Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Disrupted Generation – h+ Magazine

Posted: April 12, 2017 at 8:06 am

Change in the direction of humanity is inevitable. Whether Transhuman or Posthuman, we are unlikely to be the humans of recent history in the immediate future that lies ahead. The disruption to normal human life is profound in implication and consequence. From communication to life changing technologies the fabric of human existence is being fundamentally disrupted and re-engineered.

In an era where the developing wisdom encourages continuous challenge of the status quo how do the disrupted generation, shaped by the value systems of the past, adapt to this ever-changing world. The deer caught in the headlights analogy perhaps understates the many challenges facing humans shaped by societal norms of the recent past. Technological progression represents the proverbial oncoming truck of change that threatens to ride roughshod over those of us rooted to the spot unable to adapt.

Value systems centered around life and death, religious moral and philosophical frameworks, pro-creation, family values and capitalism are being inevitably challenged. Global political systems are showing many signs of frailty through the Arab Spring, rise of populism, anti-establishment sentiment and the fragmentation of globalism. These symptoms would appear to represent society grappling with the disruptions to the status quo unfolding around us.

With value systems of the future framed by extended longevity, human-technology integration, space colonization, artificial super intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, universal basic income, and interconnectedness the value systems of the past will become largely defunct. Expected casualties are likely to include current religious doctrines, the capitalist system, accepted norms on the inevitability of death, education systems, employment practices, monetary systems, family, and social systems. In short just about everything will be disrupted and subject to re-invention.

This level of change from accepted norms will undoubtedly face unprecedented resistance and an extended period of turbulence is expected in this transitional twilight as an increasingly interconnected humanity reacts to these life changes. This would be consistent with accepted human reactions to change, of shock, resistance and defensive retreat prior to acceptance and adaptation to the changes. Studies suggest that only approximately one quarter of us actively engage and welcome change, whilst the remainder either go with the flow or resist. To prevent a protracted transitional period of uncertainty and unrest it is therefore imperative that the change agents pursue a cohesive strategy of disruptive evolution.

During this disruptive transition period, how do the affected generations adapt and promulgate a successful transition to a different vision of the future? From the older segments of the population, who are perhaps more fashioned by convention, to the increasingly progressive younger age bracket, embracing change will be required for survival. This survival is in itself being disrupted on many levels is it merely the survival of the individual, or of the species as we know it. And what is survival?

Consider the current generation of humanity as the last bastions of mortality perhaps, faced with the prospect that the immediate future generation, indeed some of the younger current humans, are the forerunners of the first Immortals. Immortality is a strong word that invokes and attracts debate and often distraction. It is simply the opposite of mortal and most of the disruptive technologies with respect to human life extension are indeed trying to address the issues associated with ageing and mortality and effectively break the cycle of life and death.

But is the human populace ready for radical progression through transhumanism? A simple survey was developed to gauge the readiness and/or willingness of those surveyed (broad USA cross section, n=200) for/towards transhumanism.

The survey entitled Human Progressive Survey was conducted with the PollfishTM application and the full results and demographics of those surveyed can be viewed via:

https://disruptiveevolution.000webhostapp.com/ (Human Progressive Test button) or

https://www.pollfish.com/dashboard/results/272160/1152277235

The results of survey responses (for all participants) are summarized in the graphs below (including a few demographic qualification questions):

Responses to the individual questions in the survey highlight some interesting points:

Approximately one-third of respondents support transhuman principles with a further one-third undecided.

Greater than half of respondents support radical life extension yet the majority believe human mortality to be part of the normal cycle of life and death

The majority of respondents expect the technological Singularity to occur in the 20-40-year time frame but are largely unconvinced that transhuman forms will develop in the interim

Evolution of humans to transhuman forms will be for the select few

Artificial Intelligence development is viewed cautiously with approximately two-thirds of respondents believing it should be done carefully, yet nearly half believe it will not surpass human intellect.

