Category Archives: Futurist

Friday April 28, 2017 more stories from this episode

This week marked the 50th anniversary of Expo 67 in Montreal. One of the biggest and most successful World Fairs of the 20th century, the event brought together 60 countries to showcase their most futuristic architectural and technological marvels in more than 60 pavilions.

By the time Expo closed in October 1967, it had welcomed more than 50 million visitors from around the world.

As we look back on its legacy five decades later, are we living in a very different future than Expo 67 predicted?

As historian and urbanist David Leonard explains to Day 6 host Brent Bambury, there's a lot Expo got wrong about the future but it had its prescient moments, too.

The 'People Tree' (which represented a maple tree in autumn) stands at the entrance to the main exhibit area of the Canadian pavilion at Expo 67. (Canadian Press)

Leonard, who's currently doing his PhD on memories of Expo 67 and the historical geography of the former site, first became interested in Expo during one of his walks through Montreal when he was an undergrad at McGill, stumbling across bits of sculpture and other remnants from the old site.

These "indicate that something spectacular and significant happened there, and they revealed that these islands were the staging place for the most significant event of the Canadian centennial project one of the most, if not the most, significant international events Canada has ever played host to," Leonard says.

He notes that Expo was more than simply a collection of buildings and displays under the theme 'Man and His World', the event was something of an exercise in international relations, with dozens of national pavilions, and exhibits touting international cooperation.

"['Man and His World'] was a examination of a theme of progress in society up until that point Expo 67 was was looking at the human condition," Leonard says. "It was very much an educational project, according to its planners' desires."

One of the shopping areas at Expo 67, May 1967. (Ron Case/Getty Images)

When it came to Expo's vision of the future, there were some things it got right, Leonard points out, including its focus on technology and mass media as the means to a better, more connected society.

"Expos' planners were particularly well aware of the extent to which we would come to live in a digital mass media society and the role of technology in our lives," Leonard says. "In a way, that premeditated a lot of the discussions we're still having about the role of technology [today]."

That said, Expo's outlook was far more utopian than how we've come to view our relationship with technology today.Leonard notes that we now look at it with a far more critical perhaps even wary lens, as opposed to the bright-eyed optimism of the '60s.

Given that Expo was wearing rose-coloured retro-futuristic glasses at a time when the space race, the Cold War, and the civil rights movement were all taking place, it's safe to say it also missed a lot of things or simply got some wrong, Leonard says.

"We certainly don't all live in geodesic domes like the Americans and Buckminster Fuller might have considered," Leonard quips. He argues that even architect Moshe Safdie's now-famed Habitat 67 project missed the mark when it came to its model for social housing, and much of the concrete architecture on the Expo site wasn't built to last and began to crumble and fall out of favour only a decade later.

'Habitat', designed by architect Moshe Safdie, one of the features of Expo 67 that still stands to this day. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)

One of the few remaining structures is the outside shell of the American pavilion, the large metal dome instantly recognizable in Montreal's cityscape. Today, it's the Biodome, an environmental museum open to the public.

Much of the remaining site (the original islands were created out of the St. Lawrence river) has now been turned into parkland, with little trace left of the space-age structures that once graced the area during Expo 67.

Montreal is currently marking the 50th anniversary of Expo during the city's 375th birthday celebrations, with a special passport for special events similar to the one handed out at Expo, and other exhibits looking back at what is still seen as Montreal's big moment on the world stage.

"The interesting thing about Expo is the nostalgia for it," Leonard says. "It's a powerful thing in the city of Montreal where the event really maintains a lasting cultural influence."

Now that we're living in the future that Expo 67 imagined, can an event of that magnitude, or large-scale architecture, express a similar optimism about what's to come?

"The borders of our imagination have perhaps shrunk drastically since Expo," Leonard says. "But these sorts of imaginings about the capacity of architecture or an exhibition to change the world, or a country, I don't believe these are possible in the present-day condition."

To hear Brent's full conversation withDavid Leonard, download our podcast or click the 'Listen' button at the top of this page.

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We're now living in the retro-futurist world that Expo 67 imagined - CBC.ca

To build a post-privacy world in "The Circle," Yvette Granata applied her background studying art and artificial intelligence.

The trailer for The Circle, which hit theaters Friday, takes Emma Watson's character Mae from a confident job interview to the stage of a packed auditorium, with both hands on her face trying to bottle in her scream at some offscreen horror.

