20+ Futures
Challenge the future with usWhat are the 20+ Futures?
Imperial Tech Foresight has a rolling annual programme of exploring the plausible futures of the world in 20 years.
Ideas about the plausible future come from the Imperial research and academic community. A community who are not only making explicit advances towards the world of tomorrow, but by thinking through the implications of their work, have tacit knowledge of the plausible future.
This program is expressed through in person events (open and closed audience) e.g., TF2038 Shifting Realities, online events (presentations and roundtables) with archives of material including video recordings e.g., TF 2040 Intentional Creations and documents e.g., TF2041 Scenarios – Computation, Energy and the Planet (and our article on how to apply them).
The programme is developed for the Imperial Business Partners (IBP). Members of the IBP programme have early, and in some cases exclusive, access to parts of the research expressions.
Tech Foresight 2044: From Digital Transformation to Cognitive Transformation
Transformation and change is a constant in all our lives, and has been throughout history. In our exploration, we take the journey from digital transformation, which has revolutionised businesses’ approach to challenges over the past generation, to cognitive transformation – the interface between human and artificial intelligence, applications and deployment.
Tech Foresight 2043: Humans in the Futures Loop
Huge advances in AI-enabled technologies have brought us closer to realising the goals and aspirations of businesses and organisations’ efficiencies, but how do we navigate an increasingly tech-dominated agenda for growth? Explore with us how we ensure that humans remain central to driving growth in a safe, ethical and responsible way.
Tech Foresight 2042: Nature Meets Future
These ideas will help businesses overcome our increasingly wild and turbulent economic and political world. As our technologies move from mechanistic and controlled to interconnected and unpredictable, we need lenses to examine them through to start to navigate the next 20 years. Lenses, we propose, that nature has already armed us with.
2041 Scenarios: Computation, Energy and the Planet
Four scenarios presenting four competing visions of the year 2041. Each provides a different account of how emerging technologies will help meet ever-increasing demand for computation and the energy it requires. Developed with input from Imperial’s world-leading academic experts, we hope they will prompt the question, ‘What would it mean for us if this came true’? Dive in and explore some possible ways that technological innovation could drive forward societal and economic change.
Tech Foresight 2040: Intentional Creations
The series of three sessions, brought leading academics from Imperial College London to discuss how science and innovation can enable intended positive consequences, as well as featuring startups from Imperial’s own ecosystem that are tackling the challenges and creating societally and economically valuable solutions.
Tech Foresight 2039: Needs and motivation
Tech Foresight 2039 we explored technology’s impact on the physical, emotional and safety needs of human experience. Attendees were able to explore what might be next on the technology horizon to help future-proof their businesses and organisation
Tech Foresight 2038: Shifting realities
Researchers discussed how we can adapt to the shifting realities brought on by new technologies and how others are responding to radical technological change.