As part of our continuing efforts to provide as much real-world experience as possible for Foresight students, students in World Futures class were visited by a team from ExxonMobil being guided through a futures-oriented ideation session by the innovation services firm Imaginatik.
Imaginatik proposed the session to help the team from ExxonMobil open up their minds to future innovation opportunities by talking to Foresight students about the future.
Students came to class with a provocative (newspaper) headline of the world in 2040 and described how it was different from today.
2040 Headlines

· The New, New Deal: Ten Is the New Forty (work week)· Tobacco Free World by 2040
· Wearables
· Nano for Cancer Cure
· The People are the Cities (people as nodes in smart city networks)
· Antigravity and Hovering Technology for Transportation
· Manufacturing Comes Alive (biological inputs)
· Floating Cities…(on water as a response to climate change/flooding)		 · Orbital Solar Power  · Household Waste Taxation
· Landfills Obsolete
· Translating Consciousness into Physical Objects Individualized Learning (using mentorship networks)
· Robots Help Elderly in Nursing Homes
· Major Changes in World Economic System Challenges Political Order
· Nicaragua Still Struggles with Access to Clean Water
· No Need to Vote – Smart Cities Anticipate Needs

 
These headlines and their descriptions were used for facilitating deeper conversations around topics of interest for the client.
Imginatik closed the session by asking students what was needed to guide the transition to the futures that the students had envisioned. The students centered on three themes:

  • A sense of optimism (we can build our preferred future)
  • Greater awareness of the future (among the public)
  • Positive image of the future (to guide what we do in the present)

It was good experience for the students and the client seemed to get the kinds of provocative thinking they were looking for. I hope we can do more of these kinds of sessions. Andy Hines