The overwhelming majority of participants viewed human poverty, hunger and the environment as the important issues facing humanity

These results suggest that transhuman principles are moderately accepted and understood within the surveyed group.

This is perhaps a reflection of a prevalent attitude supporting life extension but stopping short of stepping outside the norms with respect to mortality.

It is interesting to note that the majority of those surveyed actually expect the technological Singularity to occur. In the transitionary period, there is uncertainty whether transhuman forms will develop through physical and intellectual augmentation in tandem with CRISPR gene-editing techniques.

The surfeit of media discussion on Artificial Intelligence and the views of prominent futurists such as Musk and Hawkings seem to have imparted a very cautious view of Artificial Intelligence development. Whilst the respondents are cautious overall only 22% believed we should not pursue AI at all. Expectations on the level of intelligence AI will reach are however guarded when asked when AI will surpass human intellect 40% answered never. The remaining 60% believed this would happen within 10 to 30 years.

Though the majority of respondents support space colonization by humans or our transhuman counterparts it is interesting to note that the remaining 40% of respondents did not support any form of space colonization.

Half of respondents believe that should transhuman progression occur it will not be for the entire human population but rather for select individuals based on status age, wealth, intelligence or race.

This result suggests that the majority of respondents are more focused on our immediate environment and concerns rather than more future based activities such as Artificial Intelligence, CRISPR gene-editing or space colonization.

Human Progressive Index

To evaluate the progressiveness of the survey group a binary scoring system (+score for more progressive answers, -score for less progressive answers and nil scores for non-committal answers) was developed for individual responses to arrive at a total score or index where an index of minus one represents the least progressive and plus one the most progressive.

The results for various demographic groupings are presented below in simple frequency histograms (note all populations normalized to n=200).

The entire survey population shows a marked regressive bias distribution indicating the overall population is non-progressive in terms of transforming the species through progressive technology, transhuman development and space colonization. To isolate the more progressive subsets within the population surveyed different age brackets and male: female subsets were analyzed.

Considering two selected age brackets (25-34yrs and 45-54yrs) against the overall population highlights the importance of age to the progressive index distribution. Clearly the younger 25-34yrs age bracket is more progressive than the overall population while the older 45-54yrs age bracket is more regressive.

Comparing the male and female subsets of the population reveal some interesting differences.

Clearly the female subset of the population is markedly regressive when compared to the more progressive distribution for the male subset. This raises some interesting questions as to why the female subset appears less progressive fear of change, lower risk tolerance, other priorities, more social concerns may be some of the factors at play.

Taking the more progressive 25-34 yrs age bracket it is interesting to compare the male:female subsets within this age group.

The results are quite startling showing almost diametrically opposed populations a markedly regressive female 25-34yr subset versus a markedly progressive male counterpart. Exploring the reasons behind these differences is outside the scope of this article however it is hoped that these results will encourage discussion and further research into these dynamics.

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The Disrupted Generation - h+ Magazine

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Oceans: A Human Casualty – Huffington Post

Posted: at 8:06 am

As I sat behind my son, watching him take in and rejoice the awe-inspiring ocean, I couldn't shake my overwhelming worry for his future and for its future.

It used to be that the oceans were the last untouched and wild places on the planet. There were minimal signs of man's influence until the last century.

For hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, oceanic species flourished in a beautiful equilibrium that can only come from simultaneous co-existence and evolution.

Coral reefs housed and supported hundreds of species, and the oceans could rejuvenate themselves when small-scale catastrophes occurred.

Today, more than 90% of large-fish species, including sharks have been culled, killed, or removed from the oceans. Our appetite for fish, sharks, and other marine life is decimating them.

We are systematically destroying millenia-old coral reefs and other habitats through climate change (oceanic warming), acidification (from carbon), and bottom-trawling fishing gear.

Small island nations are being forced to emigrate as ice melts in the Arctic and Antarctic, raising sea levels to unprecedented new highs.

