Module 2 Technology Trends People to Watch
Notable Futurists:
- Alvin Toffler (Links to an external site.): His 1970 book Future Shock popularized the idea that the increasingly fast pace of technological progress and the rise of computers can be a disruptive force in society.
- Cecily Sommers (Links to an external site.): speaks, writes, and consults on emerging trends, markets, and technologies shaping our future.
- She is the author of Think Like a Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn't, and What's Next, (Links to an external site.)and the founder of The Push Institute, a non-profit think tank that tracks significant global trends.
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Christopher Ahlberg (Links to an external site.): He has a Ph.D. in computer science and is chief executive of Recorded Future.
- Daniel Burrus (Links to an external site.): Technology Futurist and Business Strategist
- He became the first and only technology futurist to accurately identify the twenty technologies (Links to an external site.) that would become the driving forces of business and economic change for decades to come.
- David Weinberger (Links to an external site.): He is invovled with the Harvard Library Innovation Lab; Berkman Center for Internet and Society
- Eric Schmidt (Links to an external site.): Google's Executive Chairman, a software engineer, and technology futurist.
- Glen Hiemstra (Links to an external site.): Founder and owner of Futurist.com
- Internationally respected expert on future trends, long-range planning and creating the preferred future.
- Herman Kahn (Links to an external site.): A former RAND employee and founder of the Hudson Institute.
- Jack Uldrich (Links to an external site.): Renowned global futurist, independent scholar, business speaker, and best-selling author.
- His books include the best-selling Foresight 20/20 - A Futurist Explores the Trends Transforming Tomorrow (Links to an external site.).
- Michio Kaku (Links to an external site.): Futurist, theoretical physicist, best-selling author, public speaker, and co-founder of string field theory.
- An Interview with Dr. Michio Kaku (Links to an external site.) by Amelia Wales, techgeek, April 2014
- Daily Show Interview (Links to an external site.), February 2014 video
- Kaku has hosted several TV specials for the BBC (Links to an external site.), the Discovery Channel (Links to an external site.), the History Channel (Links to an external site.), and the Science Channel (Links to an external site.).
- Mike Walsh (Links to an external site.): Futurist, keynote speaker, business strategist, and author.
- Takes an anthropological approach – scanning the near horizon for emerging technologies and disruptive shifts in human behavior, and then translates these into pragmatic plans for business transformation.
- Paul Saffo (Links to an external site.): Technology forecaster based in Silicon Valley; Consulting Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University.
- Teaches courses on the future of engineering and the impact of technological change on the future (from Wikipedia entry (Links to an external site.)).
- Ray Kurzweil (Links to an external site.): Google futurist and Director of Engineering; author, scientist, and inventor.
- Satwant Kaur (Links to an external site.): Widely known as: "The First Lady of Emerging Technologies" and currently serves as HP Chief Technologist, author, keynote speaker.
- Wrote the book, Transitioning Embedded Systems to Intelligent Environments: A Journey Through Evolving Technologies (Links to an external site.).
- Thomas Frey (Links to an external site.): Executive Director and Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute.
- Venessa Miemis (Links to an external site.): Futurist and writer exploring how social media is transforming communication, co-creation, and commerce in a network society.
- Her recent projects include The Future of Facebook, a 6 part video series, and Open Foresight, a methodology for engaging experts and the public to create collaborative visions of the future together.
- She authors the blog Emergent by Design (Links to an external site.).
Lists of Noted Futurists to Explore:
- 10 of the World’s Most Groundbreaking Futurists (Links to an external site.) by Patrick J. Kiger for HowStuffWorks.com
- The Most Significant Futurists of the Past 50 Years (Links to an external site.) by George Dvorsky for i09
- Top Ten Global Futurists (Links to an external site.) by Jack Uldrich, from his site Jump the Curve
- FuturesLink - People (Links to an external site.) from The RAND Corporation Pardee Center website