April 2010, Vol. 11, No. 4

In This Issue:
Networked Cars and Trucks
Writing in (and about) the Future
Near-Earth Objects: Risks and Implications
Experts Consider the Internet’s Future
Click of the Month: Destination Imagination
News for the Futurist Community
Feedback

NETWORKED CARS AND TRUCKS

An old automobile-safety message once advised, “Watch out for the other guy—he may not be watching out for you.” Now, inter-vehicular networking may help us do just that.

German researchers working with Volkswagen have created a radio-communication system enabling vehicles to contact each other. Dubbed C3World (Connected Cars in a Connected World), the system would, for instance, inform cars that an emergency vehicle is approaching the same intersection.

Another aspect of the technology will be easier integration of new generations of mobile phones and music players—products that typically have short life spans and become obsolete almost as soon as vehicle manufacturers install them.

SOURCES: Volkswagen, or here.

C3World Research Group,

WRITING IN (AND ABOUT) THE FUTURE

The journal-turned-magazine CREATIVE NONFICTION celebrated its transformation by organizing a one-day symposium, held at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland, focused on how writing, reading, and publishing may be transformed in the decade ahead.

On the program were two futurists: Jay Ogilvy, co-founder of the Global Business Network, who described the usefulness of scenario thinking for weighing both optimistic and pessimistic visions of the future, and Dan Sarewitz, director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University, who warned of the unexpected consequences of human enhancement that many enthusiasts are hailing as a golden age of prosperity, pointing out that the greatest example of that enhancement is the soldier.

The bulk of the conference focused on how writers fit into this future, a time when people may be reading fewer books but communicating with one another and, yes, reading via a wider variety of platforms—e.g., blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the multimedia digital Vook (video book) described by Jack Sallay, the company’s vice president of marketing.

Writers of the future will bear more of the responsibility of reaching their audiences, as publishers’ economic models become less supportive of traditional functions like marketing and promotion, many of the symposium participants argued. The good news is that there are more innovative new ways of doing-it-yourself, like building a community of supporters around an author’s blog.

As long as the written word is still valued (whether it is ultimately read, viewed, or listened to by the audience), writing has a future.

DETAILS: The Writer’s Center

Editor’s note: Writers interested more in writing about the future may also want to check out the Futurist Writer’s Workshop at the WFS conference in Boston

A WORLD OF IDEAS AT WORLDFUTURE 2010!

Indian futurist Mohan Tikku will examine terrorism and offer insights on how changing the global architecture may help contain this scourge. Engineer Stephen Thaler will explore how “creativity machines” may help us build far more efficient products far cheaper and answer fundamental metaphysical questions. And Nicole Freedman, director of Boston Bikes, will explain why the future will be two-wheeled.

You’ll hear these ideas and more at WorldFuture 2010: Sustainable Futures, Strategies, and Technologies, to be held in Boston, July 8-10, at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.

The conference program boasts an outstanding lineup of speakers, such as renowned inventor Ray Kurzweil, journalist Michael Rogers, and former L’Oreal vice president Robert Salmon.

You may also want to attend one (or both) of the special keynote luncheons, which this year will feature presentations by Susan Avery, president and director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, on Friday and by workplace talent consultant Karen Moloney on Saturday.

NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS: RISKS AND IMPLICATIONS

If astronomers in Russia discover an asteroid heading toward an Ohio wind farm, but they don’t tell anyone, are they liable for damages? And what if they do inform everyone about the potential impact, but the U.S. and Russian governments can’t agree on a mission to avert the asteroid’s impact: Could the wind farm’s insurance carrier sue both governments?

These are the types of scenarios that need exploration as astronomers around the world attain the ability to precisely predict potential impacts of near-earth objects.

A recent workshop in Mexico City outlined the steps necessary to create a global network that would not only track, predict, and warn of near-earth objects, but also coordinate legal and institutional responses. Coordinated by Secure World Foundation, the workshop results were presented to the UN’s Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

SOURCE: Secure World Foundation

EXPERTS CONSIDER THE INTERNET'S FUTURERE

Is the Internet making us smarter, stupider, more dependent on it, or all of the above?

The Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center asked dozens of experts—such as Google research director Peter Norvig, futurist blogger Jamais Cascio, and tech watcher Esther Dyson—to consider the future of the Internet-connected world between now and 2020.

Most of the experts agreed that the Internet will make us smarter in some way by 2020.

"In the coming years we will have to continue to teach people to think critically so they can better understand the wealth of information available to them," said Jeska Dzwigalski of Linden Lab.

Janna Quitney Anderson of Elon University and Lee Rainie of Pew Internet & American Life Center put the survey together. They'll speak on it and on the future of the Internet at WorldFuture 2010, the World Future Society’s annual meeting in Boston in July.

