About IGF
The Top Ten Space Trends for the 21st Century
- Many innovations will be developed by space enterprises that will accelerate the establishment of a global space market.
- New energy sources developed to navigate space will accelerate the exploration of our galaxy enabling us to explore deep space.
- Miniaturized cost effective spacecraft will explore the stars long before humans are capable of venturing out into deep space.
- Space mining will yield new resources, elements, and materials that will enhance the quality of life on our planet.
- Robonauts, robot astronauts, will stretch our imaginations with fantastic information from their space adventures and be our new heroes.
- Humans will learn to leave their home planet of Earth, terraform faraway planets, and colonize space.
- Extremely valuable space assets, from materials and drugs to minerals and innovations, will create a space race among global companies.
- First contact with alien life through the identification of life supporting planets may come closer to becoming a possibility.
- Space discoveries will have a profound impact on the advancement of human science, medicine, education, entertainment, and culture.
- The exploration of space will spark a new "big picture" understanding of human evolution and human destiny as we reach out into the galaxy.
Web 2.0 Alert
A "Don't Miss Trend" says this futurist. The hype is not the real deal. Too many CIO's and CTO's are missing the potential here. There is an emerging, refreshed paradigm for the Internet now being called Web 2.0, that requires care and feeding.
Not too early to think about how an integrative IT strategy that incorporates social networking, blogs, rich media and Wikis could enable your business. Sounds intimidating, but it is another channel to accelerate customer mind share penetration, business intelligence or outright competitive advantage. Sensing, Learning, Enabling.
Back From Asia
There is nothing like getting ahead of a trend by "being there". Much of what we call trends will come from Asia first, as we have seen. The linkage, the convergence of trends, is undeniable. Going to Asia, particularly China, India and Singapore, is always an eye opener to validate growth and change. So here is the latest from my Asia trip over last few weeks.
Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons Limited, a collection of leading steel, auto and information companies, employ over 22% of the Indian workforce. His next challenge is building a $2,000 car, from steel, that seats 4, and will get you more than just around town. He already has a $4000 auto distributed by Fiat in Africa. Tata, who is a world class innovator, may be one of the best. He and I had time to catch up in Singapore. Tata website
He has the classic innovator's drive, "They said it couldn't be done". I heard that from Steve Jobs when I was at Apple working on the Macintosh product introduction in 1981. Same DNA --loves challenges. The conversation we had about how you teach innovation is one that has me thinking: I think there is an alchemy of innovation.
Hong Kong's Present is China's Future?
Being in Hong Kong is more of a state of mind than just a location. Vibrant, deal-making, target rich and enterprising comes to mind. I have a biotech client who I am advising in China. Fascinating. Here is a country who has as inspiration, a microcosm economy called Hong Kong, that reflects what the full potential for the rest of China could be one day. Imagine not just HK with the largest number of billionaires, but ALL of China with this wealth effect by 2020. With over one million people moving to cites a day, in China, and with fantastic growth over 15% GDP (more then 12%). We are talking sizzling futures here. Good investment opportunity.
Globalization Check
The future of globalization will be based on the linkage of economies--both large and small. To appreciate the linkage of economies, consider the Shanghai Index's drop of two weeks ago and the US and EU exchanges drop as a reaction. China sneezes and we all get colds? Our trend line shows robust linkage in these economies will make for stability in the developed and developing nations economies, a productive trend. Shanghai market
Chinese investments in the Euro and US dollar are stabilizing the global economy against other negatives, such as inflation spikes, housing bubbles, low productivity and escalating trade deficits. Growth offsets these risks, but investments are a win win for everyone. Stable markets with millions of consumers means China gets growth and stability. Very critical for all players.
Business Continuity Trend
In a new article on what you might think is an uninteresting subject, I discussed the challenges organizations face in dealing with threats to business continuity. Just yesterday, May 7, a billion dollar financial services company in the consumer loan space went down due to a storm in the Midwest. Lost data, hurt people, damaged locations, flooding, disasters and more, are now becoming a reality. Every business needs a business continuity plan that can be implemented fast in case of a disaster. My business continuity article - The Good, Bad and Ugly of Business Continuity in the 21st Century.
Apple Blog
Much of my early influences about innovation were catalyzed when I was at Apple Computer. A terrific company that has innovation in it's DNA. Is Apple a tech company or a consumer products company? It is as if nobody was paying attention when all of a sudden, Apple's stock reached $100. Is this the end, a fluke? I am a futurist, not a stock picker, but I can say that Steve Jobs' platform of integrated innovations has anticipate consumers needs. So, the answer is that Apple is more of a consumer-driven company than a tech-innovation company. You can decide if that makes sense. Hint: iPod, iMac, iPhone, iTV, hmmmm. Apple
Trend Trakker Update
Many followers of this blog, and the Institute for Global Futures, who work on trend watching and analysis wanted more info on Trend Trakker. We developed Trend Trakker as an online tool to track trends in over 50,000 news stories on various subjects that organizes the latest stories onto a map. So here is an update: Trend Trakker
If you want to see this live, go to this leading energy association at Energy Voyager.
The next version we are developing is a 3D geospatial application for a global pandemic and risk analysis company. This is the only tool to give you a complete view of key news trends in one organized field. For those folks who want a trial version for their company, email us This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Page 6 of 8