As a professional futurist, I don’t claim to predict the future. However, the two things I’m confident in stating are: 1) Today is the slowest rate of change we will ever experience again; and 2) the greatest change today is the rate of change. The world is accelerating and it’s imperative that business leaders spend…

As a professional futurist and forecaster, I prefer to read the newspaper from back to front because I often find the most interesting items are buried on the back pages. To this end, this past week I stumbled upon this Wall Street Journal article explaining that Foxconn–the massive Chinese manufacturing company that employs thousands of…

Yesterday, I was in Indianapolis speaking to economic development officials at the National Rural Economic Development Association’s (NREDA) annual meeting. One of the many growing trends I encouraged them to consider was the possibility of an exponentially more powerful Internet. Next week, Google will be unveiling “Google Fiber” in Kansas City. It promises Internet 100…

(Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, 20/20 Foresight: A Futurist Looks Ahead to the Ten Trends That Will Shape the World of 2020, that I am writing with the able assistance of fellow futurist Simon Anderson. This chapter takes a look at the future of retail.) In the summer of 2011, Tesco,…

Inventor: Until 1950, “inventor” was listed as an official occupation on the U.S. Census form.  The job title will soon return as a new industrial revolution—fueled by advances in material science, robotics; 3-D printing; information technology; and nanotechnology—takes root and unleashes a wave of new (and practical) inventions. Video-Book (Vook) editor: As electronic books and…

Foxconn, a large manufacturer of computer and electronic components in China, announced recently it intends to increase the number of robots it employs from 10,000 to 1 million–in the next three years! This is nothing short of astounding and offers yet another example of the power of exponential growth. Beyond its immediate impact for Foxconn as…