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Futurist Jack Uldrich to Discuss Why Future Trends in Health Care Will Demand Unlearning

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New York, NY (PRWEB) December 04, 2014

"To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day." So said ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. "Medical education and research are essential to the provision of the highest quality patient care," so says John F. Collins, CEO of Winthrop University Hospital. On December 4th, Winthrop will welcome Jack Uldrich, a Global Futurist and health care trend expert, to deliver his keynote combining these notions: Why Future Trends in Health Care Will Demand Unlearning

Winthrop-University Hospital located in Long Island, New York is a major regional healthcare resource with a deep commitment to medical education and research, offering a full complement of inpatient and outpatient services. WUH is very interested in attaining both knowledge, and wisdom. The key to doing this says, Uldrich, is "learning how to unlearn."

Hailed by BusinessWeek as Americas Chief Unlearning Officer Uldrich will discuss with WUH just why unlearning is such a critical skill necessary to forge ahead in the medical field. Having addressed such healthcare clients as the American Medical Association, United Healthcare, Allina, and St. Jude's Medical, among others, Uldrich is well versed in healthcare trends, and in "Unearning."

A best selling author of eleven books, including Foresight 20/20, he is also the founder of The School of Unlearning - an international leadership, change management and technology consultancy dedicated to helping business, governments, and non-profit organizations prepare for and profit from periods of profound transformation.

Uldrich says, "We live in a world where 'constant change is the only constant.' New advances in technology bring forth exciting discoveries every day. But often lost in this new reality is the fact that organizations must unlearn old, obsolete knowledge and old ways of doing business, before they can seize tomorrows opportunities."

One of Uldrich's primary goals for the event is to help WUH audience members identify concrete actions they can take today to future-proof themselves against the tides of tomorrow. To that end, Uldrich will follow up his keynote with a Strategic Planning session and facilitate a round table discussion on The Big AHA: How To Future Proof WUH Leaders Against Tomorrows Transformational Trends, Today. During his follow up, he will share insights from his upcoming book, "Business as Unusual: How to Future-Proof Yourself Against Tomorrows Transformational Trends, Today," outline the ten trends that will transform the world of tomorrow, and help the WUH leaders develop action plans based on the day's discoveries.

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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Futurist Jack Uldrich to Discuss Why Future Trends in Health Care Will Demand Unlearning

Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote the MMPA Dairy Conference

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St.Paul, MN (PRWEB) December 02, 2014

While having dinner the other night, one of my friends mentioned how robotic milking of cows virtually transformed her fathers and her brothers lives as dairy farmers in Southeastern Minnesota. Gone are the days of getting up at the crack of dawn, often in below freezing weather to milk the cows. The cows virtually milk themselves, which frees my brother and Dad up to do things they never thought theyd have time for.

Stories like these among farmers are not uncommon these days. Agriculture is changing at an astounding pace, and global futurist Jack Uldrich has his finger on the pulse of these rapid shifts. Having previously addressed notable agricultural clients such as Novozymes, Land O' Lakes, Ag Spectrum, Mosaic, Case IH, The Christian Farmers Federation, The Iowa Institute for Cooperatives, The Agricultural Adaptation Council of Ontario, AgGateway, the California Ag Summit, Trimble Agriculture, InfoAg, the Mushroom Farmers of Canada, and the Egg Farmers of Canada, hell be addressing the Minnesota Dairy and the Minnesota Milk Producers Associations with his presentation, "Foresight 20/20: The Top Ten Trends Transforming Agriculture" today, December 2nd, in St. Cloud, MN at the 2014 MMPA Conference. Additionally, Uldrich will follow up his presentation with a customized breakout session entitled, "The Big AHA."

In Uldrichs book, Foresight 20/20, written with fellow futurist Simon Anderson, he says, On a 7,000-acre farm in California, a large combine drives itself with sub-meter accuracy and lays down fertilizer only in areas predetermined by the devices yield mapping software that need additional nutrients. Half a world away, on a rooftop in Berlin, Germany, sits an aquaponic farm that produces both vegetables and fish. It uses the fish waste to fertilize the plants, and the plants to purify the water. Both trends, in their separate ways, foreshadow how the agriculture industry will feed the 500 million new people expected to be added to the worlds population by the end of the decade. (For more of Uldrich's insights into future trends, read his latest article, 10 Game Changing Technologies Poised to Transform the World in 2015.)

