The Future of Futures Studies Today, the increasing number of futurists, scholars, business planners, and others in the futuring field is a good sign of the usefulness of Futures Studies for humanity, just as Dator wished so 26 years ago (Dator, 1986). Masini (1989) described the future of Futures Studies 23 years ago in this manner: “Global models have lost their appeal, and there is a growing movement toward Futures Studies that are local. … As for methods, strategic planning will become more important in both the public and the private sectors.” Just a decade ago, Bell hoped that the future of Futures Studies was bright, “because it is reasonable to hope that futurists will be able to establish the field in most of the world’s colleges and universities” (Bell, 2002). While the open and facilitative aspects of futures work should not be dismissed or minimized, Sardar (1999) believed the field must move beyond its identification with limited areas, agendas and interests. Alireza Hejazi is a freelance futurist.
What's Next Futures studies Moore's law is an example of futures studies; it is a statistical collection of past and present trends with the goal of accurately extrapolating future trends. Futures studies (also called futurology and futurism) is the study of postulating possible, probable, and preferable futures and the worldviews and myths that underlie them. There is a debate as to whether this discipline is an art or science. In general, it can be considered as a branch of the social sciences and parallel to the field of history. In the same way that history studies the past, futures studies considers the future. Overview[edit] Futures studies is an interdisciplinary field, studying yesterday's and today's changes, and aggregating and analyzing both lay and professional strategies and opinions with respect to tomorrow. Foresight may be the oldest term for the field. The futures field also excludes those who make future predictions through professed supernatural means. Probability and predictability[edit]
Beyond City Limits - By Parag Khanna View a photo essay of the world's top global cities The 21st century will not be dominated by America or China, Brazil or India, but by the city. In an age that appears increasingly unmanageable, cities rather than states are becoming the islands of governance on which the future world order will be built. Time, technology, and population growth have massively accelerated the advent of this new urbanized era. At the same time, a new category of megacities is emerging around the world, dwarfing anything that has come before. Many will pose challenges to the countries that give birth to them. Neither 19th-century balance-of-power politics nor 20th-century power blocs are useful in understanding this new world. Now as then, cities are the real magnets of economies, the innovators of politics, and, increasingly, the drivers of diplomacy. For these emerging global hubs, modernization does not equal Westernization. Indeed, economic inequality flourishes in these massive new urban clusters.
INTRODUCTION TO FUTURE STUDIES Dr. Linda Groff & Dr. Paul Smoker Co-Directors, Global Options ***NOTE: Many, but not all, Buttons or Hotlinks below are active. Work is in progress! Introduction/Overview of Topic Brief History of the Future Studies Field Range of Futurist Views and Perspectives Characteristics of a Futurist Perspective Time Periods for Studying the Future Holistic/Systems View of Our Place in the Universe (as Systems within Systems within Systems) Key Subjects Studied by Futurists Methodologies for Studying Change and the Future Steps in Designing an Alternative Future World Key Organizations Involved in the Study of the Future and Change Future Studies Conferences Declarations of Organizations and/or Conferences Related to Future Studies Future Studies Universities and Programs Additional Online Universities, Programs, and Courses Relevant Writing (Abstracts/Outlines, Papers, & Articles) From Global Options (Co-Directors: Dr. See Information below. Journals,Magazines,Newsletters: Organizations: Dr.
Light Touch projector makes any surface a touchscreen A previously little-known company from the UK called Light Blue Optics has demoed a projector at CES which allows users to interact with the light image as if it were a touchscreen. The Light Touch throws a 10-inch image at WVGA resolution at incredibly short distances thanks to the holographic projection technology involved. At the same time the infra-red touch sensitive system allows users to interact with social networks, multimedia sharing and any other applications that can use the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth support in the device to connect to the Internet. It comes with 2GB of onboard flash memory, a microSD card slot for expanding the storage and the battery life will last 2 hours. UPDATE: Two years on and although Light Blue Optics doesn't seem to have come up with the goods, others have. - Prodigy projection keyboard iPhone case turns any surface into a keyboard
2015-16 SOF by Jerome C. Glenn, Elizabeth Florescu, and The Millennium Project Team The Global Futures Collective Intelligence System offers the full version of the State of the Future with ongoing updates to the 15 Global Challenges plus access to all The Millennium Project research Individual – US$14.95/month (Purchase on GFIS) Individual – US$99.95/year Government – $850/year* Corporations – $2100/year* Universities, non-profit organization - $400/year * UN other international organizations - $799/year* * includes 10 users; additional users beyond 10 cost $25/year Subcribe here Table of Contents FOREWORD EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 GLOBAL CHALLENGES 15 1. Sustainable Development and Climate Change 18 2. The 2015–16 State of the Future brings together an extraordinarily diverse set of data, information, intelligence, and hopefully some wisdom about the future. The short overviews of the 15 Global Challenges are getting longer and more detailed each year. Jerome C. List of Figures, Tables, Boxes
Arcosanti Coordinates: Arcosanti is an experimental town and molten bronze bell casting community that has been developed by the Italian-American architect, Paolo Soleri, who began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, 70 mi (110 km) north of Phoenix, at an elevation of 3,732 feet (1,130 meters). Using a concept he called arcology, he started the town to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth. Overview[edit] The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. An Arcosanti apse Construction broke ground at the site in 1970, and has continued at a varying pace through the present. Many features are particular to the design and construction of Arcosanti. Visitors' center and residence The Arcosanti site has a camp area built for the original construction crew. Some Arcosanti funding comes from selling the metal and ceramic bells made and cast from bronze on site. Workshops[edit]
Don’t Guess, Learn: Rapid Prototyping with Tom Chi [Video] “Doing is the best type of thinking.” – Tom Chi Tom Chi, CPO and head of X at Factory, is largely known for his work creating Google Glass, but arguably one of his largest contributions to the world has been unleashing the rapid prototyping framework and bringing it to organizations large and small. What is rapid prototyping? In Chi’s own words, “Rapid prototyping is the process of finding the fastest path to a direct experience of the thing you’re trying to create.” As a tool, rapid prototyping shifts how teams approach research, design, and development by prioritizing the creation of a high volume of “quick and dirty” prototypes early on, getting those into the hands of users, and then iterating based on direct user feedback and observation. The goal is reframing the learning process to foster education through direct application and testing, or as Chi puts it, “Don’t guess. Video produced by Brent Christo Have you met the seven startups in the SU Labs Accelerator? Alison E.