Tom Cheesewright: Talk About Tomorrow: Recent Episodes
Tom Cheesewright | Podcast.co
The Talk About Tomorrow podcast examines tomorrow's world through the work of applied futurist, Tom Cheesewright, as he helps a range of people and organisations to see what's next.
Katharine and Tom discuss the concept of Net Luxury - an approach to addressing climate change based on the continuing reluctance of many people to make real change. Can we convince people to cut back? Or can we make saving ourselves (the planet will be just fine) seem even more appealing than you'd think it ought to be?
The shape of the most successful organisations is changing. Companies are shrinking and distributing their work across partners and semi-autonomous units, giving them scale, agility and reduced risk. As usual, Tom explains and Katharine interrogates!
The shape of the most successful organisations is changing. Companies are shrinking and distributing their work across partners and semi-autonomous units, giving them scale, agility and reduced risk. As usual, Tom explains and Katharine interrogates!
Tom and Katharine discuss our response to the explosion of choice faced by the modern consumer: the return of the intermediary, offering advice, direction and editorial input. Why do we value influencers? What role for AI in the future of our decisions on music, travel and finance? Find out in this episode.
Note: the book reference in the episode is Barry Schwartz's 'The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less' from all the way back in 2004: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice
We've spent the last twenty years trying to eliminate friction from the interactions between brands and customers. But is this always the right approach? In this episode we talk about the concept of 'good friction', those moments where you want to slow and deepen the conversation.
How do we prepare our children for the future? It's the question I am most commonly asked after speeches. And I always give the same answer.
I believe there are three critical skills we all need for future success, in our careers and beyond. I call them the Three Cs. The ability to Curate (discover and qualify information), Create (bring new ideas to life or improve and recombine old ones) and Communicate (to sell your self and your ideas).
In this episode, Katharine and I address questions like:
- What is more important, knowledge or skills?
- How do you teach creativity?
- Why is scepticism so important now?
Read more at https://tomcheesewright.com/future-skills-what-to-learn-and-teach-for-success-in-tomorrows-world/
In this season of the podcast we're going to explore a few big ideas in a bit more depth. These are ideas or theories that keep coming up in my work with global 500 brands and government departments around the world.
The first topic is what I have termed 'extended adolescence' - in short, are we now experiencing a longer childhood?
The ages at which we cross key (traditional) milestones in adult life have been shunted back by a decade. People now learn to drive, buy a house, find a partner, get married, have kids etc perhaps 10 years later than they did in the relatively recent past.
We try to answer:
- Why is this happening?
- Is it a good thing?
- Should we be expecting young people to grow up faster?
- Are we babying them?
- What does this mean for companies/brands?
Check out the blog post here for more information: https://tomcheesewright.com/extended-adolescence/
Tom and Katherine round off the recent episodes with a broad discussion of the Metaverse: what is it? What are the implications? And should we be scared or excited?
Original story: https://tomcheesewright.com/entering-the-metaverse
John Keefe is one of the founders of Draw and Code, a content studio building immersive entertainment for the world's biggest brands. Tom speaks to John about the evolution of immersive media across augmented and virtual reality, the state of the art in hardware, and how big the coming revolution will be.
Tom talks to fellow futurist and Magic Leap alumnus Cathy Hackl about the Metaverse: the coming together of physical and digital worlds through augmented reality, the internet of things, and more. When is it coming? And what does it mean for brands?
Find Cathy Hackl online at https://cathyhackl.com
Tom speaks to Professor Steven Cleveland, educator and filmmaker about his work on Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's time in Hawaii and the lessons from the past about the future of social equity.
Find out more about Steven's project at https://akinginparadise.com/
Tom speaks to Steve Sinclair, Senior Vice President of Product and Marketing at Mojo Vision, the company building smart contact lenses for a future of invisible computing. This sci-fi prospect is fast becoming reality, another piece of the puzzle in the next big shift in our relationship with computers.
Find out more at https://www.mojo.vision/
Tom highlights the collapse in funding and student numbers in further education in the UK, and Katharine points to the risk of a 'skills timebomb' this presents for the future.
Original story: https://tomcheesewright.com/further-and-higher-education-the-dividing-line/
Tom and Katharine discuss the G7's moment of harmony, the solution to what Tom calls a 'small world problem'. What does that mean? And what is a 'big world problem'? Find out in this episode of Talk About Tomorrow.
Original story: https://tomcheesewright.com/small-world-and-big-world-problems
Tom and Katharine talk about the future smart home: transforming furniture, shared energy, and communal living. And about the pitfalls of smart tech, especially when it interacts with pets.
Original story: https://tomcheesewright.com/the-future-home-a-smart-green-machine-for-living-in/
Tom argues that the declining trust in media, politicians and experts is down to distance. We are too far from power and too unequal in wealth and education. Katharine brings the data, and connects questions of trust in our employees, our children, and in each other.
Read the blog post here: https://tomcheesewright.com/the-trust-gap
Season four of Talk About Tomorrow begins with an introduction to Tom's new co-host, Katharine McNamara, and a story about the gamification of life in both fun and less fun ways.
In the first episode of this new format, Katharine questions Tom about digital inclusion and social credit, and coins the phrase 'digital Top Trumps'. Tom says 'you know' a lot in response (he promises this will stop).
The story on which this episode is based, replete with links and references is here: https://tomcheesewright.com/all-the-worlds-a-stadium-and-all-the-men-and-women-merely-gamers
Why a return to austerity would be a disaster for the post-COVID economy, and where we should spend some stimulus money. Plus, why relationships are a window on the future.