In his keynote for the MMPA Conference Uldrich will discuss how exponential advances in a variety of emerging technologies, including practical advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, information management, augmented reality, robotics, RFID, "Big Data," the Internet of Things, wearable technologies, renewable energy sources and satellite and sensor technology will affect dairy farming in the coming years. Uldrich will also cover how social networking, biofuels and water management will transform farming in the years ahead.

The pace and scale of tomorrows change begs the obvious question: How do business leaders in agriculture prepare for a constantly changing future? Uldrich says, "The answer can be found in a simple acronym: AHA, which stands for Awareness, Humility and Action." His break out session following his keynote will focus on guiding his clients through a series of questions and scenarios that will help them embrace the notion of AHA.

Uldrich says, Robotic milking is just one advance among many that will free farmers up to explore other options in their lives in the years to come. Its an exciting time to be a futurist and help farmers see just what those options might be.

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about these events or interviewing Jack as a futurist or trend expert can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote the MMPA Dairy Conference

10 Game-Changing Technologies to Transform the World in 2015

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New York, NY (PRWEB) November 25, 2014

If only I could see what you see. So says Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes (in Steven Deitzs adaptation of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure,) to which Holmes replies, Oh you see, Watsonbut you do not observe.

Most people view Sherlock Holmes as a Detective, in this day and age, however, Holmes' words might very well be that of a Futurist. Global futurist Jack Uldrich, often finds himself sharing similar sentiments with his clients. As a futurist, Uldrich is in fact a bit of a detective; he researches, writes and speaks on future trends to a number of clients in a variety of industries including energy, agriculture, manufacturing, finance and healthcare all over the world.

At this time of year, in addition to wrapping up his engagements on the speaking circuit, his focus is set upon sleuthing out the imminent technological trends for the New Year.

"In the past year we have witnessed a series of startling advances. And from the looks of it, 2015 is going to alter the game even further, as far as technological changes are concerned," says Uldrich.

10 Game Changing Technologies Poised to Transform the World in 2015, Uldrichs latest article, includes predictions that run the gamut from healthcare advances such as genomic surgery, a nicotine vaccine and rapid diagnostics, to architectural feats such as 3D printed houses. Also among his predictions for the coming year, he states that a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, a disease that costs the U.S. health care system an estimated $15 billion every year, is even within the realm of possibility. Each development is an extraordinary advance and each heralds a brighter future.

The complete elimination of diabetes, smoking or genetic diseases will not, however, occur overnight. Nor will a world of clean and affordable energy, abundant freshwater, 3D printed houses or worldwide high-speed Internet access miraculously appear by the end of 2015."

While nothing about the advances we will see in 2015 according to Uldrich are "Elementary" --"the Game is definitely afoot."

Parties interested in learning more about him, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack as a futurist or trend expert can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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10 Game-Changing Technologies to Transform the World in 2015

Intel futurist: 'imagination is the undeveloped skill'

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Brian David Johnson was the first futurist to work at Intel. It takes around 10-15 years to design, build and deploy a new chip, he tells the audience at WIRED Retail, which is why Intel needs someone who can look 10-15 years into the future and tell them what the world they are designing for will be like.

"The work that I do is very pragmatic," Johnson says. "I am judged on my ability to tell people what is coming." He also, however, has to give them information that will allow them to do something about it.

The pictures of what the future will look like usually offer a streamlined, minimalist and almost sterile vision of life. Of these kind of pictures, Johnson says he finds them "at best intellectually dishonest -- at worst it's insulting".

"Where are things? Where is stuff that makes us comfortable?" We are complex beings with many needs, he points out. "We have different cultures and different beliefs that make us interesting."

"Let's design futures that are designed for real people, and the futures of real people," Johnson says.

In accordance with Moore's Law, as we approach to year 2020, the size of the chip will begin to approach zero. We are already approaching five nanometres, which means theoretically we could turn anything into a computer. This knowledge changes the questions we have to ask ourselves, says Johnson. "I believe this unbinds our businesses and unbinds retail."

In 2024 as meaningful computational power approaches zero, something really interesting will happen to devices: they will disappear. The importance of screens to devices overall will decline, and yet they will remain important to consumers. They will continue to be, he says, "the windows through which we shop, through which we buy through which we communicate." Fellow WIRED Retail speaker Tracy Yaverbaun probably agrees. But increasingly retail will be based on data interactions between retailers and customers. Retailers will need to think how they will make these interactions meaningful and what their brands will be like in this data-driven online world.

Ultimately retail and shopping is about people and brands need to keep thinking how it will solve a problem for them, says Johnson. "If we set that as a goal we can do really really interesting things."