In between, she lands that job at a tech company called the Circle, which is trying to revolutionize how knowledgeincluding real-time, video streamed knowledgeis shared online. Soon, Mae is asked to be the company's guinea pig for a "transparency" experiment, living her whole life in the public eye, and in the process losing touch with her family and closest friends.

The Circle explores how much privacy we're willing to sacrifice for convenience, career, and conformity. The tech dystopia shown in the movie, adapted from a 2013 novel, may feel eerily familiar if you've ever worried about how much your phone knows about you. And it should: We already have most of the technologies seen in the filmwe just haven't invested in or developed them as much.

Read more: Women Are Better at Coding than Men

That's according to Yvette Granata, who studies the intersection of art and technology. During the summer of 2015, she spent two weeks on the set of The Circle as a futurist consultanta title she admits may sound more glamorous than the job really is. Drawing on her background in film and academic research into artificial intelligence, she offered advice to the art department and other crew members on details like what materials phones were made of and where server farms were located, to bigger things like how to portray tech like drones or video feeds.

Granata was one of several consultants the movie brought in to help make the film's world of tech dystopia seem real, but she says her art background gave her a different perspective from other futurist consultants, who tend to focus exclusively on Silicon Valley. "The great thing about art is you learn how to always push your creativity and put yourself in different situations and try new things," Granata explains. "It allows us to see things that we wouldn't necessarily see."

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Even with her extensive knowledge of the tech world, Granata says she was surprised by how strongly the movie's portrayal of a post-privacy society struck her. "It definitely made me think more about the convergence of social media and surveillance and the Internet of Things," she says. "But how far it goes is really scary, and I think the movie really does push it so it's something else."

Especially fascinating to consider, Granata says, is the social context of a gadget. The devices themselves, she says, are all about technologybut what we do with them is cultural. Right now, she notes, a lot of new tech comes from men, so these innovations tend to address the wants and needs those men see.

That's why Granata particularly likes to explore the ways technology can build a more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable future through things like more creative types of artificial intelligence or social madia-based sharing economies. Whether Granata and people like her succeed in building this future will determine whether or not The Circle becomes reality.

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A Futurist Consultant Explains How She Developed Terrifying Tech in 'The Circle' - Broadly

World renowned thinker and speaker of technology futurism to accept UAT Honorary Doctorate Degree at Commencement

TEMPE, AZ--(Marketwired - April 28, 2017) - University of Advancing Technology (UAT) is honored to announce that Jamais Cascio, known for his insightful and provocative ideas in the realm of technology futurism, will accept one of this year's Honorary Doctorate Degrees, to be awarded at UAT's Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 5, 2017, at the Mesa Arts Center.

Cascio's passions coincide with UAT's interests in emerging technologies and some of his more profound work lies in environmental dilemmas and cultural transformation. Cascio specializes in the design and creation of plausible future scenarios. His work focuses on the importance of long-term, systemic thinking, emphasizing the power of openness, transparency and flexibility as catalysts for building a more resilient society.

Cascio speaks about future possibilities around the world, running in the same circles as UAT Professor Natasha Vita-More, who has worked with Cascio in her studies of futurism and holds his opinions in high regard.

Professor Vita-More said, "Jamais Cascio is a provocative futurist who thinks big, and thinks broad. Being listed as one of the "Top 100 Global :DThinkers" by Foreign Policy Magazine in 2009, he navigates through surprising and unsettling pathways of technological and cultural change. Cascio's ability to mitigate techno-challenges is in keeping with UAT's mission to educate and innovate for the future. His unique background aligns with UAT's values through applied strategic analysis."

As an honorary doctorate for UAT's graduating Class of 2017, Cascio shares a few words of wisdom for UAT graduates.

"The technologies and tools we make are as much artifacts of our culture as artifacts of our science. What a technology means -- its social utility, its ethical footprint, its role in our lives -- increasingly matters as much or more than what a technology does," said Jamais Cascio.

