This blog post is a request for your help.
I’m working with the New Zealand Institute of Policy Studies (in the School of Government at Victoria University of Wellington) on The Future State - research on public management and public policy challenges over the next 20 years.
Looking at what’s changing now, we have a number of loosely related questions about generation and value shifts, social media and social action.
Do you know of research, statistic and/or informed commentary that would shed light on any of the following questions?
• Has the anti-globalisation movement grown, diminished or changed its nature since the highly visible activities 1999-2002 (Seattle, Washington, Genoa)? By what measures and why?
• Have other 'protest' movements changed in similar ways?
• Have social media enabled a general shift away from protest to constructive social action as a response to perceived injustice?
• If so, is this generation/cohort specific?
• Are there correlations between use of social media and being ’values centric’.
We are looking ourselves for research and stats that help with the questions below, but if you know of relevant research or information, we’d love to be pointed towards it. Any information is welcome, but particularly information that has an NZ or Australasian dimension.
I’ll collate and credit responses to these questions on this blog and post links to the IPS The Future State research work here and on Twitter when it’s ready.
I’d love to hear from you: Stephanie@stratedgy.co.nz +64 274 966 956
Showing posts with label futures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label futures. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Out of the freezer and into the 3D printer - what's your job?
The advent of the transition to a 3D world is here – what are you doing about it?
I say to my offspring (failing, really, to catch their imaginations) that it was all black and white/print media "when I were a lass". So they too will say to their children - "it was all 2D when we were kids, none of this full 3D visualisation and in-home 3D printing. If you wanted a Club Penguin figure or a scooter part, you had to go out and buy one - sometimes they had to ship it from overseas"
Manufacturing is on the cusp of a transformation with the advent of computer 3D printing. The speed and versatility of 3D production machines virtually eliminates the set-up times and costs of conventional manufacturing processes. The rapid prototyping they allow has significantly speeded product design and testing times, and even more significantly they are also starting to be used for high-end individualised manufacturing (e.g. hearing aids). In the near future, these machines could be as distributed in homes and offices as printers and photocopiers are today, radically altering the patterns of traditional factories and the consumer economy. Fabrication materials will still need to move to the locations of production, though these will no longer be centralised, but the location of production and consumption will be the same. Economies of scale may no longer be so significant, and distances between individual contributors to the design of products can be vast.
3D production machines open up the possibility of the same peer-to peer design revolution for 3D products as has been applied to the ‘mashable’ virtual contents of the web.
The advent of the technology of refrigeration changed New Zealand's prosperity and wellbeing path and provided a high standard of living from primary produce for many decades. The story of New Zealand's slide down the OECD rankings since the 70s, with changes in both geo-political affiliations and the price for primary produce compared to the price for skills is well known. With the shift of manufacturing away from developed countries, and increasing costs and concerns in relation to transporting goods to and from remote locations, New Zealand appears to face even greater challenges. 3D globally connected peer-design and distributed printing open up opportunities for small remote countries.
Do we understand what new opportunities the shift to 3D opens up, given the twin challenges of distance from other markets and scale (population just pipped 4 million and predicted to decline)?
Who is thinking about the transition to 3D in New Zealand and how are they being supported?
How are we preparing ourselves to be well placed to take advantage of this shift?
Who is making sure the preparation is being built in to our education, training and economic development agendas?
Post Script
Since I wrote this post in December, 3D printing has continued to become more widespread and cheaper. Have a look at this blog post by Sten to see how fast the field is moving and how some of the possibilities for transformation are becoming a reality:
http://stens.tumblr.com/post/372614257/makerbot
Renowned long-run strategic thinker Riel Miller ( http://www.rielmiller.com/ ) visited New Zealand in 2004 and described today's 3D revolution as a possible future. At that point in time many found it hard to comprehend, some found it unimaginable. Just six years later, it has become reality. It's a salutary reminder of the importance of understanding what is happening now and enlarging our imagination about what could happen next.
I say to my offspring (failing, really, to catch their imaginations) that it was all black and white/print media "when I were a lass". So they too will say to their children - "it was all 2D when we were kids, none of this full 3D visualisation and in-home 3D printing. If you wanted a Club Penguin figure or a scooter part, you had to go out and buy one - sometimes they had to ship it from overseas"
Manufacturing is on the cusp of a transformation with the advent of computer 3D printing. The speed and versatility of 3D production machines virtually eliminates the set-up times and costs of conventional manufacturing processes. The rapid prototyping they allow has significantly speeded product design and testing times, and even more significantly they are also starting to be used for high-end individualised manufacturing (e.g. hearing aids). In the near future, these machines could be as distributed in homes and offices as printers and photocopiers are today, radically altering the patterns of traditional factories and the consumer economy. Fabrication materials will still need to move to the locations of production, though these will no longer be centralised, but the location of production and consumption will be the same. Economies of scale may no longer be so significant, and distances between individual contributors to the design of products can be vast.
3D production machines open up the possibility of the same peer-to peer design revolution for 3D products as has been applied to the ‘mashable’ virtual contents of the web.