Every year we increase the rate in which we are adding plastic and other deleterious chemical residues into the ocean, choking it. We watch as animals starve to death as plastic fills their stomachs, or drown to death as they get caught in nets, long-lines, and other fishing gear.

We know that if left alone, the ocean can and will repair itself.

However, year after year after year of warmer waters, chemical insults, and overfishing and exploitation of oceanic species are making this recovery increasingly difficult if not impossible.

Humans embarked on an unknown experiment. Our agricultural runoff, oil rigs, plastic, fish-glut, and noises are killing the ocean.

My son asks me "Mama, the ocean is big?" I respond, "yes, the ocean is very big." He says, "There is a lot of water?" I say, "yes, there is so much water, you just can't see it all"

And, silently in my mind I add, "or the destruction we [humans] created."

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Viral blog post outlines the human need for suffering – Deseret News

Posted: at 8:05 am

Warning: The article linked to in this post includes strong language.

A powerful blog post has gone viral since it was posted last week.

Heather Kirn Lanier writes that when she was expecting, she tried to make a SuperBaby. She detailed the extreme things she did in an effort to create the perfect child, ranging from giving up wheat and getting rid of her microwave to keeping her cellphone an arms length away from her belly. She opted for a natural birth and discussed with doctors her desire to avoid cutting the cord prematurely to make sure that her baby got all of the vital nutrients.

However, her baby was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a diagnosis that carried with it a 34 percent mortality rate in the first two years of life as well as intellectual disabilities and serious physical limitations, including the possibility of never walking and seizures.

Lanier explains that she learned the same lesson Jesus taught his disciples when asked if it was the blind man who sinned or his parents. She learned that there is no blame to be placed but rather, this suffering is a crucial part of the human experience.

Perhaps the point of life was not to achieve some kind of perfection. Perhaps illness was an integral part of lifes dance, she writes. Perhaps fragility was built into our very design. Perhaps fragility was also strength.

Lanier breaks down the error in seeking to create SuperBabies" and imagines what "SuperPeople" would be like.

And on their holidays, they would gather around fires propping their lean, tall, muscular bodies onto core-boosting exercise balls and tell stories of the generations past, when people were not Super but Regular, Lanier wrote of the fictional species. In those bygone days, RegularPeople had autoimmune disorders and chronic pain. They had broken hearts and failed dreams. They had something the SuperPeople only know through history books: suffering.

Suffering will not be easy, and it will not be comfortable, but it will be, and you will become, Lanier explains in conclusion.

Read the entire article here.

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We May Have Just Discovered the Deepest Traces of Life on Earth – Futurism

Posted: at 8:05 am

In BriefResearchers have found traces of organic materials in samplesof mineral-rich mud from a mud volcano near the Mariana Trench. Ifthese samples prove to be evidence of life, it would be the deepestform of life ever found on our planet. Early Life Surviving Below

While the average depth of the ocean is just 2.2 miles, youd have to travel another four or so to reach the bottom of the massive underwater canyon known as the Mariana Trench. This underwater world isthe deepest known place on Earth today, and now, scientists are reporting that the mysterious canyon may also tell the story of how some of the earliest lifeforms on our planet survived in the past.

The Mariana Trench is part of a subduction zone where the sea floor is cluttered with mud volcanoes and hydrothermal vents evidence of our planets molten core. The entire region is located directly over the friction point between the Philippine Sea and Pacific tectonic plates.

Approximately four billion years ago, nascent life on a much younger Earth was hard-pressed to survive thehostile surroundings. The planet endured frequent asteroid strikes and was pock-marked with craters and molten rock. Livable spaces and food were scarce, even for microbes, so researchers think some early lifeforms managed to survive despite these challenges by going deep and calling the Mariana Trench home.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that researchers found traces of organic materials in samples of mineral-rich mud from a mud volcano near the Mariana Trench. Although they did not find actual microbes intact, the organic material could indicate that even the most extreme environments may be able to support life. If these samples do prove to be evidence of life, it would be the deepest form of life ever found on our planet.