Watch UAT's Commencement featuring Jamais Cascio's Honorary Doctorate acceptance speech online here: http://www.uat.edu/commencement

About UAT:University of Advancing Technology (UAT) is an elite, private technology University focused on educating students in advancing technology who desire to innovate for our future. Our technology infused, urban campus is a technology nexus; a collection of technophiles, tech geeks and mavens of the digital world that evolve into top technology executives, master programmers, cyber warriors, forensic sleuths, robotic engineers, interactive filmmakers, and game innovators for entertainment and government animation applications. http://www.uat.edu

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Technology Futurist, Jamais Cascio, Named As An Honorary ... - Marketwired (press release)

Each week on the FACT Singles Club, a selection of our writers work their way through the new music of the week gone by.

This week, Goldie gets a Record Store Day reworking from none other than Burial, Lady Gaga searches for The Cure to her post-Joanneslump, UKclub producer Murlo strikes againandDJ Shadow teams up with Nas.

Theres also another stellar Sevdaliza single in the offing as well as something special from Hyperdub hero Laurel Halo. Lets get into it, shall we?

Goldie Inner City Life (Burial Remix)

Tayyab Amin: Im grinning and I can feel the devil emoji horns sprouting from my head as I listen. Its messy, theres a lot happening and none of it is happening in a straightforward manner. Theres something wonderfully perverse about new Record Store Day pressings with inherent vinyl crackle almost the work of a saboteur. Now, Im not saying our dearest Burial would ever do something like that, but I am saying he is totally Chaotic Good. (6)

Haley Potiker: I feel like I could have a really great karate training video to this song, where years of intense physical labor are condensed into six-and-a-half-minute montage. Isnt Record Store Day great? (7)

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: I am sure that a generation of music fans remembers Goldie as one of the cameo roles in Snatch rather than a D&B figurehead who decided to take his mainstream ascendancy and release an hour-long song, but his bonafides exist for a reason. Inner City Life in its original incarnation is a sort of proto-Burial joint: distant vocal lamentations over deceptively simplistic programming, a sentimental performance in spirit. Its interesting to hear Burial swerve hard in a different direction when he could have just added rainy SFX and called it a day instead, he goes more aggressive, suggesting that youre listening to some lost piece of siren-wailing, wall-of-sound aggro-rave. He switches it up again, shifting the sound into something different, touching on the sentiment of the original before cutting it abruptly short, like an open airlock blasting you out into the great silence. This refix bares little resemblance to its source it is scintillating and disrespectful and yet respectful and utterly confounding. For years, Burial has continued to leave you in such a state one song at a time, and thats something to applaud. (7)

Jibril Yassin: Burials recent work hasnt had the kind of heft seen on this Goldie remix, which almost feels blasphemous to listen to. However, itsclaustrophobic in a way only that he could provide and its gratifying to hear. My only gripe is thatDiane Charlemagnes vocals arecriminally low in the mix granted it helps the remix gain a wholly separate identity, but this isnt exactly the Torching A Classic thing I expected to hear. (6)

6.5

DJ Shadow Systematic (ft. Nas)

Tayyab Amin: So this is for the Silicon Valley soundtrack, and it fittingly encapsulates the mistaken innovation the TV shows subject matter prides itself on. Im not even that mad at the retro-throwback beat, its just that Beastie Boys, for example, would have gone cinematic with it, while Nas doesnt really go anywhere at all. To make you feel is my new expression should pack the heaviestpunch in the chorus, yet it hides behind the production almost as if they knew it couldnt really carry itself as it was. The verses are all over the place, occasionally phoned in with the likes of Im like a Russian mob figure, Im mad low, in the shadows / Big up to Shadow. Its so hard to hear Nas like this. (5)

Haley Potiker: Its funny to think about how far apart Nas and DJ Shadows sensibilities were 20 years ago, especially compared to how similar they must be now. A fun fact is that this song closed out the Silicon Valley premiere last night and was written entirely by the guy who plays Jared. (8)

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: At first listen, this is your over-enthusiastic modern hip-hop dispatch from DJ Shadow (a producer who could sometimes do with simplifying his barrage of ideas) and a fair performance from Nas, as he rattles around waiting to release another album. On reflection, its also a fun B-side where these two find a soft spot in each others approach. This is Shadow giving Nas a classicist at heart a post-turntablists update of the good ol Ultramagnetic style. Imagine Nas didnt will Nas Escobar into being, stayed Real Hip-Hop infamous rather than If I RuledThe World famous, and we may have gotten this very song sooner, give or take some vocal effects. (6)