"We are living in a really interesting time right now. We are surrounded by computational intelligence." We're at a time right now, he continues, where science and technology have improved to the point where what we build is only contained by the limits of our imaginations. We are being held back, he says, by "our inability to imagine a far more awesome future that we are going to have" and that "our imagination is the one skill that is not developed".

"If we have a vision for the future of retail, how do we change it?" he asks. The answer: "We change the story people tell themselves about the future they live in." If you can change the story, people will make different decisions.

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Intel futurist: 'imagination is the undeveloped skill'

The world according to Intel's futurist | Wired Retail preview

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Brian David Johnson is speaking at WIRED Retail on 24 November. Tickets are on sale now: see wiredevent.co.uk/wired-retail for a full speaker list and further information. WIRED Subscribers receive a 10 percent discount.

"I think it was a crowning achievement of my work as a futurist that I've now made robots that wear capes," Intel Corporation's futurist Brian David Johnson laughs. "I've also made robots that wear pants, which is pretty cool."

Johnson is discussing a project that recently launched earlier in the year called the 21stCentury Robot -- a customisable 3D printed robot running on an Intel Edison chip, an exoskeleton and open source software. Working with robotics company Trossen Robotics, and sourcing the designs of the robot shells from three 11-year-old students from a local school in the Bronx, New York, Johnson and his team built "three very unique and special robots". "Not only did they design how they looked and their personalities, but we worked with them to create apps for the robots as well," Johnson says.

"One of the robots told really bad robot jokes, another robot danced, and when that robot came walkingout and started singing... all of these kids between five- and ten-years-old just lit up. They were just there, surrounding the robot and just watching this robot sing and dance. It was truly incredible."

His work for the past 20 years as a futurist has been looking at where technology lives within society ten to 15 years from now. 21stCentury Robot is just a piece of what Johnson explains is incredibly important to keep in mind about the future. "We're living in a time where you have a generation who has never known a moment when there wasn't the internet," he says. "They've never known a time when you couldn't walk up to a screen and ask that screen for information and get it back in under a second. The things that this generation are building are absolutely amazing."

The designs of the robots have been freely shared in the hopes younger people make their own versions and even improve upon the original design. This open source approach may not sound attractive to those working in the retail industry, but Johnson highlights a key point most people miss when they hear "open source". "Open source also doesn't mean everything's for free," Johnson begins.

"Even open source hardware manufacturers like the one we work with for the 21st Century Robot project benefit from this. We did designs with them, and they give their designs away so others can improve on them. How they make their money is selling the servos and wires inside."

By sharing designs with the public, it can actually improve sales long-term, as "it brings in more innovation and more creativity, and it can actually grow the market so that more people will want to buy and make their own".

Another key point, and what Johnson sees as one of the biggest moments that will define how we see technology, is the size of computational power. "We're beginning to approach zero," he begins when explaining nanometre size on processing chip nodes. "Where now we're at 14 nanometres, as we get to the year 2020 the size gets to about five nanometres -- that's about 12 atoms across. It's crazy. It means we can turn anything into a computer."

By surrounding people with computational intelligence, like in a shopping centre for example, people's lives could vastly improve. "You can turn the floors and the walls and the racks and the shelves into something that makes people's lives better," Johnson says. "If you have a child with a nut allergy and you walk into the store, and it knows via your smartphone or clothes or your wearable that your son or daughter has a nut allergy, it could turn all the products that have nuts in them or have contact with nuts black. Very simple thing to do, but hugely impactful."

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The world according to Intel's futurist | Wired Retail preview

12 Trends Transforming Transportation: Futurist Jack Uldrich to Deliver Keynote at AASHTO

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Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) November 20, 2014

Robin Chase, the founder and CEO of Buzzcar, a peer-to-peer car sharing service, and co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar says,"Transportation is the center of the world! It is the glue of our daily lives. When it goes well, we don't see it. When it goes wrong, it negatively colors our day, makes us feel angry and impotent, curtails our possibilities."

Starting today, through November 23rd, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Annual Meeting will be taking place in Charlotte, NC. AASHTO is one of the industrys most important gatherings of transportation, government and commercial organizations. Their Annual Meeting offers transportation executives the opportunity to network and share the latest in industry policies and innovations. The group has chosen global futurist Jack Uldrich as one of their keynote speakers to discuss the possibilities that will transform the industry, and round out their series of events on the 23rd.

