Futurists have for quite some time been discussing if design will be the only and ultimate thing. Introducing the personal factory, Mr Eric Drexler (Nanorex) envisioned a future where every one of us owns a molecular factory. Back in the 80´s designers started using 3D printing to make prototypes. This technology has also developed masterly, and today you may print fully functional products directly out of a 3D design file. The picture on this page shows how Stratasys made this engine with propellers. Although this is a prototype, it shows how large a product you can make. You may also have a look at this video showing Stratasys FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) Process.

The more I work with future studies, the more aware I become of the impact of exponential growth. Have a look at this video clip from YouTube. It gives you an idea of what we are talking about. For the first time ever, we have reached this point of development were things really speed up. To understand exponential development is probably the most important thing we do today. Research show that our intuition is linear which makes it difficult for us to “feel” exponential development. In other words; we have to actively correct our impression of development by use of intellect. In this case; do not follow your hart, follow your brain. Chris Martinson does also address this topic in his Crash Course chapter 3, which I highly recommend. Helge Hasvold

My good friend and fellow futurist, Bjorn Brunstad has been working on future studies, searching for paradigm shifts lately. He generously shared these indicators of a paradigm shift with me.

Prior to a paradigm shift we will observe the following:

• Vested interests protect existing paradigm and deter challenging concepts
• Some of the activities that prolong the existing, become absurd
• Risk taking entrepreneurs and new technologies enable new solutions
• Actors suffering from existing paradigm support new regime
• Parent mindset about the new paradigm is not generally understood, and the new is often valued based on old measures

» Continue reading “Indications of a paradigm shift”

The Norwegian Boardcasting Coporation is doing a scenario based strategy process facilitated by Foresight Norge AS. The timehorizon is year 2025, and it is the beginning of a continuous strategy process making use of foresight tools. For more information; contact Helge Hasvold.

Not often, but sometimes you stumble over articles or videos that really add value. This time I was overwhelmed. For several years now, I’ve been working on issues related to economy, energy and environment. Then I stumbled over Chris Martenson on YouTube. You should not miss it for the world.

Chris gives us an overview of the major issues concerning economic growth, the money system, energy consumption, resources and environmental consequences. Seldom you find people with such insight and ability to present complex content in an easy manner without oversimplifying it. Highly recommended

The word escapism has become more and more relevant in our foresight studies. Escapism tells us about how people increasingly escape from the real world. It could be through any media; books, films, role plays… and new technologies enable us to hide faster and deeper. Gaming has become a dominant part of life for many youngsters and so has gambling, pornography and drugs for others. In a troublesome world we hide from what hurts and seek instant satisfaction. As the speed of change increases, adversity becomes more frequent. And the speed of change increases exponentially. Publishing companies adjust their products to it. People want entertainment, reality shows, action, virtual worlds and so forth.

As counter forces we observe more focus on “the meaning of life”, mindfullness, presence, simple living, yoga etc.

Schibsted is a Scandinavian media group that aims to become the most attractive media company in Europe. They have around 9 000 employees and operations in 22 countries. Currently they have a presence in the newspaper, TV, film, online, mobile-phone, book and magazine media. The turnover in 2007 was NOK 13.6 billion.

The newspaper industry has experienced a dramatic return in revenue lately. The question often asked is; is there room for newspapers in the future, or are we moving into a new area with new digital medias only?

Together with ECON Pöyry, we were hired to facilitate a scenario process for the Next Generation Newspaper project. A large number of top level managers in Norway and Sweden were interviewed to extract the common knowledge of the group. Thereafter we facilitated scenario workshops in both Oslo and Stockholm in order to structure the information and create future scenarios.

Akershus Fylkeskommune assignes Foresight Norge AS to facilitate a foresight process exploring the future of the Akershus region and the Capital city towards 2050. Eirikur Ingolfsson and Helge Hasvold will run the project.

The consultancy company PTL AS renewed their contract with Foresight Norge AS and senior consultant Eiríkur Ingólfsson becomes now a part of the collegium in Foresight Norge. Eiríkur is working with foresight processes both in Norway and Island. As part of the new agreement, PTL AS and Foresight Norge AS share offices at Værste in the city of Fredrikstad. For more information – please contact Helge Hasvold (+47 91603444) or Eiríkur Ingólfsson (+47 9956 5569)

Helge Hasvold is appointed CEO at Foresight Norge AS succeeding Per Espen Stoknes. Foresight Norge appoints their managers from the collegium and Hasvold will manage the company in 2009. For more information – please contact Helge Hasvold (+47 91603444) or William Fagerheim (Chairman of the board) (+47 92681423)