Jibril Yassin: Even as DJ Shadows latest compositions have been getting all the more dustier (and this is no insult, this really does sound like it could score a well-made dystopian spaghetti film), Nas is out here providing the spark, going from talking about street dreams and wearing Gucci links to dealing out investment tidbits, dropping cooking recipes and making Keith Haring comparisons, all in the same verse. (8)

6.75

Laurel Halo Jelly

Tayyab Amin: Future music is often portrayed in pure digital or dirty mechanics, whereas this marries electronics with organic sound in a way that doesnt even seem possible in tomorrows world. Put simply, this is the kind of song that makes me excited for everything music has the possibility to be. (10)

Haley Potiker: I could watch this lyric video all day. Its like a Windows 98 screensaver. It sounds like the music youd hear in the elevator at the worlds tightest Macys where the elevator keeps going up and up until youre floating above the city like Willy Wonka. (8)

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: In the best possible way, this felt longer than its five-minute runtime, a soak in a combination of emotional sniping from Halo and percussive combinations slotting into place like a Tetris line. Fairly stunning I only say fairly because Halos presentation feels weirdly low-key, perhaps in the way it avoids being overwhelmed by its many moving parts. You want to overpraise this composition, but it melts into the ether at the end, as though its brilliance does not want to cause a fuss. (8)

Jibril Yassin: I very much like that this is entirely focused around Halo and her collaborators but most important of all, that voice. It feels surreal, playful at moments but a storm when doubled, making Jelly feel incredibly disorienting as the track seems to change and warp around you. (7)

8.25

Sevdaliza Hubris

Tayyab Amin:Sevdaliza really knows how to send those Portishead chills down my spine, and there are a few shades of La Roux here and there too. Her voice doesnt go through you, rather it moves around and passes over you. Climaxing with a quiet roar, the aching in her voice is impossible to overlook. I love how delicately balanced the tracks elements are: Sevdalizas singing is powerful on its own, though the occasional electronic stutter instilsas much unease as it does intrigue. The production plays the part of backing band well, even when it transforms into electronic beats completely. (7)

Haley Potiker: Theres something gothic about this, like it was made on a banged-up laptop in the middle of a medieval church. (7)

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: Sevdaliza songs usually have many great ideas pieced together by passages of unengagement: here, the artists songwriting continues to grow but parts like a robotic, clattering vocal interlude hold back a climatic key change (one of pops greatest emotional weapons!) from hitting as hard as it should. Theres plenty of promise in her haunted trip-hop revivalism, and despite those tetchy swerves of lodged-in experimentation, there are even more signs she can be behind a great song from start to finish. (6)

Jibril Yassin: Were witnessing one of the smoothest key changes in history on this one. I hope people take notice. (8)

7

Murlo Tired of You

Tayyab Amin: Few artists from recent years have developed as singular a sound as Murlo. He doesntrehash his music between projects its always about building from the last thing. Murlo constructs his samples, melodies and rhythms clinically, butthat drop into gunfinger synth stabs that appears from nowhere is a total show-stealer. (8)

Haley Potiker: Come for Murlo, stay for the animated video thats better than most of the prestige TV airing right now. Tired of You is knotty and claustrophobic and irresistible. (8)

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: The vocal sample driving Murlos latest moans in a childlike voice as to being tired of you, the you drawling and fading into something that sounds like a me. Its intriguing how themelted vocals collapse the songs focus: as glissando keys and military-might bass take control, the vocals slide around from me to you, from self-pity to rage and back again. (7)

Jibril Yassin: Holy shit, so this is what a funhouse version of PC Music sounds like? I dont know whats more knocking, the acid bass keeping it together or the waves of percussion and bleeps that could fit right at home on a trap or grime track in another dimension. (9)

8

Lady Gaga The Cure

Tayyab Amin: The entire second verse sounds like Gaga has a blocked nose. Why is she singing If I cant find the cure, Ill fix you with my love if she cant even fix her hayfever? (5)

Haley Potiker: This song is catchy and fun but also pretty innocuous for Gaga. The beat is super generic it could be from a random songwriter on SoundCloud. But then it transformsinto a true Pop Banger. Itll be interesting to see if she doubles down on this approach as a course-correction from Joanne, which was stuffed with a bunch of disparate ideas but got a lukewarm reception. (8)

