At the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, there's one particular session where people start queueing around four in the morning to get a seat. It's not one of the big-name music performances or a movie screening with awards buzz, it's a keynote by Amy Webb.
Webb, who is the founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute (FTI), is a futurist. She's a professor of strategic foresight, a data and research-driven field that unpacks what could be in an increasingly complex world. Webb's 2024 Tech Trends Report, which is downloaded more than a million times every year, is made up of just under a thousand pages of insights businesses rely on to navigate the future.
Predicting what comes next may be big business but it's not necessarily new. While modern futurists use data to forecast possible future scenarios and spot emerging opportunities, the science of probability - long-term planning - has been around since the 1940s.
And before futurology became an academic field and job role, science fiction authors like H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and Arthur C. Clarke, were recognized as futurists with an uncanny ability to foresee the world to come. Today, there are a number of well-known futurists sought out by industry giants (and the government) to steer business strategy and adapt to disruptive change. Businesses are hiring futurists to tell them the things they don't want to hear so that they can prepare for unforeseen inevitabilities.
Meet the futurists
Esta historia es de la edición June - July 2024 de Forbes Africa.
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Esta historia es de la edición June - July 2024 de Forbes Africa.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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THE FOOTBALL CLUB ON THE RISE
STELLENBOSCH FC'S JUNIOR SIDES ARE CONSISTENTLY AMONG THE BEST IN SOUTH AFRICA.
AFTER SOLAR, COMES LEAD.BUT WHERE'S THE BIN?
THE TIME TO PLAN FOR THE SUDDEN INFLUX OF AGED AND DATED SOLAR MATERIALS IS NOW - AFRICA CAN'T AFFORD TO BECOME A TOXIC DUMPING GROUND FOR THE E-WASTE DETRITUS LEFT BEHIND BY SOLAR.
EMMA CHAMBERLAIN'S GREAT AWAKENING
THE 22-YEAR-OLD YOUTUBE SENSATION EARNED AN ESTIMATED $20 MILLION LAST YEAR WHILE BUILDING HER EPONYMOUS COFFEE BRAND. MEET THE CREATOR WHO'S FULL OF BEANS.
THE FORTUNE OF FORESIGHT
NAVIGATING THE COMPLEXITIES OF OUR FUTURE IS BIG BUSINESS - AND BIG MONEY. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MORE EMINENT GLOBAL FUTURISTS OFFERING FRESH INSIGHTS INTO FUTURE TECH AND A BETTER TOMORROW.
6 YEARS TO THE SDCS
CHASING THE WORLD THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, AFRICA'S PROGRESS AND RACE TO THE 2030 GOALS.
PURPOSE-DRIVEN & PROUDLY AFRICAN
FROM FINTECH TO FOODTECH SOLUTIONS; FROM BEAUTY BRANDS TO BIOTECH INFUSIONS, FORBES AFRICA'S INAUGURAL LIST OF SMALL GIANTS ACROSS AFRICA SHOWCASES THE TENACITY OF HOMEGROWN BUSINESSES AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITIES THEY SERVE. THEIR PAN-AFRICAN CEOFOUNDERS AND LEADERS ARE MAKING GIANT STRIDES IN PROGRESSING AFRICA'S GROWTH NARRATIVE, PRIORITIZING IMPACT AND INNOVATION.
AT THE INTERSECTION OF CULTURES
DIBAKAR DAS ROY EXPLORES SENSITIVE ISSUES OF RACE, COLOR AND IDENTITY IN HIS FIRST FEATURE FILM SET IN NEW DELHI STARRING NIGERIAN ACTOR SAMUEL ABIOLA ROBINSON.
THOSE LIKELY TO TAKE THE TOP PLACES ON THE PODIUM IN PARIS
AFRICA'S MEDAL HOPEFULS AT THE 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES.
PRICEY PRIDE
AFRICA TOO CAN PROUDLY CLAIM TO BE A SOURCE OF CAVIAR, ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST INDULGENCES. BEING FARMED IN THE FAVORABLE CLIMATE AND TERROIR OF MADAGASCAR ARE SOME VERY EXPENSIVE FISH EGGS A FIRST FOR THE CONTINENT.
TIME TO HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON
EXPERT INSIGHTS INTO HOW WE ARE SURROUNDED BY NOISE 24/7/365 AND IT'S AFFECTING OUR ABILITY TO THINK CLEARLY AND MANAGE STRESS LEVELS, OFTEN LEADING TO EXPENSIVE MISTAKES, AT WORK AND IN LIFE.