This is another hint at a great, deep biosphere on our planet, study leader Oliver Plmpertold National Geographic. It could be huge or very small, but there is definitely something going on that we dont understand yet.

Subduction zones like the one in which the samples were discovered are relatively cool what we understand to be the temperature limit for life, 121 degrees Celsius (250 degrees Fahrenheit), wouldnt be reached untilsix or more miles below the floor of the ocean. Furthermore, the mineralsin which the organic materials were found are formed through a process known asserpentinization, which produces both methane and hydrogen gases that microbes can then consume as food.

Since they started to look for it inthe 1960s, scientists have found serpentinization all over the planet: where continents meet and form, inside mountain ranges that were once at the bottom of the ocean, and near hydrothermal vents.

Because serpentinization is fairly common and can support life in extreme conditions, scientists think it might be the key to finding life on other worlds. Both Saturns moon Enceladus and Jupiters moon Europa likely have deep liquid oceans underneath their icy exteriors, and Enceladus appears to have some tectonic activity, the source of subduction zones like those of the Mariana Trench.

However, scientists in search of microbial life deep within the trenches of other worlds would need to conquer the same challenges as scientists studying the Mariana Trench here on Earth. Reachingdeep enough for direct study isnt possible, so youre limited to interpreting evidence spewed from geysers and extracted from rock. I think of it kind of like a message in the bottle, explained Plmper. We have this container coming up, and we are opening it up and trying to figure out whats going on.

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Scientists Want to Search for Life Deep Below the Earth’s Surface – Futurism

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In Brief A team of researchers from Japan's Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology's want to drill into the Earth's mantle in the 2020s. The goal is to understand volcanic phenomena and to see if there's microbial life deep below the planet's crust. Digging Deep

Theres still much to be discovered about the Earth, from the deep seas which has been likened to our very own deep space to the planets rocky layers. A team of scientists from Japans Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) wants to explore the Earths mantle by drilling into it for the first time, using its largest drilling ship called Chikyu.

The JAMSTEC team wants to start drilling by the 2020s. To do this, they need to explore potential underwater drill sites. This September, a two-week preliminary study to find such asite will be done by JAMSTEC deep-sea research vessel Kairei in the waters northeast of Hawaii, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun. Other candidate drill sites have been identified in Mexico and Costa Rica, in case the one in Hawaii wont work.

There are still issues to be resolved, particularly the cost, said petrology professor Susumu Umino from the Kanazawa University. The research team estimates that around 60 billion (roughly $542 million) would be needed for the project. However, the preliminary study will be a big step forward for this project to enter a new stage, Umino added.

The decision to drill through the oceanic crust is a practical one, as its thinner (around 6 kilometers [4 miles] thick) than the continental crust. To reach the mantle, the Chikyus drill must pass through 4 km (2.5 miles) of water and 6 km (3.7 miles) of crust.

The Earths mantle is located beneath the crust, and comprises about 80 percent of the planets total volume. Its a flowing silicate rocky shell thatis known to affect volcanic activity. As such, one practical consequence of exploring the mantle is to be able to understand such surface phenomena. Theresearchers also want to understand how the crust was formed by investigating the boundary between oceanic crust and the Earths mantle.

Apart from this, the scientistsalso want to find out if microbial life could survive deep inside the planet. Such a discovery could yield information useful in the search for extraterrestrial life, as theconditions inside the Earths mantle could simulate those found on other worlds.

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Italy Has Banned Uber From All Its Streets – Futurism

Posted: at 8:05 am

In Brief An Italian judge banned Uber's services across the country last Friday in a ruling favoring major Italian taxi associations. The ban covers all of Uber's ride-hailing services and gives the company 10 days to respond.