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy:Chorus machine Gaga has finally accepted the fate of modern pop the post-Where Are U Now vocal squiggle-as-hook, a songwriting trick Skrillex once referred to as the dolphin. It overshadows what is a strong-enough effort to please a pop fanbase scared of country music (and ergo scared of Joanne), but its also Gaga jocking the chartsin a way thats a little depressing to hear. You want to see her wear the meat dress, not try on someone elses normal-ass wardrobe. (5)

Jibril Yassin:Make no mistake, The Cure is thrilling, but as satisfying as it is to hear Lady Gaga over something more akin to The Fame Monster than career-reboot Joanne, this feels far too normal for someone like Gaga and thats upsetting. When even your missteps feel wholly yours, why now set out to soundanonymous? (5)

5.75

Final scores:

Laurel Halo Jelly (8.25) Murlo Tired of You (8) Sevdaliza Hubris (7) DJ Shadow Systematic (ft. Nas) (6.75) Goldie Inner City Life (Burial remix) (6.5) Lady Gaga The Cure (5.75)

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Singles Club: Laurel Halo takes futurist pop to new heights - FACT

April 26, 2017 --

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) April 26, 2017

Geniecast recently welcomed several new subject matter experts, speakers, and thoughts leaders or Genies to its platform, growing its offerings to over 1,300 experts available for booking. Genies recently added include tech and innovation author Vivek Wadhwa, best-selling innovation author Deborah Perry Piscione, author and researcher Tom Rath, and Emmy-winning writer and producer for ?The Simpsons," Joel Cohen.

?Keeping abreast of the latest trends, connecting with up-and-coming thought leaders, and strengthening our relationships with established experts is our priority. We understand the world moves quickly and that people need to know the latest to stay ahead. At Geniecast, we make it a point to move fast and always be innovating to guarantee that our clients are on the cutting edge of their industries." - CEO and founder, Keith Alper

Clients can now connect with respected academic and futurist Vivek Wadhwa to learn the latest in technological change, biotechnology, healthcare and driverless cars. Delivered via Geniecast's two-way video platform, Wadhwa helps companies understand where their industry is headed and offers strategies to prepare for the future.

Business leaders looking to revamp their companies can speak with innovation author and entrepreneur Deborah Perry Piscione. Piscione provides the guidelines of what makes Silicon Valley businesses successful and presents ways other companies can embrace the startup mentality.

?Genies are respected leaders in their fields and we are excited to be able to offer their expertise to our clients. It is critical that today's business executives have convenient access to experts who can help them strategize and innovate. We are confident that with our Genies' help, they will be able to do just that." - VP of Marketing Communications and Technology, James Gallagher

To learn more about Geniecast or to browse Genie programs, please visit http://www.geniecast.com.

Geniecast is the world's first and largest marketplace of thought leaders, athletes, speakers, celebrities, consultants, facilitators and more-all available via two-way, live video broadcast. By delivering top talent via two-way video, Geniecast makes education and professional development more accessible and affordable, providing boards and teams efficient access to subject matter experts for problem-solving, strategy sessions and more. To date, the Geniecast marketplace has thousands of programs led by ?Genies" who are experts in a variety of topics, ranging from customer service and business best practices, to leadership and other timely industry topics.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/04/prweb14271102.htm.

Source:PRWEB.COM Newswire. All Rights Reserved

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Geniecast Welcomes New Experts to Platform, Including Globally ... - IT Business Net

In Brief Futurist Dave Evans shares his thoughts about the future of human-machine interaction. In an interview with James Bedsole, Evans explained what the thought of Ray Kurzweil's prediction of nanobots in the body by 2030.

Ray Kurzweil, Googles director of engineering, is a well-known futurist who seems to have a penchant for accurate predictions. Most recently, he has again reiterated his prediction that the so-called technological singularity will happen by 2045. For Kurzweil, this doesnt translate to an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario courtesy of artificially intelligent (AI) machines. Rather, it means human beings will become powered by machines.

Kurzweil believes that, as part of this human-machine melding, nanobots will inhabit our bodies by the 2030s. While flowing through our arteries, thesemicroscopic robots would keep us healthy and transmit our brains onto the cloud.

Another futurist, Dave Evans, founder and CTO of Silicon Valley stealth startup Stringify, gave his thoughts about Kurzweils nanobot idea in an interview with James Bedsole on February.

