Futurist , innovation mentor lecture business leaders on economic trends

Santa Maria entrepreneurs got a lesson on thinking outside the box Thursday from a pair of businessmen who have made careers out of doing it, at a Futures Forum hosted by the Economic Alliance of Northern Santa Barbara County.

Simon Anderson, futurist and co-author of Foresight 20/20, and Rick Bess, former director and idea mentor for Adobe Systems and founder of PreBeta Inc., offered Santa Maria Valley business people a glimpse into cutting edge business from the power of online learning to the challenges and opportunities of turning northern Santa Barbara County into a international business center.

Anderson, who practiced what he preached by delivering his keynote speech via web video conference, specializes in helping business people embrace emerging technologies. He emphasized education, both how it needs to change and how it is already embracing technology.

I think right now we are beginning to unlearn the way we do things, he said, pointing out that more and more traditional education is turning to social media to better prepare its students. The world is changing faster than text books can be printed.

Anderson pointed out that while use of social media is rapidly increasing, one-third of the top 25 business schools in the country still dont have social media courses. He also said 53 percent of college graduates 25 years old and younger are in occupations that dont require a degree.

Online learning gurus like Salman Khan, whose KhanAcademy sprang from online mathematics tutorials for a young cousin into a free online education platform, are revolutionizing education, Anderson said. The academys website offers Learn almost anything for free and 208,678,274 lessons delivered.

That kind of global availability and access is how Bess said EconNSBC needs to focus its efforts.

Bess, who grew up in the Santa Maria Valley and graduated from Righetti High School before moving on to Stanford University and Adobe Systems, said that like online learning, where lessons can be passed across international borders, Santa Maria Valley businesses need to focus beyond conventional boundaries to succeed.

The chief executive officer of PreBeta Inc., a company that specializes in organizational innovation solutions and consulting, asked the crowd of more than 100 local business leaders to define boundaries. Are they defined by geography or governments such as cities or counties?

To me, those are definitions but not boundaries, he said.

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Futurist , innovation mentor lecture business leaders on economic trends