Audio … Former US Vice-President Al Gore, on the other hand, has proven remarkably prescient in four decades of public life. As he predicted 20 years ago, the Internet has revolutionized the world. And three …
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Global Trend – China’s state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) completed construction of a natural gas pipeline from Myanmar to China on 28 May 2013 and is close to finishing an oil pipeline. The pipeline will start delivering gas from Myanmar’s west coast in the Bay of Bengal to Kunming (the capital of China’s Yunnan province) on 1 July, while the oil pipeline will transport China’s crude shipments from the Persian Gulf and Africa when it is completed later this year. The new route for oil and gas imports to China is a significant imprint in the geopolitical landscape of the region and forms a key factor in the strategic calculus of major actors. The pipelines are also the first signs of China realising the dream of opening up its southwest provinces to the Indian Ocean. … Read more
Global Trend – The Chinese government’s plans to move some 250 million rural residents into new towns and cities are being followed with interest worldwide. Writing in the New York Times (15 June 2013), Ian …
Technology Trend – David Lavenda – “Examining journal articles that span the last 30 years, I have found that the perceived cause of information overload at work has shifted over time. For example, during the …
We know that power is shifting: From West to East and North to South, from presidential palaces to public squares, from once formidable corporate behemoths to nimble startups and, slowly but surely, from men to …
We create organizations because we need to get a job done–something we couldn’t do alone–and join them because we’re inspired by their missions (and our paycheck). But once we’re inside, these organizations rarely feel inspirational. …
Leaders of any description and department are struggling. Society is awash with social technologies; employees want to be included in the conversations and decisions; and management is stuck sorting out how teams should operate using …
To create effective data visualizations, you must be part statistician, part designer, and part storyteller. In his bestselling book Visualize This, Nathan Yau introduced you to the tools and programming techniques for visualization. Now, in Data Points, …
Future Trend – China is pushing ahead with a sweeping plan to move 250 million rural residents into newly constructed towns and cities over the next dozen years — a transformative event that could set …
Audio … Former US Vice-President Al Gore, on the other hand, has proven remarkably prescient in four decades of public life. As he predicted 20 years ago, the Internet has revolutionized the world. And three …
Global Trend – If it goes ahead, the $40bn (£26bn) scheme, which is twice as expensive as Brazil’s Belo Monte dam and likely to be three times longer than the Panama canal, looks set to …
Global Trend – Chinese officials are calling for a kind of populist urbanization. The Chinese word for it translates more directly as “small city-ization,” rather than “urbanization.” The phrase is meant to signify a focus …
Social Trend – Given his calm and reasoned academic demeanor, it is easy to miss just how provocative Erik Brynjolfsson’s contention really is. Brynjolfsson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his …
Technology Trend – Imagine what might have happened if, back in the 1880s, Thomas Edison had devoted his prodigious engineering talents to perfecting a direct-current transformer instead of wasting his energy disparaging the upstart alternating-current …
Science Trend – After decades of demonization as a health menace, the tobacco plant is about to become a source of potentially lifesaving medicines, thanks in part to the work of Andre Sharon, who leads …
Social Trend – It’s as bold a move as one could imagine. The Rockefeller Foundation, celebrating its 100th anniversary, is launching a “100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge.” It will invest $100 million in 100 cities …
Social Trend – The U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled on patenting breast-cancer genes. The ruling found that naturally occurring genes aren’t patentable. If you make a synthetic version, however, that is your own work. Scientists …
Global Trend – Nicaragua has approved plans for a mysterious Hong Kong-based company to build an estimated $40 billion canal across the middle of the country, Luis Manuel Galeano and Michael Weissenstein of The Associated …
Science Trend – A Japanese startup claims it has cracked the knotty problem of commercializing the production of spider thread, which, gram for gram, is stronger than nylon and even many metals. As one of …
Future Trend – Detroit (9845MF) will suspend payments on unsecured debt, beginning with a $39.7 million installment due today, Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr said as he outlined a plan to avoid a record municipal bankruptcy. …