Evans explained that he thinks such a merging of technology and biology isnt at all farfetched. In fact, he described three stages as to how this will occur: the wearable phase (where we are today), the embeddable phase (where were headed, with neural implants and such), and the replaceable phase.

Does Evans agree with Kurzweils idea of nanobots flowing inside our bodies? Check out the rest of his answer in the video embedded here.

Continued here:
Kurzweil: By 2030, Nanobots Will Flow Throughout Our Bodies - Futurism

Salt Lake CityEconomist, speaker and author Jeff Thredgold, 66, died April 15 at his home in Farmington. Since 2012 he had suffered from Fronto Temporal Degeneration, a neurological condition similar to ALS. He was president of Thredgold Economic Associates and served as an economic consultant to Zions Bancorporation for 17 years, providing Zions Bank and other affiliate banks with a monthly Small Business Index, quarterly economic reports and entertaining speaking engagements.

Thredgolds career as an economist spanned more than 40 years, including 23 years as senior vice president and chief economist for KeyCorp. He wrote a weekly economic and financial newsletter, called the Tea Leaf, for 37 years. He was the monthly economic columnist for an Asia-based business publication, Business Issues.

He authored several books, including econAmerica, A Parents Letter to My Children in School, and On the One HandThe Economists Joke Book. He also served as an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Utah for 16 years and served as President of the National Association for Business Economics Utah Chapter. He is a former member of the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association and the Economic Policy Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

In 2002, Thredgold received the designation of Certified Speaking Professional from the International Federation for Professional Speakers and the National Speakers Association. Active as a professional speaker since 1989, he logged more than 1,500 speaking engagements at conferences, conventions and other meetings throughout the country and internationally.

Jeff Thredgold successfully brought the dismal science of economics to life, said Scott Anderson, Zions Banks president and CEO. Over the years, hundreds of Zions Banks business clients had the opportunity to hear his lively speeches that provided context and relevance to the financial markets and demographic trends. We are grateful to have known and worked with Jeff and reflect upon the impact he made on Utahs business community.

According to his wishes, Thredgolds brain will be donated the University of Utah Hospital to support research of Fronto Temporal Degeneration. A celebration of his life will be Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23, from 4 to 8 p.m. at his home, 1311 N. Hidden Quail Cove in Farmington.

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Economist Jeff Thredgold Dies, Is Remembered as Entertaining Speaker, Futurist - Utah Business

In 1791 when Mozart died, his 29-year-old wife, Constanze Weber, was forced to earn a living, so she began selling her late husbands manuscripts and turned the former messy paper scraps lying around the house into a tidy income stream.

Lucky for her, she lived after Gutenbergs printing revolution had begun in Europe allowing her to leverage the power of rapid reproducibility.

Over time, the music industry has figured out many different formats for reproducing music, moving from sheet music, to Edisons cylinder phonograph, to vinyl records, to 8-track tapes, and eventually to downloadable digital recordings.

During those same 200+ years, colleges have done little to reproduce and distribute college courses, choosing instead to redo each college class, much like ancient monks reproducing the scrolls of history.

When demand for education increased, they simply built more colleges, thousands of them, in fact, all over the world. This is analogous to forcing people to go to concerts and other live venues to listen to music.

Over the coming decades, the amount of education we consume to stay competitive will increase exponentially.

However, the education we buy will increasingly be on our terms not on theirs. We will want education that is relative, timely, available on-demand, and fits within a specific need. And it will need to be far more affordable.

For these reasons and more, which Ill explain below, we will begin to see the mass failure of traditional colleges. But out of this will come an entire new education era unlike anything we have ever seen.

Embracing the Digital Era

Over the past decade, the number of people reading printed newspapers, visiting retail stores, and using direct mail have fallen sharply.

At the same time, the amount of news consumed on a daily basis has risen sharply, the overall level of retail sales has continued to increase, and person-to-person communications through email, social media, texting, and other forms of digital communications has exploded around us.

Each industry has forged its own unique path into the digital age.

In the past few months the level of experimentation surrounding college education has shot up considerably, and many are getting considerable traction. A high level of experimentation is always a leading indicator of change even if we dont have a clear view of what it will look like on the other side.

Key Metrics to Consider

Several driving forces are causing the world of higher ed to feel the ground shift beneath its feet. Consider the following metrics:

Rising Costs

Demand for Online Courses

The Seeds of Discontent

Shifting Trends

According to Andrew Ng, founder of Coursera,When one professor can teach 50,000 people, it alters the economics of education.

