March 31, 2008

What have you got wrong as a Futurist

Most debates over the future are issues of timing rather than what will eventually take place (probably). ? Telling difference between high probability trends, likely, possible and unlikely -- plus the wild cards, areas of huge uncertainty.

March 30, 2008

What is a futurist - by Patrick Dixon, conference speaker

Video: All of us are genetically programmed to think about tomorrow, plan, develop strategies for survival of ourselves and our families. Futurist role to advise on corporate strategy, risk management and identifying new market opportunity. Risk of institutional blindness, need for external view on trends and future issues. Identifying trends, analyst research, scenario building, competitor analysis, listening to consumers, working with those at cutting edge of innovation.

March 29, 2008

List of 50 new videos on YouTube

Funny cartoon about US immigration - lessons for customer services


Funny cartoon about call-centre customer frustrations

Can we find a cure for diabetes?


Can we find a cure for rheumatoid arthritis?


Joint replacement for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

Future of the pharmaceutical industry


What is a Futurist?


How do you become a Futurist?


Futurist methodology - research into trends

How do you keep up to date as a Futurist?

What have I got wrong as a Futurist?

Work-life balance - future working patterns


Work-life balance in emerging economies

Innovation


Real estate and construction industry trends


Life insurance, pensions and life expectancy trends


Staying young: impact of anti-ageing research

Leadership and motivation at work


How business can reduce global poverty


Limits to economic growth and sustainability


Why ports, ships and shipping will dominate global trade

Global warming and sustainability

Global warming - why planting trees has limited impact


Water wars - and water shortages


More nations, rise of nationalism



Economic growth of former Soviet Bloc nations, Russia etc


Too late for outsourcing?


Outsourcing in India, China, Asia and Central Europe

Mobile phones, banking and financial services trends


Convergence and divergence


Power of tribes, clash of cultures and impact on consumer groups

Bottom of the pyramid - selling to the world's poor and making a difference


Microloans, microfinane, microcredit and future of banking

Motivation at work - leadership and passion


Intellectual copyright - protection of patents


Motivation at work - increase work place motivation


Business values - corporate and social responsibility really matters


Global brands, mergers and demergers


Customer focus and call-centre disasters


Women consumers rule - female customer trends


Insurance market in India, China and rest of Asia


Online communities and impact on marketing


Migration, immigration and the ageing crisis


Future of the Petrochemical Industry


Sovereign wealth funds - investment trends


Commodity shortages and prices - global trends


Retail revolution in India


Demographic impact on business


Trust and business leadership, marketing and brand image


Market research - how to get results


Risk management - leadership in uncertain times - wild cards


People do crazy things under pressure - power of emotion


Managing speed of change - leadership styles


Six faces of the future


Institutional blindness


Future of education


Education trends in a fast-changing world


Future technology and education


Future education - instant knowledge

March 28, 2008

How do you become a futurist? -- conference speaker

Book writing, research, website, lecturing and consulting to smaller and then larger corporations, becoming an authority in international media. The more you work with different corporations and the more countries you work in, the deeper your insights are likely to become. Break out of traditional thinking, take a fresh view on the world, watch people, learn all the time, be hungry to understand what does not at first make sense. You will be judged by your own track record of correctly anticipating important new trends. Can the future be predicted? Telling difference between high probability trends, likely, possible and unlikely -- plus the wild cards, areas of huge uncertainty. Patrick Dixon, conference keynote speaker and futurist.

March 27, 2008

Future of the pharmaceutical industry -- conference ...

Generic competition and product recalls. Patent expiry and intellectual property protection. Legal challenges and research scandals. Biogenerics and large molecule therapeutics. Cellular mechanisms of disease. Unmet needs. Government purchasing policies and insurance cover. Online pharmacy price pressures. Search for new blockbusters. Chronic disease and orphan therapies. Rheumatoid and asthma. Antibiotics and multiple resistance problems. Search for powerful antiviral therapy. Future health funding and ageing populations. Contrast with emerging nations. Treatment access and justice issues. Pharmacogenomics and gene prophecy. Ethical issues. HIV and AIDS.

March 26, 2008

Risk management - wild cards - high impact, unlikely events

High impact unlikely events. Impact on future business strategy. Leadership and change management. Managing uncertainty and rapid change. Insuring risk and risk management in business. Contingency planning. Leadership styles and decisions. Web marketing. Online sales. Impatient consumers and consumer choices. Rapid innovation. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.