The ride-hailing company Uber is no stranger to controversy and regulatory issues. The latest of these roadblocks now comes from Italy, as the European country decided on April 7 to ban Ubers service nationwide. The ban came as a Rome judge ruled in favor of major Italian taxi associations, a report by Reuters noted. The court cited Uber as unfair competition for taxis in Italy.

Were shocked, Ubers lawyers said in a statement, which Italian dailyCorriere della Sera obtained. We will appeal this ruling that is based on a 25-year-old law. Now the government cant waste more time and needs to decide whether it wants to remain anchored to the past, protecting privileged profits, or whether it wants to allow Italians to benefit from new technologies.

The ban extends across all the ride-hailing services Uber offers Black, Lux, Suv, X , XL, Select, and Van and also prohibits the company from advertising in Italy. Uber has 10 days to appeal the decision or to cease operations in the country in order to avoid paying up to $10,600 worth of fines for every day it continues to operate.

Meanwhile, the lawyers of the major taxi associations hail this as a victory. It is the fourth decision of an Italian judge who establishes unfair competition from Uber, they told Corriere della Sera.The last battle of a legal battle started in 2015 to block the most striking form of unfair competition ever recorded on the Italian transport market.

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Elon Musk Has Announced a New Goal for SpaceX, and It’s Utterly Revolutionary – Futurism

Posted: at 8:05 am

In Brief Following the successful reuse of one of its Falcon 9 rockets, Elon Musk took to Twitter to share SpaceX's next goal: to turn around its rockets for reuse within 24 hours of landing. Leading the Revolution

Elon Musks SpaceX is currently basking in the light of its latest achievement. The company succeeded in starting a spaceflight revolution by being the first entity to launch a mission into space using recycledrockets. The success of this historic mission will significantly lower the cost of space travel. Estimates say the launches could cost up to 30 percent less, saving companies or other organizations millions of dollars.

Musk may still be celebrating the launch, but hes not at all content with just being the first. In a tweet sent out shortly after the successful landing of the refurbished Falcon 9 rocket, he revealed the companys next goal for its rocket line: 24-hour turnaround.

SpaceX is looking to make space travel akin to air travel. Were really looking for true operational reusability, like an aircraft, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said prior to the launch. An aircraft lands, goes to the gate, passengers come off, passengers go on, you refuel, and then you fly again. What were looking to do is exactly that. We land and relaunch on the same day.

Even after this goal is achieved, SpaceX isnt going to be done wowing the world. In fact, theyll be more concerned about impressing other worlds. The company is planning to put a human on the Red Planetpossibly as soon as 2025.

Not only will more economical rockets make it easier for SpaceX to get to Mars, they will also fast-track the ability of humans to stay there, setting up colonies beyond Earth. Musk wants to launch an Interplanetary Transit System (ITS) to keep a steady supplyline operational between the planets.

As SpaceX is a private, not government-operated, company, it can achieve greater levels of collaboration with other countries to make the mission to colonize Mars a truly international effort. Cheaper flights will be a huge part of that.

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Google’s AI Is Changing the Way a 3000-Year-Old Game Is Played – Futurism

Posted: at 8:05 am

In BriefGoogle is partnering with China's top Go players and AIexperts for a five-day Go festival this May. The festival's purposeisn't just to pit human pro players against AlphaGo, but to testthe AI's creativity and adaptability, also. Winning Streak

Googles DeepMind artificial intelligence (AI) wowed the world when it won in a series of Go against 18-time world champion Lee Sedol. The historic win was a first for DeepMinds Go-playing AI, AlphaGo, but it wasnt its last. Earlier this year, it defeated more than 50top Go players online.

AlphaGo is clearly a force to be reckoned with in the world of Go, and now, Google is partnering with the best human Go players to explorethe AIs capabilities and how human players could learn from it.