Student Loan Backlash

Theres a big difference between affordability and financeability. Until now, colleges have had a relatively easy time selling a student on getting an education today in exchange for some unknown monthly payment to be determined later.

Hundreds if not thousands of studies have been commissioned over the years to support the value of higher education, and students on the fence are quickly overwhelmed with evidence that theyre making the right decision.

In fact, the anti-education crowd is very small, and those questioning the cost of education have only become vocal during the past few years.

The education industrial complex is perhaps the most influential in the world, with everyone from Presidents and world leaders, to Nobel Laureates, to CEOs and business executives all unwavering in their support of colleges and their accomplishments.

Yet for the lowly student sitting at home with $100,000 in debt and the only job available to them is one that doesnt require a college degree, the entire system begins to feel like a house of lies, with festering levels of anger working their way to the top.

Over the coming months this seething cauldron of discontent will begin to erupt in unusual ways.

Eight Reasons Why Over 50% of Colleges will Fail by 2030

So what happens when the legacy power of an institution meets a rapidly changing business environment driven by emerging technology? Some will survive but many will not.

For this reason Ive decided to focus in on eight core issues for colleges that will drive a wedge between business-as-usual and the unstoppable forces of change.

Ironically, we are entering into a period where the demand for education will rise substantially. Yet traditional colleges are such a mismatch for what future consumers will want that dropping enrollments will cause many to fail.

At the same time many new opportunities will begin to surface, and future-learning centers will make use of former college facilities. Some may even resurrect the former institution under an entirely new business model.

Declining Enrollment Scenario

With several new alternative education options arising, many colleges will begin to experience a decline in their enrollment. When revenues run short, the first instinct will be to arrange short term financing. This coupled with long term bonds and other obligation will create a growing mountain of debt.

As less expensive schools with extensive online capabilities begin to steal students, several colleges will engage in a pricing war to keep their numbers up. Many will spend heavily on marketing to change their image and boost enrollment. Others will spend heavily on lobbyists in hopes of gaining more support from government.

Some will experience declining revenues, others declining enrollment. Most, however, will experience both.

How many colleges that experience a 10% decline in enrollment/revenue per year, will still be around after 5 years?

In the business world, declining metrics like this are referred to as a death spiral. How long will it take before dramatic changes are made? At what point will layoffs begin, assets be sold, or mergers be considered?

For state-supported institutions, at what point will an emergency session of the state legislature be called? If 3-5 state-supported colleges are all experiencing enrollment/revenue declines at the same time, at what point will the state decide to walk away from what they perceive to be a never-ending money pit?

How many colleges or universities will have the ability to reinvent themselves as this isoccurring?

Final Thoughts

Imagine coming across a job opening that requires a specific certification you currently dont have. You match up well will all of the other job requirements but youre only missing this one certification.

A few clicks later you find out the certification can happen online with 20 hours of training. So you spend your weekend getting certified.

Yes, theres a big difference between having a cursory understanding of a topic and working level proficiency. But for many of us our future careers will hinge on situations like the scenario I just described.

As a society weve grown complacent, thinking smart people in colleges are doing a good job preparing our kids for the future. Yet higher ed has become a lumbering giant, slow to adapt and increasingly out of sync with the needs of business and society.

The same top-down institutional systems that have preserved colleges for centuries are now becoming their greatest enemy.

Much as failed golf courses, big box retailers, and shopping centers end up in the laps of local communities, failed colleges will also become local problems for city governments to deal with.

Pedestrian campuses that worked well during peak enrollment have a way of becoming white elephants for whatever comes next.

Over the coming weeks Ill be focusing on whats next for colleges and universities. With the right transitioning effort, the downside may not be as dismal as what Im predicting.

At the same time Id love to hear your thoughts.

ByFuturist Thomas Frey

Author ofCommunicating with the Future the book that changes everything

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By 2030 Over 50% Of Colleges Will Collapse | Future Of ...

Salt Lake CityEconomist, speaker and author Jeff Thredgold, 66, died April 15 at his home in Farmington. Since 2012 he had suffered from Fronto Temporal Degeneration, a neurological condition similar to ALS. He was president of Thredgold Economic Associates and served as an economic consultant to Zions Bancorporation for 17 years, providing Zions Bank and other affiliate banks with a monthly Small Business Index, quarterly economic reports and entertaining speaking engagements.

