CLOSING KEYNOTE
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
3:45-5:00 p.m.
Innovation at the Verge: New Opportunities and New Responsibilities for the 21st Century
Innovations have been catalysts for hope and vision over the past 100 years. In the 21st century, we need to expand our innovation horizon by emphasizing a new way to think about the future, namely innovation at the verge. This kind of innovation focuses on creating new ideas and new technologies purposely rather than serendipitously.
The speaker will define and illustrate how innovations at the verge happen. We’ll also focus on how futurists can help innovators to understand and prepare for the long-term consequences of their ideas. Participants will learn where to look for high-leverage innovations that have no competitors, different patterns of innovations at the verge and how they create advantages, and an overview of cascading thinking and why it is so important for innovations. Mother Nature has been innovating in a similar way for 500 million years. Now, we can apply nature’s innovation methods to human endeavors in every aspect of business and society.
Joel Barker, president, Infinity Limited Inc.; futurist and independent scholar; chairman, Institute for Strategic Exploration; on-screen host, Joel Barker’s Leadershift: Five Lessons for Leaders in the 21st Century, co-author, Five Regions of the Future: Preparing Your Business for Tomorrow's Technology Revolution, St. Paul, Minnesota
key words: innovation, hope, vision, opportunities, responsibilities
CONFERENCE WRAP-UP
5:00-5:30 p.m.Closing Remarks: Timothy C. Mack, president, World Future Society, Bethesda, Maryland