Innovation Bridge / Science Forum South Africa

Igniting conversations about science for innovation with impact

4-6 December 2019, CSIR ICC Department: Science and Technology

On the 06 December 2019 the Southern Africa Node of the Millennium Project (SA Node) will be taking part in a session under the theme “Ethics, innovation for job creation and the conundrum of 4IR, discussing FUTURE WORK/TECH SCENARIOS 2050: Sense-making, Preparedness and Alternative Futures in Southern Africa.

The session will offer up, for generative dialogue with participants, a presentation and panel discussion based on the global “Future Work/Technology 2050: Scenarios and Actions” report. The input will offer perspectives from futurists and experts from different stakeholder groups (business, labour, communities, academic), and invite a conversation about how Southern Africa should be thinking and acting in relation to the cues and possible futures related to the future of work and technological change.

The leading questions framing the conversation will be:
1) Do we share an understanding of our current conjuncture (ecological, technological and social)
2) What is the state of readiness (competency-wise) with respect to new industrial technologies and impending changes?
3) Is it possible to co-create alternatives for an inclusive and sustainable way forward?

Report Background: In December 2018, the Southern Africa Node of the Millennium Project (SA Node) hosted a national workshop entitled “Global Work/Tech Scenarios 2050” where 80 people convened at The Innovation Hub to shared their insights and foresights about the role of technology and its impacts on the future of work in South and Southern Africa by 2050. In August 2019, the Global Millennium Project has now released the “Future Work/Technology 2050: Scenarios and Actions” – a report on the overall three-year international study that produced three detailed scenarios, conducted 30 national workshops in 29 countries, identified hundreds of actions distilled to 93 that were assessed by hundreds of futurists and related experts in over 50 countries around the world.

Download the session brief
Download the Future Work/Technology 2050: Scenarios and Actions executive summery
Download the South Africa Future of Work workshop report and South Africa workshop feedback

We invite you to join us on the day. Register to attend at: https://www.innovationbridge.info/ibportal/?q=innovation-bridge-event/register

About the event: https://www.innovationbridge.info/ibportal/?q=innovation-bridge-event/about
Event programme: https://www.innovationbridge.info/ibportal/?q=innovation-bridge-event/programme

Millennium Project Newsletter 6.0

Newsletter 6.0

1. Work/Technology 2050: Scenarios and Actions
2. The State of the Future 19.1 in several languages
3. International Strategic Foresight Certification Training in Brazil
4. South African Node Work/Tech Workshop 12 Minute Documentary
5. Foresight European Network (FEN)
6. Ibero-American Foresight Network (RIBER)
7. Mini Trip Reports of the Executive Director
8. Short Videos of the 15 Global Challenges
9. New Millennium Project Nodes in Costa Rica and Iceland.
10. World Future Day
11. Global Think Tank Index

https://mailchi.mp/millennium-project/millennium-project-newsletter-60

Work/Technology 2050: Scenarios and Actions

Report on a three-year international study that produced three detailed scenarios, conducted 30 national workshops in 29 countries, identified hundreds of action distilled to 93 that were assessed by hundreds of futurists and related experts in over 50 countries.

Work/Technology 2050: Scenarios and Actions could be the broadest, deepest, long-range international assessment about what to do about the future impacts of future technology.
A pragmatic exploration of possible futures – choices and consequences – really exercised my imagination. — Vint Cerf, Internet Pioneer

This international long‑range study includes three detailed scenarios to 2050 and assessments of 93 actions. The actions are the results of 30 national workshops in 20 countries. The purpose of these workshops was to identify strategies to address the issues raised in the scenarios. These actions were assessed by five international surveys (one each for government and governance, business and labor, education and learning, arts and media, and the S&T communities) as to their feasibility to avoid the looming disasters forecast by others and how to change the world for the better.

Income gaps are widening, the concentration of wealth is increasing, jobless economic growth seems the new norm, and return on investment in capital and technology is usually better than in labor. As labor costs go up and AI and robot costs go down, manufacturing and service unemployment rates are expected to increase. So, what to do?

The Millennium Project reviewed over thirty “future of work” studies to find what questions were not asked and those that were answered inadequately. This formed the basis for a questionnaire (referred to as a Real-Time Delphi or RTD) to answer these questions. The results were used to create three draft scenarios to 2050 (alternative stories that connect the world in 2050 to the present with cause and effect links that illustrate decisions). Each scenario received a critical review by international panels of futurists and relevant experts selected by The Millennium Project’s Nodes around the world (these Nodes are groups of institutions and people that connect global and local perspectives and research). Each scenario is about ten pages full of rich details about plausible developments from today to 2050.

http://www.millennium-project.org/projects/workshops-on-future-of-worktechnology-2050-scenarios/

International Book Launch

Electrification in Peer-to-Peer Society – New Narrative for Sustainable Futures

Time:
Monday 4th November
2 – 4 pm

Venue:
Hotel Radisson BLU,
22 Riebeek St,
Cape Town
City Centre

This Book Launch is a pre-conference event for the Annual Conference of the Club of Rome

Our Joint Futures – Lessons from Africa

Two topics of the Club of Rome’s new programme are directly related to the thematic of this book: Climate Emergency Initiative & Emerging New Civilizations

Download the programme