Meredith at Singularity Summit Australia 2012

Abstract:

Technology in Society: Global Scenarios from the past, looking to the future

“Every age indulges in predicting the future – but few go back to check if those predictions come true.

This talk looks back to global scenarios developed at the end of the last century and asks how accurate were their 21st century predictions.
The Singularity predicts technology will radically transform human life – but how far will that go?
Will technology save the human race from itself, or just go the way of the personal jet pack, colonies on the moon, and cities under the sea?”

In 1997, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development undertook a major exercise to develop a series of scenarios – “plausible, pertinent stories about the future” – out to the year 2050. Technology was a major factor in their deliberations.

At the time, these scenarios were significantly influential in the world of business. But where are they now? Are their “stories” still plausible and pertinent, and if not, why not?

This presentation will look back to the mindset of the late 1990s and the perceived role of technology in society at the time, and ask what has changed and what might change in the future.

Bio

Meredith Doig, Ph.D. is Director at University of Ballarat Council, President of the Rationalist Society of Australia, Facilitator at Australian Institute of Company Directors, Strategic Advisor at Finsbury Green, Founding Chairman at Australian Friends of AUW, Director at Asian University for Women Support Foundation, Senior Moderator at The Cranlana Programme, and Principal at Midlothian Consulting.

Meredith is director of multiple companies in transport and logistics, retail, and higher education. She has worked with Ford Australia, Rio Tinto and Comalco, and ANZ Banking Group. She is also a management consultant offering services in board reviews, program evaluation, executive assessment, and coaching.

She authored The Emotionality of Belief and Recruiting for Jesus.

Meredith earned her BA in Mathematics at Monash University in 1971. She earned her Dip Ed in Math Education at the University of Melbourne in 1972. She earned her M Ed in Assessment and Evaluation at Monash University in 1983. She earned her Grad Dip Mgt in Management at RMIT University in 1987 and her Ph.D. in Management at RMIT University in 2004.