shot from the hip

wow. it’s over. feeling sorta like a deflated balloon.

i spent last week in geneva, switzerland at LIFT07, an amazing conference about what we can do with new technologies – challenges, opportunities, possible futures… whose goal is to: connect people who are passionate about new applications of technology and propel their conversations into the broader world to improve life and work.

it was an amazing week – packed to the brim with incredible people, provocative ideas, fantastic conversations and lots and lots of cheese. The premise for this conference, and what makes it stand out from just about very other event i’ve attended, is that the organizers have a strong sense of what these events are about – the people. yes the presentations must be relevant, meaningful, critical and well thought out, as well as good, but what people really take away is the conversations, the contacts and the relationships.

and so LIFT was super successful because the nature of that intent was reflected throughout – in the ‘official’ sessions, the participant sessions, the extra-curricular events and other details that emphasized community and exchange. but you have to want it – the experience is only as meaningful as you make it.

the self-organized contingent (i know there’s a ton of ppl missing in that link cluster :( …)worked hard at meeting people at LIFT, building up connections and conversations. i’m seeing those conversations morph into something else now as the flurry of linkedin, flickr and facebook connections explodes all over the place. i love how it’s growing beyond itself.
in terms of the sessions and ideas – wow! *pink mist* all over the place. highlights include…

nicolas nova and bill cockayne’s workshop on ‘designing the future’ – using critical foresight and research tools developing holistic analysis and future scenarios. i found myself continually making connections and finding similarities between what nicolas and bill presented and what we do at the beal. the perspectives were bangon – in terms of looking across an extensive scope of culture, history, technology, economy, etc, etc. realizing that we exist as part of a greater system, and that we cannot underestimate our role or impact in that when creating future understandings and opportunities. i like the toolsets that they provided, good for structuring and playing with initial research directions. my caveat in this regard is that tools like that need to be used with care – do the constraints of the tool allow for flexibility and freedom over the course of research?

other awesome things…

ben cerveny’s talk on the luminous bath completely blew my mind… one of the most elegant and provocative discussions using the biomimetic perspective as a way to extract patterns and understanding from complex systems.

suren erkman – the future of hyperindustrial economy. super interesting discussion of how the ecological and physiological metaphor can be extended to industrial economies as a way of positioning and mediating opportunity within a rapidly changing market scope; ie – what would the impact/implications of dematerialization, converging technologies (nano, bio, info science and cognition), cascading resources and proactive innovation? areas of pursuit touched upon immaterial industry and economies (value add=knowledge and service), strategies of maturation and systemic cooperation, and creating a framework for measuring industrial or economic metabolism.

what else?…

sugata mitra and the outdoctrination of education. my utmost respect to this man. the hole in the wall project. self-organized knowledge exchange and growth among poor children. empowerment. as well, sugata posited the most critical questions at LIFT. when we talk about the digital divide – between those who have the access, skills and infrastrucure to accept and leverage new technologies – he asks,
“why are we, in the west, so concerned with implementation and dissemination of technological capability in china, india, africa, rather than, say, brighton? why is there such a push to develop the developing world – why has the focus shifted towards this area? (to which i ask – what has our focus shifted away from?) as well, do the ‘underdeveloped’ want to be developed? what would happen if we left them alone? what does it threaten?”

this isn’t to justify either pushing or resisting technological democracy and development, but rather to bring an element of honesty and integrity to the landscape. why is there such hype? to perpetuate an ideology? to sustain an economic system? to socialize nations to be more accepting of a particular system of values, to believe that accepting these values are necessary to participate in the system?

the questions cascade. this is i think the start of a much bigger post, but for not for today.

two final ideas from sugata: technology emerges from those who have a problem to solve. a difficult problem that needs a solution can immediately affect change.

the roots of the digital divide lie in establishing and sharing the key competencies of what technology enables, through education.