The advent of the technology of refrigeration changed New Zealand's prosperity and wellbeing path and provided a high standard of living from primary produce for many decades. The story of New Zealand's slide down the OECD rankings since the 70s, with changes in both geo-political affiliations and the price for primary produce compared to the price for skills is well known. With the shift of manufacturing away from developed countries, and increasing costs and concerns in relation to transporting goods to and from remote locations, New Zealand appears to face even greater challenges. 3D globally connected peer-design and distributed printing open up opportunities for small remote countries.
Do we understand what new opportunities the shift to 3D opens up, given the twin challenges of distance from other markets and scale (population just pipped 4 million and predicted to decline)?
Who is thinking about the transition to 3D in New Zealand and how are they being supported?
How are we preparing ourselves to be well placed to take advantage of this shift?
Who is making sure the preparation is being built in to our education, training and economic development agendas?
Post Script
Since I wrote this post in December, 3D printing has continued to become more widespread and cheaper. Have a look at this blog post by Sten to see how fast the field is moving and how some of the possibilities for transformation are becoming a reality:
http://stens.tumblr.com/post/372614257/makerbot
Renowned long-run strategic thinker Riel Miller ( http://www.rielmiller.com/ ) visited New Zealand in 2004 and described today's 3D revolution as a possible future. At that point in time many found it hard to comprehend, some found it unimaginable. Just six years later, it has become reality. It's a salutary reminder of the importance of understanding what is happening now and enlarging our imagination about what could happen next.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Fourth Estate and The New Wild West
Don Tapscott http://twitter.com/dtapscott commented on Twitter today about the 'wild west' environment being generated as newspapers are dying but the new paradigm is not yet mature enough to take over.
This is one of the issues that's arisen in my work with the Institute of Policy Studies on for the Emerging Issues Programme. In a world where the traditionally authoritative sources of information are being severely challenged by new media (social networking, blogs, Twitter and more), daily newspapers are struggling to maintain their position as the “fourth estate” providing the vigilance that was once thought essential for democracy to flourish. For the public sector this poses a significant challenge around known and credible spaces for public debate, in order to develop durable policy.
Another challenge in this environment will be managing reputation and perception. Currently there are processes for challenging and correcting inaccurate or unfair coverage in mainstream media. There are currently no effective equivalent mechanisms for new media. In an environment where anyone can comment and reach hundreds or thousands of people without having to expose the validity of their assertions to scrutiny, far more pressure will be placed on the quality of each individual interaction between government and citizen and on building trustful relationships with individuals and groups.
This is one of the issues that's arisen in my work with the Institute of Policy Studies on for the Emerging Issues Programme. In a world where the traditionally authoritative sources of information are being severely challenged by new media (social networking, blogs, Twitter and more), daily newspapers are struggling to maintain their position as the “fourth estate” providing the vigilance that was once thought essential for democracy to flourish. For the public sector this poses a significant challenge around known and credible spaces for public debate, in order to develop durable policy.
Another challenge in this environment will be managing reputation and perception. Currently there are processes for challenging and correcting inaccurate or unfair coverage in mainstream media. There are currently no effective equivalent mechanisms for new media. In an environment where anyone can comment and reach hundreds or thousands of people without having to expose the validity of their assertions to scrutiny, far more pressure will be placed on the quality of each individual interaction between government and citizen and on building trustful relationships with individuals and groups.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Future: To Begin at the Beginning
This is my new blog – and to start off, this is my practical no nonsense view of thinking about the future and what I can do for you.
At one level, thinking about the future is really simple. There are some straightforward questions: "What appears to be happening now?" "What could happen next?" "What could that mean for me/us?"
At another level, it can be bewildering. Once you really start looking at what is happening now, it's easy to get lost in a welter of detail, or miss whole areas of change. It's hard not to be bound by the present and the past when you are trying to think about what could happen next, or to slide away from some possibilities because they are difficult or depressing to contemplate when you try to think about what this means for you and your people.
Drawing on a decade of futures thinking and a wide range of organisational experience in New Zealand and the UK, I enjoy helping people to make sense of the changing landscape and clarify their next steps. I design advice, workshops or training to meet your needs. Often people's experience of futures work is an interesting, enjoyable diversion, that's of no practical use to them when they return to the real world. Whether it's shifting mindsets and world views, or clarifying business priorities, I make sure the futures work you do with me can be put to use in your organisation.
At one level, thinking about the future is really simple. There are some straightforward questions: "What appears to be happening now?" "What could happen next?" "What could that mean for me/us?"
At another level, it can be bewildering. Once you really start looking at what is happening now, it's easy to get lost in a welter of detail, or miss whole areas of change. It's hard not to be bound by the present and the past when you are trying to think about what could happen next, or to slide away from some possibilities because they are difficult or depressing to contemplate when you try to think about what this means for you and your people.
Drawing on a decade of futures thinking and a wide range of organisational experience in New Zealand and the UK, I enjoy helping people to make sense of the changing landscape and clarify their next steps. I design advice, workshops or training to meet your needs. Often people's experience of futures work is an interesting, enjoyable diversion, that's of no practical use to them when they return to the real world. Whether it's shifting mindsets and world views, or clarifying business priorities, I make sure the futures work you do with me can be put to use in your organisation.
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