Last week I was privileged to attend Roger Hamilton's event for two days, called Fast Forward your Business, and came out totally drenched in new and invaluable information.
Roger is a true professional in the way he hosts these events, because
- His generosity is incredible, the two days were crammed with value
- His 'selling from back of room' strategy is very elegant; instead of spending time in front of the wider audience, he invited 'truly interested' parties to stay behind in a lunch break or breakfast where he could speak specifically to the value and the problems he solves
- There was a massive amount of research he shared, and media articles which provided this were generally less than a week old! Roger is committed to being at the top of his game in understanding future trends, and his up to date research was totally aligned to that.
I know that we are often being bombarded with facts about our Jetson's style (some of you won't know that that is!) but these insights really got me present just to how different our world (and that of our kids) is going to be. Here are some real eye-openers.... and yes, some of these things are not reality today, but Roger has an uncanny ability to predict the future, as evidenced in his predictions from 5 years ago.
1. The car manufacturing industry is set for an upheaval with the advent of 3D manufactured cars
Stati have come up with a 3D car, with 75% of its materials printed this way. It will be cost effective, and will change the supply chain of this industry. Watch this video for more.
2. Everything in our world is going to be connected, with The 'Internet of Things' having 50 billion things networked by 2020
This isn't just devices, this is wearable technology, home ware, personal items like toothbrushes. What IoT will do is increase productivity, decrease costs, and improve our quality of life.
3. Block chains will change our legal and accounting practices dramatically
I had never even heard of them! Basically it is a tracking capability, and the way Roger described it was as if a $20 note's entire history could be retraced and reported on. Suddenly, we have 'proof' like never before of what took place, where and when, which will negate the need for many accounting and legal activities of today.
4. Universal Basic Income is being widely debated as a possibility presently
Only just this week, Labour have tabled this as something to explore, and it isn't so harebrained (some Canadians are on board with this too). Think about it, with 40% of jobs expected to disappear within 5 years, how are we going to all earn a living? It's all about challenging the premise that we have to work for a living. Buckminster Fuller believed that one in ten thousand of us could make a technological breakthrough that would support the rest financially; a different way of looking at things definitely, but worth exploring!
5. Individuals, not governments will solve the global problems
This one knocked me off my perch, but it makes sense, doesn't it? Governments are too busy solving national problems to spend too much time and effort on global problems. Where we need to look at is at the individual level, including the influencers like Elon Musk, Salman Khan and Mark Zuckerberg. The UN has jumped on board, and created the UN Sustainable Development Goals, have a look at this possibly idealistic but definitely thought provoking video, which features a few famous faces (and if you haven't heard of seasteading, check out this page!) ...
6. Drone racing is set to become a major spectator sport
Leaving the craziest stuff till last, check out this video on drone racing, and you can see why it has the makings for compelling viewing. With over 450,000 drones having been registered since registration commenced only 3 months ago, this little piece of technology is set to change our lives in more ways than one!
There is a whole bunch of other stuff that was covered, but these are my top 6, and thanks again to Roger (and the wonderful Kim Knight) for a fabulous two days. How technology and connectivity will change our future is everybody's business, don't get left behind!