March 25, 2008

Market research - how to get great results

Trust, corporate image, brand, reputational risk, managing public relations. For banks and insurers trust is all you have to sell. Why consumer confidence and client relationship really matters. Why trust and business reputation takes 25 years to build yet can be lost with negative media in a day. Marketing, advertising messages. Negative media coverage. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.

March 24, 2008

Demographic impact on your business and world

1 billion children will be new consumers. Demographic explosion in India and ageing population in China , Europe and Japan. Huge market growth. Beijing shortage of children. Young workforce in India so competitive advantage. Future trends. Social, political and economic challenge. War for talent challenge. 25 year impact. Urban migration. Urbanisation of India, China and Africa. Rural movement to cities. Megacities in Asia. Infrastucture challenges, water, roads, sanitation, transport, roads, rail, energy and power stations. Shortage of commodities -- copper, steel, coal, gas, oil. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.

March 22, 2008

Retail revolution in India

150,000 chain stores in 15 years with massive growth and consolidation of mom and pop small retail outlets. Specialisation, department stores, new markets, growth of middle class, designer products, luxury goods and services, competitors to wal-mart and other supermarket chains. Emerging markets and new economies, Asia, China, India and Africa. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon

March 21, 2008

Sovereign funds - national tensions - future trends?

China, Russia, UAE and other nations buying national assets. Sovereign wealth funds size and growth. Investment policy, transparency, reaction and regulation. National interest and conflict. Controversy. Link to private equity and buyouts. Rescue of banks and financial institutions. Future fund manager decisions and government policies to hold dollar or euro reserves. Switch from dollars to euros. Oil revenues boost sovereign fund wealth. American foreign policy interests. Foreign ownership of utilities, ports, airports, stock exchanges and other national assets. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.

March 19, 2008

Chemical Industry Future Trends - conference speaker

European chemical industry. Consolidation, mergers, acquisitions. Logistics and infrastructure. Efficiencies and cost savings. Shipping, road haulage, trucks, containers, freight and other challenges. Manufacturing energy use. Factories, production of bulk commodities, plastics, packaging, pigments, ethylene, polyethylene, dyes, nylon, polythene, PVC, recycling, oil efficiency. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.

March 18, 2008

Migration, immigration and ageing crisis in Europe

Falling fertility rates. Economic impact of ageing. Social policy impact on government. Pensions crisis. Older workers and rising retirement age. Migration and immigration policy -- UK and Poland, and other EU new countries. Remittances impact on emerging economies. Rising unemployment. Political tensions and ethnic tensions. Racial prejudice. Falling labour costs. Economic migrants. Pressure on public services. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.

March 17, 2008

Concrete = 7% global CO2 emissions - global warming impact

Cement production responsible for 7% global co2 emissions, 1 ton of concrete uses 1 ton of carbon, impact of real estate construction industry on global warming. Development of property, energy saving, life expectancy of buildings. Longevity extensions. Making buildings last longer before demolition. Lifetime energy consumption. Building regulations and government action to reduce global warming. Building offices, factories, high rise tower blocks, commercial real estate, schools, colleges, hosptals and homes, apartments and flats. Alternatives to concrete. E-crete polymer concrete. Expect widespread use in future of geoplymers such as E-crete, a product using power station waste, developed by Jannie Van Deventer, a chemical engineer at the University of Melbourne, and founder of Zeobond. If we replaced half the world's concrete production with e-crete it would save a billion tons of carbon dioxide in the next decade alone. E-crete is just one of thousands of examples of new innovation we can expect over the next five to ten years.... representing tens of thousands of new business opportunities, and billions of dollars of new revenues. Video by keynote conference speaker Dr Patrick Dixon, Futurist and author of 12 books on global trends including Futurewise and Building a Better Business.
Concrete, e-crete, energy saving, construction industry, global warming, carbon emissions, energy consumption, lifetime energy, demolition, polymer, ash, power station waste, real estate development, precast, reinforced

March 16, 2008

Death of handwriting in education -- exams should test ...

Handwriting in examinations is a stupid way to assess student knowledge in world which will continue to require keyboard skills. New style education needs to focus on how to find immediate answers to complex problems from a starting point of ignorance, using new technology. How education promotes useless skills and neglects primary requirements eg instant summary of state of knowledge, fine to draw heavily on existing material. But in education such a summary could be rejected as plagiarism. Video on future of education, high schools, colleges, universities, curriculum, trends, syllabus, exams, assessments, business schools, MBAs, degree courses - by Dr Patrick Dixon, Futurist conference keynote speaker for NAIS.