Clearly, there remains much more to learn from this partnership between Gos best human players and its most creative A.I. competitor, according to Googles DeepMind. Thats why were so excited to announce AlphaGos next step: a five-day festival of Go and artificial intelligence in the games birthplace, China.

The Future of Go Summit, a collaboration between the Chinese Go Association, the Chinese government, and Google, is scheduled to run from May 23 to 27, 2017. Aside from Chinas top Go players, leading AI experts from both Google and China will also be in attendance. The idea is to test AlphaGos creativity and adaptability, plus its ability to work in tandem with human players.

The summit will feature a variety of game formats involving AlphaGo and top Chinese players, specifically designed to explore the mysteries of the game together, Googles blog post said. Those include Pair Go, a format in which Chinese pros will compete against each other while partnered with an AlphaGo teammate. Then, theres Team Go, during which AlphaGo will compete against a five-person team ofChinas top pro players. Lastly, the main event will be a match between AlphaGo and the worlds top ranked Go player, Ke Jie.

AI is advancing rapidly and not justin the realm of games like Go. More and more frequently, were seeing AI that can do tasks previously exclusive to humans, such as writing stories, creating movies, composing music, and even conducting behavioral analysis. The exponential growth of AIis due, in large part, to rapid improvements in machine learning algorithmsand neural network systems.

Googles DeepMind is a prime example. Apart from dominating atGo, DeepMind has shown that its possible forAI to have a memoryfrom whichit can learn. The AI has alsooutperformed human lip readers,contributed to medical research, and even revealed that AI couldhave killer instincts a scary affirmation for those dreadingthe singularity. Thats just a sampling of whatDeepMind AI has been able to accomplish, and it isnt the only AI pushing research forward.

The Go festival in May will be another opportunity for AI research to grow. [W]e will explore how AlphaGo has created new knowledge about the oldest of games, and how the technologies behind AlphaGo, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, are bringing solutions to some of the worlds greatest challenges into reach, Google said.

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NASA Just Released Their Latest Plans to Get Humans to Mars – Futurism

Posted: at 8:05 am

In BriefOn March 28, NASA published an article outlining its mostrecent plans to get to Mars. The plan consists of two phases, anexploratory stage and the actual mission to Mars phase, with bothhinging upon the creation of a "gateway" in lunar orbit. The Long Game

When Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, revealed his plans to make humans an interplanetary species by going to Mars, the whole world took notice. But when NASA unveiled its new plans for getting to Mars, they barely registered on the global radar.

These details on just how NASA plans to bring humans to the Red Planet came viaan article published on the organizations official websiteon March 28. While the agency may be treading lightly in the publicity department these days due to the political climate, it has already receiveda clear mandate from the government to get humans to Mars by 2033.

Theres now a sense of urgency, according to NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier. The hope is weve created enough of a framework that folks can see that theres a real plan worth executing.But also, its not so defined that it if some piece changes, the entire plan gets thrown away and we start all over again.

NASA has been busy preparing for next years test flight of its Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft. Both the SLS and the Orion are critical elements ofNASAs new plans, which still followthe basic program the agency previously outlined. During the 2020s, NASA will focus onlearning how to live and work in lunar orbit. Then, by the 2030s, it will start heading to Mars.

The first phase of NASAs plan is to build what its calling a deep space gateway (DSG), which would essentially bea small space station orbiting the Moon.The plan is to assemble it over the course of three SLS flights and have it completed by 2025. The DSG is meant to be staffed on a continuous basis and could sustain a crew of four, with the Orion docked, for 42 days,according to Planetary.org. It would have a propulsion module, a habitation module, and perhaps an airlock for spacewalks.

The DSG would serve as a space port or launch base for potential lunar landing missions, as well as for a deep space transport (DST) spacecraft. This is phase two of NASAs plan. Planetary.orgreports that the DST would be able to support a crew of four for as long as 1,000 days at a time. Between missions, supply and refurbishing runs would be done at the DSG.