Technology Trend – Amit Singhal, a senior Google executive in charge of its search efforts, said that Google search wouldn’t just answer the question implied in the words we type into that ubiquitous search box. …
Environmental Trend – In the past few years, some researchers and enthusiasts have proposed dumping iron into the ocean as a strategy for mitigating climate change. Last fall, a California businessman even did a little …
Business Trend – We have learned, painfully, of the damage derivatives can do to an economy in a financial crisis. But derivatives are hurting the economy even on its best days, according to a new …
Business Trend – Up until now, good data on the geography of start-ups outside the United States has been very hard, if not impossible, to come by. That’s why a relatively new ranking of start-up …
Science Trend – A study in mice, detailed online in the journal Nature, reveals the chemical signal that triggers stem cells to develop into new nail tissue, and also attracts nerves that promote nail and …
Environmental Trend – Rather than just being places to work, eat, and be entertained, buildings of the future might be used for “systemic” roles: say, generating power, or reusing garbage. Or, as in the designs …
Technology Trend – Project Loon began a little under two years ago, incubating in Google’s high-risk research arm, Google X. Rich DeVaul, an expert in wearable technology (his MIT dissertation was on “Memory Glasses”), had …
Environmental Trend – About 10,000 years ago, our ancestors made a crucial choice that still haunts our food supply. When they planted the first farms, they chose to cultivate annual, not perennial, plants. Those annual …
Social Trend – Nearly 45 million Americans in 21.1 million households — 83% of them below the poverty line — received food stamps in any given month, according to a November 2012 report by the …
BUsiness Trend – Much public hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth have been made of late on the subject of brand marketers targeting millennials and their appetite for the use of digital channels to connect with …
BUsiness Trend – Like water, the torrents of data generated by the billions of people online can never be fully controlled. But they can certainly be harnessed. And every node of connectivity between these networks …
Technology Trend – Ever wonder what the network infrastructure of the future will be? Try looking in the mirror. Some day our bodies — or at least the clothing or accessories that adorn them — …
Business Trend – Ronald Alsop – “The millennial generation grew up in a global village, connected across borders by the internet and social media. Those links have helped produce a cohort with many shared experiences, …
Environmental Trend – The world throws away enormous amounts of energy each day. In the U.S. alone, waste streams could account for 100,000 megawatts of untapped electrical capacity. New technology could convert those overlooked sources …
Technology Trend – The solar market has been on fire. In the U.S., it’s grown by 600 percent over the past five years, culminating in 3,313 installed megawatts in 2012. This past March, seven solar …
Social Trend – Colleges around the country should be worried. The quality of online courses is catching up fast. Depending on whom you talk to, MOOCs (massively open online courses) will upend and democratize higher …
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David Forrest is a Canadian writer and strategy consultant. His Integral Strategy™ process has been widely used to increase collaboration in communities, build social capital, deepen commitment to action, and develop creative strategies to deal with complex challenges.
Integral Strategy™ has been applied by businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations to systemic challenges in community development, community service, economic development, education, energy, environment, food security, healthcare, innovation, land and resource management, medical research, municipal government, and transportation.
David advises organizations on emerging trends. He uses the term Enterprise Ecology™ to describe how ecological principles can be applied to competition, innovation, and strategy in business.
David is a member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, the World Future Society, and other futures organizations. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa. He publishes Innovation Watch, and writes its biweekly trend newsletter, which is emailed to readers in more than 40 countries.
The goal of strategy is to choose the course of action that ensures success and survival. In a world of rapidly accelerating change, today's strategy quickly becomes obsolete. We must be ever more aware of the future we are planning for, since that future will quickly be upon us. Strategic foresight has a serious intent: to improve our understanding of the range of possible futures, and to use that understanding to inform action.
Innovation Watch offers a continuous scan of trends and emerging futures, and explores the question, "What's next?" Results are shared here, and are provided as RSS feeds.
Innovation Watch and Futurepedia are registered trademarks of Global Vision Consulting Ltd.