Thredgolds career as an economist spanned more than 40 years, including 23 years as senior vice president and chief economist for KeyCorp. He wrote a weekly economic and financial newsletter, called the Tea Leaf, for 37 years. He was the monthly economic columnist for an Asia-based business publication, Business Issues.

He authored several books, including econAmerica, A Parents Letter to My Children in School, and On the One HandThe Economists Joke Book. He also served as an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Utah for 16 years and served as President of the National Association for Business Economics Utah Chapter. He is a former member of the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association and the Economic Policy Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

In 2002, Thredgold received the designation of Certified Speaking Professional from the International Federation for Professional Speakers and the National Speakers Association. Active as a professional speaker since 1989, he logged more than 1,500 speaking engagements at conferences, conventions and other meetings throughout the country and internationally.

Jeff Thredgold successfully brought the dismal science of economics to life, said Scott Anderson, Zions Banks president and CEO. Over the years, hundreds of Zions Banks business clients had the opportunity to hear his lively speeches that provided context and relevance to the financial markets and demographic trends. We are grateful to have known and worked with Jeff and reflect upon the impact he made on Utahs business community.

According to his wishes, Thredgolds brain will be donated the University of Utah Hospital to support research of Fronto Temporal Degeneration. A celebration of his life will be Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23, from 4 to 8 p.m. at his home, 1311 N. Hidden Quail Cove in Farmington.

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Economist Jeff Thredgold Dies, Is Remembered as Entertaining ... - Utah Business

In the age of the Internet, consumer expectations and habits are constantly changing, and at a seemingly increasing pace. Marketing has evolved as a result and todays marketers find themselves incorporating public relations, advertising, social media and digital analytics into their skill set in the day-in-day-out effort to engage with the customer and build brand loyalty.

This integrated approach is fundamental to our marketing strategy as many of our guests are digitally connected and mobile savvy. I believe that 2017 will see a realisation that good marketing will require an ability to understand the many channels of communication we have, be able to read and analyse data proficiently, and turn this into a holistic marketing campaign through innovative and engaging content.

Mobile will continue to grow as a content broadcast source. This means that marketers will have to master both the technological challenges of communicating through this medium and the creative skills needed to design engaging mobile-driven campaigns.

This includes producing bite-sized videos with the right copy in order to hold the attention of mobile users. For example, the commuter who is killing time on the bus or the employee taking a break from work.

Big data is giving marketers ever more insights into their target markets, including their wants, needs, preferences and dislikes. It has also allowed us to segment our guests into more distinct and defined groups. This will present challenges, but also opportunities.

For instance, travellers are looking to explore a destination regardless of their reason for travel.

There is a growing demand for experiential travel as more people seek to immerse themselves in new places. In 2017, we will be rolling out a series of destination-centric programmes across all Hotel Jen properties to help curious travellers make the most of their stay, meet the locals and explore the cities where Hotel Jen is present.

Another example: Conscious living is becoming more of a lifestyle choice among many of our guests, and there is a rising minority who prefer hotels that are mindful of the environment. To address this demand, Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore has introduced Project Greenspot for 2017, a year-long initiative that incorporates green activities into different areas of the hotels operations.

With the growing channels of communication, more tools that provide data on guest preferences and increasing demand for high-quality content, marketers will need to learn how to create integrated campaigns that bring together all these elements.

Marketing campaigns will need to be tailored to the targeted groups. Public relations initiatives that support these strategies will need to be accompanied by video content tweaked for both online and mobile platforms including social media and brand website as well as targeted influencer and media outreach. Ultimately, all this needs to be tied together with great creative content.

The role of the marketer continues to expand, and now requires deep knowledge of public relations, data analysis, advertising, online and social media among other skills. The most proficient marketers will have to master these various trades and link them together to create campaigns that reach audiences on the different channels with the same underlying message.

This is no easy feat and requires innovative thinking and good coordination and organisational abilities, plus a good dose of message discipline. While the future of marketing will involve more elements that are intertwined, it will also be more rewarding, especially for those who are able to bring together a great, integrated marketing campaign.

The writer isMarisa Aranha, vice president sales & marketing,Hotel Jen.

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The Futurist: Master of all trades - Marketing Interactive