The DST would be massive, with a predicted bare weight of about 41 metric tons. The plan is to launch it into lunar orbit in 2027 via a single SLS mission. Theres really no [other] vehicle today, or even planned, that can launch 41 metric tons (to the Moon) in one piece, said Gerstenmaier. We think that that is the minimum size for this Mars-class transport. If all goes well up to that point, NASA expects the DST to survive three trips to Mars and back.

Despite the agencys understated approach to sharing its plans for Mars, Gerstenmaier is confident that NASA is well-equipped to pull them off. Theres nothing this agency cannot do, he said. If you can give us a clear direction and give us reasonable resources, this agency and its contractor base will accomplish what you want.

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IBM Watson Executive and Futurist to Keynote Spigit’s Ignite … – Yahoo Finance

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - April 11, 2017) - Spigit today announced the keynote speakers for Ignite 2017, the premier conference for innovation leaders and executives, held in San Francisco on May 4th, 2017. IBM Watson's VP of Strategic Partnerships, Damion Heredia, and renowned thought-leader and author, Robert Tucker, will share insights on innovation with the Ignite audience in two keynote addresses.

The morning of Ignite will bring Damion Heredia to the stage, where he'll share his unique perspective on artificial intelligence, its capabilities, and the role it plays in the future of ideation across industries.

In the afternoon, Robert Tucker, president of The Innovation Resource, and author of seven books focused on innovation, will address the audience in a second keynote presentation. Mr. Tucker is a futurist and innovation coach, who has brought his practical and empowering message to thousands of audiences around the world. Two hundred of the Fortune 500 companies have benefitted from his strategies, and he is best known for advocating that innovation must become an embedded, systematic enterprise-wide process that drives growth, engagement, and competitive advantage.

"We're thrilled to welcome Damion Heredia and Robert Tucker to Ignite as our keynote speakers," stated Amy Millard, Chief Marketing Officer of Spigit. "From artificial intelligence to collective intelligence, Ignite 2017 will energize and inspire our customers and the broader innovation community."

Mr. Heredia and Mr. Tucker will join numerous executives and thought-leaders speaking at Ignite, including presenters from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth Group, Cambia Health Solutions, Li & Fung, Duke Energy, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, UC Berkeley, and more.

Over 200 innovation leaders and executives from every major industry will be in attendance. The audience comes from the likes of Wells Fargo, AIG, American Express, Booz Allen Hamilton, Campbell Soup, Deloitte, Capital One, IBM and more. In the afternoon, attendees will choose between a variety of panels focused on ideation use-cases in new product development, marketing, bringing ideas to market, and more.

From keynotes to panels, Ignite provides actionable takeaways from domain experts around current and emerging trends impacting enterprises around the world. This includes digital transformation, customer experience, culture of innovation, employee engagement, and others. This year the conference includes a new Partner Pavilion featuring products and services from IBM, Topcoder, Launchpad Central, and Booz Allen Hamilton. The Ignite conference will also continue its tradition of pre-conference Innovation Workshops on May 3, structured to help customer attendees build and grow successful innovation programs.

About Spigit Spigit is the largest provider of ideation management software to some of the world's foremost companies, including AT&T, Citibank, Duke Energy, MetLife, Pfizer, Unilever, UnitedHealth Group and more. Spigit has powered ideation for large enterprises across major industries of financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy. For a demo, click here.

Spigit enables enterprises to harness the collective intelligence of their employees, customers and partners to solve today's problems, maximize tomorrow's opportunities and accelerate innovation. Spigit's ideation management platform scales across the enterprise to surface the best ideas. Spigit global HQ is in San Francisco, European HQ in London, and our Asia-Pacific HQ is in Sydney. Learn more at http://www.spigit.com.

2017 Spigit Corp. All rights reserved. Spigit, the Spigit logo, Kindling, the Kindling logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Spigit Corporation and/or its in the U.S. and elsewhere. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

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