22 September, 2020

In the midst of the pandemic and social unrest, with work and education moving online, people are leaving the big cities. What will their lives be like and what impact will they have? Join Frode Odegard (Post-Lean Institute), Dr. Julie Albrecht (USC), and Dr. Jim Spohrer (IBM) and explore infrastructure needs for remote high-tech living, and what education, farming, manufacturing, and working from home will be like. They will also discuss opportunities for further innovation and investment.

We discussed:

  • Where people are moving and why
  • Is this mostly a US phenomenon?
  • What will their home lives look like?
  • The New World of Work
  • Education, energy, farming, and manufacturing at home
  • Infrastructure needs for remote high-tech living
  • Innovation and investment opportunities
  • How will the newcomers fit into traditional communities?
  • Forecasting the future of new settlements

Speakers

Dr. Jim Spohrer is a member of the advisory board at the Post-Lean Institute. He is also the Director of Cognitive Open Technologies at IBM, which include open source intelligence augmentation (IA), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL). Previously, he was Director of IBM Global University Programs and IBM’s Cognitive Systems Institute Group.

Jim co-founded IBM’s first Service Research group, ISSIP Service Science community. He was the founding CTO of IBM’s Venture Capital Relations Group in Silicon Valley. In the 1990’s, he was awarded Apple Computers’ Distinguished Engineer Scientist and Technology title for his work on next generation learning platforms.

Early in his career, Jim was a senior scientist at Verbex, an Exxon company, working on speech recognition and machine learning.

Jim’s current team and system building focus is T-shaped innovators working to rebuild rapidly from scratch digital cognitive systems for smarter/wiser service systems.

With over ninety publications and nine patents, Jim is also a PICMET Fellow and a winner of the Evert Gummesson Service Research award as well as the S-D Logic award. Jim is also the Chairperson of the Linux Foundation AI, Technical Advisory Council. He has a doctorate in Computer Science/Artificial Intelligence from Yale and a BS in Physics from MIT.

Dr. Julie M. Albright is a digital sociologist who has spent her career looking at the digital transformation of society. She is a lecturer at USC in the Viterbi School of Engineering and the Applied Psychology Departments, where she teaches courses on interactive media and sustainable infrastructure.

Dr. Albright’s newest book explores the impacts of digital technologies on traditional social structures and behaviors. “Left to Their Own Devices: How Digital Natives Are Reshaping the American Dream” was published in April 2019  and chosen a Bloomberg Top 30 Book of the Year.

Dr. Albright is widely sought for her insights on how technology is shaping society. She has appeared on many national television programs including the Today Show, CNN, NBC Nightly News, Nat Geo, CBS, and NPR. She has also been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and Newsweek, among others.

Frode Odegard is a thought leader in post-industrial management science. His major focus is on how corporates, investors and policymakers can best navigate humanity’s transition to a post-industrial civilization and economy.

A serial entrepreneur since his high school years, Frode’s multi-disciplinary background stretches from theoretical computer science to the boardroom. He has a deep background in organizational design and a passion for history, linguistics, disruptive technologies, and philosophy. When not at work on post-industrial management tools, he is in the dojo practicing traditional Iwama style Aikido.

About the Post-Industrial Forum

Brought to you by the Post-Lean Institute in collaboration with industry partners, the Post-Industrial Forum is a unique global community with the purpose of developing and promoting a better understanding of the post-industrial transition and how to navigate it. Members include corporate executives, board members, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and experts in various fields.