LEARN MORE: http://www.wfs.org/2010main.htm

SOURCE: Pew Research

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GOODSHOP AND GOODSEARCH FOR WFS

Did you know: The World Future Society earns a donation every time you search the Internet and a percentage of every purchase you make online when you link through GoodSearch and GoodShop.

GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall that donates up to 30% of each purchase to your favorite cause.

And if you download the GoodSearch–World Future Society toolbar, WFS will earn money every time you shop and search online, even if you forget to go to GoodShop or GoodSearch first.

GoodSearch:

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Add the World Future Society - WFS(Bethesda MD) toolbar.

GIVE DIRECTLY TO WFS: Membership fees alone cannot cover the many publications, services, programs, and activities that the World Future Society provides to accomplish our mission of helping individuals and organizations build a better future. Please give generously, and thank you for your support! http://www.wfs.org/donate.htm

CLICK OF THE MONTH: DESTINATION IMAGINATION

http://www.idodi.org/

Destination ion ImagiNation inspires young learners to collaborate on innovative problem-solving challenges and compete with other teams from around the world.

The program reaches 100,000 students a year in 30 countries, offering after-school activities and annual competitions to promote creative thinking and team work.

The organization also offers similar curricula for clients in its Destination ion ImagiNation 4-Life program.

NEWS FOR THE FUTURIST COMMUNITY

* SOUTH AFRICAN FUTURES CONFERENCE: The World Future Society’s South African chapter will hold its first South African futures conference on May 6-7, 2010, in Cape Town. The conference theme is “Energy, Environment and Economics: Imagineering the Future of South Africa to 2030” and will aim to build consensus around a 2030 vision for the nation. DETAILS http://www.wfs-sa.com/ or contact WFS-SA founder and chairman Michael Lee, mailto:futurevalueforesight@gmail.com or mailto:wfs.southafrica@gmail.com

* LATIN AMERICA 2010-2030: The Millennium Project invites participants

mailto:jose@millennium-project.org or go to http://millennium-project.org/millennium/DelphiLatinAmerica2030.html.html

* CALL FOR VISIONS ON RACIAL EQUITY: Demographers predict that, by 2042, Whites will no longer be the majority race in the United States. Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity has called for essays (1,000-2,000 words) envisioning a new racial order in the U.S. of 2042: Will there be greater racial equity and justice, and how will this change look and feel? Deadline for submissions is May 17.

DETAILS, Visions 2042 http://www.race-talk.org/?page_id=3512 or http://www.kirwaninstitute.or

* SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIES REBRANDS AS S AS INNOVARO: Futures consultancy Social Technologies has now become Innovaro under its parent company UTEK Corporation. Innovaro’s activities will focus on client-based foresight, trend analysis, and strategic planning. Social Technologies' long-running multi-client research projects (Futures Consortium, Global Lifestyles, and Technology Foresight) will continue as part of Innovaro Insights & Research. DETAILS http://www.Innovaro.com

What's Hot @ WFS

* HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST: Deadline is April 15 for entering the World Future Society’s second annual essay contest for high school students. Essays should explore the impacts of trends on future career choices and what we can do to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. The winner will receive $300, a three-year membership in the Society, and complimentary registration at WorldFuture 2010 in Boston. DETAILS http://www.wfs.org/2010essay.htm

* WHAT’S NEXT IN THE FUTURIST: Computers will get better at reading your mind. … Another great boom is ahead in industries ranging from nanotech to clean tech. … More “2020 Visionaries” explore the futures of the global environment and of democracy. … Read these stories and more in the May-June 2010 issue of THE FUTURIST, which mails to WFS members and subscribers on April 5. Join WFS or renew your membership now to ensure that you get your copy http://www.wfs.org/member.htm

* BETA SITE TESTING ACCELERATES: The World Future Society’s effort to enhance its Web site—and member benefits—enters a new phase of beta testing. Features for members will include complete digital access to FUTURIST content, as well as blogs, forums, and other exclusives. Members of the Society may now log on (username is your member ID number, and the initial password is your last name, or the member’s surname of record, case-specific). Nonmembers are also welcome to browse the site’s nonexclusive content, including interviews with leading technologists, public policy makers, inventors, and futurists; an interactive foresight dictionary; and more than 250 forecasts about the future from the pages of THE FUTURIST magazine. Go to http://www.wfs.org

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FUTURIST UPDATE: News & Previews from the World Future Society is an e-mail newsletter published monthly as a supplement to THE FUTURIST magazine. Copyright © 2010, World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. Telephone 1-301-656-8274; e-mail mailto:info@wfs.org Web site http://www.wfs.org
Editor: Cindy Wagner, mailto:cwagner@wfs.org
Senior Editor: Patrick Tucker, mailto:ptucker@wfs.org
Staff Writer: Aaron M. Cohen
Network Administrator: Jeff Cornish, mailto:jcornish@wfs.org