AASHTO represents all five transportation modes: air, highways, public transportation, rail, and water. Its primary goal is to foster the development, operation, and maintenance of an integrated national transportation system. Uldrich, who will deliver his keynote, "Foresight 20/20: 12 Trends Transforming the Transportation of Tomorrow" speaks over 100 times a year to a wide variety of businesses and organizations in transportation, health care, agriculture, education, energy, finance, retail and manufacturing. He argues that creativity and action are more powerful and versatile than knowledge, and he provides provocative new perspectives on competitive advantage, change management and transformational leadership to his audience members.

Uldrich says, "What a lot of people don't realize is that there is an 800 pound gorilla sitting in the room right now, in the form of new and emerging technologies, and it's beating it's chest indicating it will transform virtually every part of your business. But many people don't see it because their attention is focused elsewhere. As a futurist I have the luxury of stepping back and looking at the big picture and helping people embrace that gorilla without fear."

In his book, Foresight 20/20, Uldrich says, "In the near future there may be no need to own a vehicle. Having an expensive asset sitting unused 90-95 percent of the time, losing value, has never been the wisest idea but there just hasnt a better option unless you live in an area with excellent public transit. Although we certainly dont expect every car on the road to be self-driving by 2020, we do expect transportation to look far different than it does today."

In addition to sharing insights from his book on things like driver-less cars, he'll outline eleven other upcoming trends and emerging technologies that will profoundly affect transportation such as collaborative consumption (like Buzzcar & Zipcar) biofuels, fuel cell technology, sensors and The Internet of Things for the AASHTO audience members. He intends to challenge them to start embracing ambiguity and taking on reverse mentors, (i.e., members of the younger generations who can teach them the way of the future.) Uldrich will also touch on the concept of unlearning. "Organizations must unlearn old, obsolete knowledge and old ways of doing business, before they can seize tomorrows opportunities. And I look forward to helping AASHTO members do just that as they look to transform the transportation of tomorrow. "

Parties interested in learning more about Jack, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack as a futurist or trend expert can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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12 Trends Transforming Transportation: Futurist Jack Uldrich to Deliver Keynote at AASHTO

Peter Schwartz Warns Auto Industry Could Wind Up In Silicon Valleys Back Seat

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Renowned business strategist and futurist Peter Schwartz is issuing a warning to the automotive sector: Step up or step aside in steering the future of cars. The tech industry, he says, could become the main driver of new motorized transport technologies, including Internet-connected, self-driving cars.

If [automakers] don't adapt, they'll just be hardware suppliers to a software industry,Schwartz told a packed audience Tuesday at the Los Angeles Auto Shows Connected Car Expo. The very business model -- who are the winners and losers -- is up for change.

The founder of the Berkeley, California-based strategic planning consultancy Global Business Network said he envisions a future where either automakers adapt quickly to the changes taking place in passenger cars, or risk having tech companies like Google and Apple swoop in to fill consumer needs on their own.

Already Googles Android and Apples iOS are battling for control of the vehicle dashboard touch-screen interface, and Google is taking a strong position on autonomous driving technology. And some Wall Street dreamers have even suggested that Apple dive right into car manufacturing by purchasing Tesla Motors Inc. (If it does, CEO Tim Cook might find himself, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk did during a recent conference call with analysts, lamenting how hard it is to engineer and make a car.)

The auto industry certainly recognizes the need to embrace the innovation.

Speaking at a business conference in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, outlined his companys vision of the future of driving, which seems to correspond with Schwartzs advice.

We are equipping cars and trucks with new technologies that improve the driving experience, guide you to your destination, manage the cars functions and keep you and your passengers entertained, Ford told an audience of business executives in Dubai. So wearebuilding smart cars, and they will continue to get smarter.

Ford outlined a vision where the future of driving focuses on the needs of congested urban environments where smart infrastructure and smaller, more connected forms of transport will be needed to cope with higher population densities. In what would have been industry sacrilege 20 to 30 years ago, Ford offered up a vision of access to transport rather than ownership, transport that is shared rather than individually owned.

In congested urban environments, we will see more peer-to-peer applications and on-demand transportation networks, he said, pointing to ridesharing services like Uber.

Ford Motor Co. three years ago released its vision of automotive transport through 2050, which predicted the arrival as early as 2017 of semi-autonomous driving, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication (smart roads that adjust speed limits in real time, the ability to warn of road construction or traffic jams well ahead of time) and growth in small city cars to navigate congested urban environments. Ford sees fully autonomous driving by as early as 2025.

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Peter Schwartz Warns Auto Industry Could Wind Up In Silicon Valleys Back Seat


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