines versus humans- I looked up the word “intelligence” in several dictionaries. In no definition of intelligence could […]
Rebuild Puerto Rico for the 21st Century
The damage to Puerto Rica from Hurricane Maria is tragic and catastrophic. The first step of course is to save lives and get food, water and medical attention to all citizens. Once the humanitarian stage is fully taking place then the thinking turns to rebuilding the island, since the devastation to housing and the infrastructure is significant.
As written in my prior two columns in this space, the recent hurricanes have shown the vulnerability of 20th century infrastructure and the thinking behind it to be no longer valid. Rebuilding is the opportunity to work with a new vision of the reality of climate change and renewable energy. Puerto Rico is a perfect place to do this. The island is small, with three plus million population with one sixth the population of Florida and half the population of Houston.
I am often queried after speeches or in discussions about certain technologies that might be “good” or “bad”. My position has always been that technology is neither, it just is. It is how humans use it that is good or bad. [The obvious exception is technology specifically designed to kill humans such as weapons of […]
[Note: a significant amount of this column appeared on 9/25 in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. I live in Sarasota FL so there is a Florida emphasis here. ] These two hurricanes have dominated the news cycles for the past few weeks. Initially, there was hyperventilating weather and news coverage. Where will landfall be? When will […]
Starting today and on most Thursdays I will be posting a very short- usually around 60 seconds- video on a single topic. A minute in your day to consider a single thought you might not otherwise consider. I am known for having said that 10 years ago we left the Information Age and entered the […]
“Houston, we have a problem” – James Lovell, Apollo 13 “Work the problem people, work the problem” Gene Krause, Mission Control Apollo 13 Hurricane Harvey was a huge disaster. More than 60 people lost their lives. There is and will be hundreds of billions of dollars in damages and lost business. My deepest sympathies […]
