Trend expert Thimon de Jong will reflect on how much technology will enhance our lives, at a special event exploring the future shape of our cities. He will examine whether we will become immersed in a digital world of experience rather than ordinary reality.
De Jong will also consider the key issue of whether privacy will exist in the future. He will look at the impact on people of digital technology which will automatically customise the consumer experience. This will target advertising and other content to specific individuals, using their personal data, to a scale unprecedented in today’s world.
Sustainable enterprises will be the most profitable ones in the future, according to futurist Gerd Leonhard. He says that companies will need to be driven by more than just the need to make profits, and will instead consider the triple bottom line: the economic, environmental and societal benefits.
Leonhard predicts there will be huge changes to the economy in a future city, as the costs of material goods are driven down by new digital production processes, such as 3D printing. He says this will lead to a move towards an experience economy, where people predominately pay for experiences rather than goods because of the abundance and cheapness of products.
The Skanska future day – Fast forward thinking will also feature one of the UK’s best known economists, Stephanie Flanders of J.P. Morgan and Olympic legend Lord Sebastian Coe. The event, hosted by Skanska UK President and CEO Mike Putnam, takes place on 25 September at Kings Place in London.