Lecture Topics For New Times

From the new economy to the “now economy”:
the world as spreadsheet and how to read it
What does the world as spreadsheet look like? How do you design a global company's 'dashboard'? Big companies are investing millions trying to set digital nervous systems that connect anything and everything involved in the company's business: IT systems, factories and employees, as well as suppliers, customers and products. As firms wire themselves up and connect to their business partners, they make the entire economy more and more real-time, slowly creating not a new economy but a "now economy".

"The devil's new machine?" the design challenge of pervasive computing
When the printing press was invented in the 15th century, the church
Called it "the devil's new machine". What would they say about pervasive computing? Nearly five billion so-called “embedded systems” were shipped in 2001 – and the number is rising fast. Within a few years, we will be engulfed by trillions of tiny sensors, cameras, microphones, thermostats, Radio Frequency tags, temperature gauges, actuators, and responsive materials. Did anyone ask our permission for the transformation of daily experience that this new wave of technology will bring?

"Winners!"
No market sector is safe from change. In this lecture John Thackara explains how today's successful companies innovate by design - with real case studies based on Europe's most interesting small firms.

"The killer application is green"
Today, the major drivers forcing companies to innovate are information technology, and environmental sustainability. Companies can foster innovation by connecting these two issues together. Information technology increases the amount of service surrounding a product anmd helps even traditional companies 'dematerialise' their offer.

“How to be a hub”
Capturing best practice, harnessing collective intelligence, sharing lessons learned, and harnessing the untapped value that lies among your staff and contacts. These are the powerful new tools of knowledge management. The lecture includes spectacular visual examples of knowledge maps.


How audiences responded to John Thackara’s recent talks

"I found his opening plenary to be not only the most thoughtful but also the most useful and practical plenary I've seen at many conferences… tenets that can truly lead to products that are useful, usable and desirable…”
Brad Weed, Microsoft

"John Thackara was an excellent choice…he combined a deep knowledge of the subject with a relaxed and entertaining style that gripped and entertained our large international audience.
Paul Desruelle, European Commission, for Information Society Technologies Conference Helsinki

“I could listen to John Thackara all day long”
Delegate to Doors of Perception 7

“83%” Percentage of delegates who found Doors of Perception 7 to be “inspiring” or “very interesting”.

John Thackara is also popular as a conference chairman and moderator.