With a current mindset, it’s hard to see the opportunities of a jobless world created through the growth of pervasive and ever-smarter automation technologies. Commentators will often focus on the challenge presented to economies and welfare systems of high unemployment driven by technological shifts. But what if the politically-driven economic paradigm of seeking 100% employment shifts? Are there opportunities as well as risks to a world transitioning towards a jobless future?

To discuss the Opportunities and Threats of a Jobless World I am very pleased to welcome strategic communicator and futurist Gina Clifford back to the podcast.

You can learn more about Gina and her work by contacting and connecting with her as follows:

Email [email protected]

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/characters-jobs-work-fun-career-1372458

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, the world changed. The fall of communism and the Soviet Union had meant the end of the Cold War, as Russia began to find its place in a new world order. But the unprovoked attack on Ukraine has sent the world generally, and Europe specifically back into an antagonistic relationship with Moscow, with punishing sanctions undoing decades of “normalisation” between the West and Russia. For now, it has also largely reunited Europe and the NATO alliance, perhaps an achievement that some in the West could only have dreamt of, until Putin’s actions!

The question is, how might the fall-out from the conflict in Ukraine change the future geo-political landscape?

To discuss this question, I am delighted to welcome foresight analyst Max Stucki back to the podcast. Max is senior foresight analyst at Futures Platform - a company focusing on strategic foresight - and he holds Master’s Degrees in Futures Studies and Social Sciences.

You can learn more about Max and his work by connecting with him as follows:

Email: [email protected]

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ukraine-russia-heads-family-banner-7055808

One of the greatest social challenges society faces is the provision of effective healthcare. Whether the system under examination is publicly or privately funded, the challenges are consistent; how do we ensure each patient is able to access the right intervention, at the right time, in the right place? And how does the system need to flex so that people can make informed health choices before illness sets in … and help enable a society characterised by well managed and even delayed chronic disease, and longer, healthier, working lives?

To discuss Optimising Healthcare Optimising Healthcare in the future, I am delighted to welcome entrepreneur and Executive Chairman at Fidesta, Pétur Haraldsson to the podcast.

You can learn more about Pétur and his work by connecting with him as follows:

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/human-skeleton-human-body-anatomy-163715

In this podcast, I am going to build on a previous episode exploring the future of food but this time focus on how take-away and dining-out experiences might change in the future. We will look at converging drivers and how technology could create very different dining experiences.

So let’s consider:

You can also listen to the following episodes of the podcasts on the future of agriculture and food:

The Future of Sustainable Urban Agriculture with Diana Davidson

You can learn more about me and my work by connecting with me as follows:

Email [email protected]

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/delicious-dishes-focus-food-hand-1853300

The future of food – particularly of meat and meat consumption – can be promoted as a “no choice” future with plant-based meat as the only viable option for human health, the good of the planet, and animal welfare. But is that the case? Are there other solutions that provide consumer choice and reap the benefits to health, the planet and animal welfare? And when we look into the solutions, what are the wider implications of a fundamental change to our food system in the future?

To explore the future of food in 2035, I am painting a brief scenario focusing on:

You can learn more about me and my work by connecting with me as follows:

Email: [email protected]

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/meat-beef-raw-marinated-steak-2602031 

A commodity market is a market that trades in primary products and materials rather than manufactured products, such as cocoa, fruit, gold, oil, and sugar. Commodity markets can include trading in a physical or a virtual space using spot prices, forwards, futures, and options on futures. The origins of these market places can be traced back over 5,000 years, but how do they work now and how might they change in the future?

To discuss the future of commodity markets I am joined on the podcast by Data Scientist Noah Healy who has a particular interest in combining mathematics with technology to produce game-changing solutions.

You can learn more about Noah and his work by connecting with him as follows:

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/chart-trading-courses-forex-1905225

David Smith is chief executive and a futurist at London-based Global Futures and Foresight. In the book Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon, David has explored the implications for the insurance sector of the Coivid-19 pandemic, in addition to the trends that were already visible. So, digitisation, changing business models, and attitudes to risk are all key factors.

His chapter in the book poses this question: “How has the pandemic impacted an insurance industry that is already being disrupted by digital technologies, InsurTech, new entrants, and an increasingly changing role from compensator to preventer of loss?”

You can learn more about David and his work by connecting with him as follows:

For information about the book Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon see the Fast Future website.

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/insurance-business-1991274

Alongside the ongoing fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the major stories of the last year or so has been the growing prominence of blockchain technology and the underlying crypto assets it enables. Individuals, investors, businesses, and governments have all been taking note.

The question is, how might blockchain and cryptocurrencies become a platform for transformation? And what might this transformation mean for all of our futures?

Kapil Gupta is a technology and crypto analyst and contributor to the book Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon and joins me on the podcast.

You can learn more about Kapil and his work by connecting with him as follows:

For information about the book “Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon” see the Fast Future website. 

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/blockchain-block-chain-bitcoin-3750157

Patrick van der Duin is Executive Director at The Netherlands Study Centre for Technology Trends and a contributor to the book, "Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon". In his chapter, co-authored with Hans Stavleu, he poses the question, “How might social and psychological factors shape the new normal of post-pandemic society?”

I have used the phrase before but I think Patrick and Hans are exploring the alternatives of Restoring the Old Order and a Total System Reboot. Let’s see!

You can learn more about Patrick and his work by connecting with him as follows:

For information about the book “Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon” see the Fast Future website.

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/people-street-walking-city-6545894

In the book Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon, director of the Millennium Project, futurist, and transhumanist – amongst many other roles - José Cordeiro describes how the Chinese word for crisis can be interpreted to represent danger and opportunity. In his chapter in the book, he subsequently poses the question, “Is the pandemic a source of global danger that also uncovers a great opportunity in the evolution of this planetary crisis?”

To drill down on this question, we ask:

You can learn more about José and his work by connecting with him as follows:

For information about the book Aftershocks and Opportunities 2 – Navigating the Next Horizon see the Fast Future website.  

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/clouds-landscape-beyond-heaven-2709662