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January 4 · Issue #44 · View online
The best links and must-reads aggregated by Gerd Leonhard, Futurist & Humanist, Keynote Speaker, Author of 'Technology vs Humanity', Film-Maker, and CEO of The Futures Agency in Zürich / Switzerland.
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Welcome to 2021! I hope you are all doing well and have had the chance to unwind and enjoy at least a semblance of normality over the holidays and New Year’s. But 2021 is finally here and it is the start of a new decade. Hopefully, a decade of human flourishing and advancement; where we come together through/post the hardships of Covid-19 to tackle the even larger, existential problems facing humanity in the coming decades. I believe we are truly at a Fork in The Road. This is especially relevant today because what we do in the next ten years- starting in 2021 - will determine our future as a species. Unless we really address climate change, increasingly unsustainable inequality and increasingly misaligned capitalism, as well as the externalities and unintended consequences of exponential scientific and technological innovation, we are not headed for a good place. But yet, despite the many issues we face, I have hope, and you should too. The 2020 Corona-Crisis saw people and nations band together like never before. A lot more people joined “Team Human” as my fellow thinker Douglas Rushkoff likes to say (be sure to read his book!). And it is only as an all-in team, striving together to address these structural mega-challenges that we can build a better, more prosperous and purpose-driven world for all of us. So, let that be your 2021 call to arms. Together, we can change the world and the systems and norms that got us to this catastrophically dangerous ledge in the first place. The future is People Planet Purpose and Prosperity - or none. I wish you all an amazing start to the new year and a healthy, happy, productive and kind 2021. Gerd Leonhard Zurich, Switzerland
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Welcome to 2021 - We're at The Fork in the Road
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A special New Year's / 2021 Greeting: The Future is better than we think (yes I know... hard to imagine!)
This is special 2021 greeting for all my friends, followers, readers and viewers, clients and partners. It has been a really tough 2020, and we’re nowhere near the end of this crisis yet - BUT….
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A Very Bumpy Ride | Edge.org: Must-read interview with Larry Brilliant.
“We need to have a strong WHO, a strong United Nations, a strong global alliance for vaccines and immunizations (GAVI), a strong Global Fund, and all these different organelles that make it possible for us to deal with global threats. I would extend it a little bit out of my lane to say we need desperately to deal with climate change, nuclear proliferation, drought, and famine. But in the area that I know, we can’t stop a pandemic without having global collaboration. We have failed to learn the lessons of Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, New Zealand, Iceland—the countries that have done really well. ..” Part 2 of this interview was just released on video, here.
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2020 Was a Warning That Our Civilization is Reaching Breaking Point | A gloomy but riveting read by Umair Haque
Phew. Take a deep, deep breath. It’s finally over. The worst year in modern history. 2020. A dumpster fire of sudden catastrophe, abject misery, heart-stopping panic, and sheer chaos — punctuated by…
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We are approaching the fastest, deepest and most consequential technological disruption in history
In the next 10 years, key technologies will converge to completely disrupt the five foundational sectors—information, energy, food, transportation, and materials—that underpin our global economy. We need to make sure the disruption benefits everyone.
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Tech Giants Are Monopolies, But How Far Could They Go? Look To China
Everyone makes predictions. It’s a sport that’s especially tempting as 2021 dawns. Will the market crash? Are there wars looming… Datasets become exponentially more valuable when you combine them. When Google introduced Gmail, it built a new dataset of people’s identities. In addition to the existing search engine dataset, Google then also had people’s email addresses and IPs. As a result, Google’s AdWords can now provide more refined targeting for advertisers.”
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Labour markets - Zoom and gloom | The Painful Transition to Remote Work | The Economist
The transition to remote work is welcome. But it will be painful
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2020 Year in review: Business - The year of divergence | Business | The Economist
Three ways in which the business world has grown apart in 2020
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These breakthroughs will make 2021 better than 2020 | Bill Gates
In his 2020 Year in Review, Bill Gates provides and update on the innovations that will let us get back to normal.
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2021+ 9 themes for next year and beyond - Ross Dawson
The end of each year is always a good time to distil predictions for what is coming. 2020 has been an absolutely pivotal year, it is a critical time for
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The B Team | Lessons Learned In Pursuit of Ten Times Bolder Leadership
It’s no exaggeration to say that 2020 has been a year like no other—and one that’s tested us all in a number of ways. This year not only brought and accelerated great challenges, it also taught us a great deal about what a new way of leading needs to look like. In 2019, B Team Leaders committed to being five times bolder in confronting the crisis of conformity. Coming out of 2020, we know we must double down on this commitment. It’s time to be ten times bolder in how we lead…
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Reasons to be cheerful - The pandemic could give way to an era of rapid productivity growth | Finance & economics | The Economist
Businesses have adopted new processes and technologies—and there are signs that they may pay off
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How Germany and Costa Rica are putting nature at the heart of their recoveries | World Economic Forum
Here’s how governments around the world can maximise the economic opportunities that lie in nature – as examples from Costa Rica and Germany demonstrate.
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The World in 2021 - Ursula von der Leyen on teamwork solving global problems | The World Ahead | The Economist
The president of the European Commission on working together.
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That is all I’ve got for now. Have a great start to the new year! Until next time, Gerd
PS. And for a special New Year’s bonus for newsletter subscribers, I have decided to open up December’s Future-Ready Executive training video: The End of Analog & a new Human Renaissance (see below)
Enjoy!
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Future Ready Executive Program: The End of Analog & a new Human Renaissance
The end of analog technology is near - yet, a new Human Renaissance is coming, as well!
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Rema 1000: Smartboat (a great example of why too much tech can be a very bad thing)
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Zürich Switzerland www.futuristgerd.com
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