Original posts:
- You can't dig yourself out of a hole: https://tomcheesewright.com/you-cant-dig-yourself-out-of-a-hole/
- Relationships are the future: https://tomcheesewright.com/relationships-are-the-future/
Download the Console Connect report referenced in 'Relationships are the future', "The Interconnected Enterprise": https://info.consoleconnect.com/en-gb/resources/console-connect-interconnected-enterprise-report
For the second interview in a series focused on the future of healthcare sponsored by Sony Professional Solutions Europe, Tom speaks to Dr Rachel Jenner, consultant in paediatric emergency medicine and associate medical director for quality and safety at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Dr Jenner speaks about healthcare through the pandemic and the lessons learned, and about her work with the Violence Reduction Unit, tackling knife crime.
Links:
- Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit: https://twitter.com/gm_vru
Tom explores the ethics and etiquette of resurrecting our loved ones as chatbots, following a recent patent filing from Microsoft. Plus, a longer listen about two key technologies that will affect the future: 5G and mixed reality.
Original posts:
- https://tomcheesewright.com/digital-life-after-death/
- https://tomcheesewright.com/long-read-5g-and-mixed-reality/
Tom talks to Ludger Philippsen of Sony's European Healthcare practice about the paper they have authored on the future of healthcare. How are organisations in this sector responding to the lessons of lockdown? How is technology transforming the operating environment? And why is it critical to shift their focus from optimisation to adaptation.
Read the paper here: https://pro.sony/en_SE/insight/digital-transformation-healthcare-insights/tom-cheesewright-whats-next
Tom explores the sci-fi trope of the brain in the jar. Can we really divorce our minds from our bodies? Plus, replacing the car: how do we tackle all its downsides while keeping its advantages?
Original posts:
- The brain in the jar: https://tomcheesewright.com/the-brain-in-the-jar/
- Replacing the car: https://tomcheesewright.com/replacing-the-car/
This week Tom asks what happens to our high streets, companies, and jobs, when half our money is spent online. Plus, disrupting housebuilding: an essay on an alternative model for construction.
Original posts:
- https://tomcheesewright.com/when-half-our-money-is-spent-online/
- https://tomcheesewright.com/disrupting-housebuilding/
To be ‘a Jack of all trades’ has been variously a compliment and an insult, and most recently, an attack on expertise. But is it what we need to be? Plus, how to develop a distributed workforce
Original posts:
- Jack of all trades: https://tomcheesewright.com/jack-of-all-trades/
- Developing the distributed workforce: https://tomcheesewright.com/developing-the-distributed-workforce/
Laziness motivates us to find better ways to do things. Far from decrying ‘lazy’ home workers, we should be celebrating their instincts. Plus, why it's important to remember that we're still human in an age of digital communication.
Original posts:
-
It's good to be lazy: https://tomcheesewright.com/its-good-to-be-lazy/
-
We're still human: https://tomcheesewright.com/were-still-human/
How global communications technology has fractured our society into smaller and smaller tribes. Plus, why class is a critical conversation in this age of uncertainty.
Original posts
- Hypertribalism: https://tomcheesewright.com/hypertribalism/
- COVID has highlighted continuing class divides: https://tomcheesewright.com/covid-has-highlighted-continuing-class-divides/
Tom shares an extended version of the argument he made on Radio 4's Moral Maze for the future of cities. Plus, the four horsemen of disaster that will define the next few decades.
Original posts:
- The city is dead. Long live the city: https://tomcheesewright.com/the-city-is-dead-long-live-the-city/
- A race between the four horsemen: https://tomcheesewright.com/a-race-between-the-four-horsemen/
The latest population forecasts show an incredibly rapid collapse in populations across Europe. How will we respond? Plus, why robots don't take jobs
Original posts:
- The population implosion: https://tomcheesewright.com/population-implosion/
- Robots don't take jobs: https://tomcheesewright.com/robots-dont-take-jobs/
Tom speaks to Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina, about our relationship with technology. How conscious are we of our reliance on our devices and our connections through social networks. Are they good for us? And what do we need to change?
Anastasia is the bestselling author of Homo Distractus, and founder of the London-based tech-life balance consultancy and first ICF-certified digital wellbeing coach training company Consciously Digital. She is a frequent speaker at global conferences, such as Mobile World Congress, and she has appeared numerous times in the national and international press, including BBC, ITV, Metro, Guardian etc. Anastasia's TEDx talk Could you live without a smartphone? has been viewed more than 200,000 times on Youtube.
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiadedyukhina
Twitter https://twitter.com/conscidigital
Can we grow plants in space? Plus, Tom reveals his own challenges of working remotely: the need to always be in performance mode.
Original posts:
- Will we grow plants in space? https://tomcheesewright.com/will-we-be-growing-plants-in-space-by-2100-askafuturist/
- The price of performance: https://tomcheesewright.com/the-price-of-performance/
Tom cautions that we must understand two types of change: plastic and elastic. Only one snaps back. Plus, will Strictly go on forever?
Original posts:
- Plastic and elastic: https://tomcheesewright.com/change-separating-plastic-from-elastic/
- Will Strictly go on forever? https://tomcheesewright.com/will-strictly-go-on-forever-askafuturist/
Our companies are slow to change, failing to adapt to the rapid evolutions in their markets. Why is this, and how can we change it?
Martin Lindstrom has proven to be one of the most impactful commentators and consultants on business change, working with some of the world's largest brands and producing best-selling books like Brand Sense, Buyology, and Small Data. His new book, The Ministry of Common Sense comes out this month and tackles the issue of bureaucracy, how it strangles innovation, and how we cut through it.
You can find out more about Martin, his work, and his books, at https://martinlindstrom.com.
Our digital identities are a mess, with ownership, control, and rights all unclear following the early 'wild west' years of the Internet and social media. Can we get our digital identities under control and if so, what is the right way to think about our personal data? Sarah Clarke brings her extensive experience in cybersecurity and data governance to bear on this critical future challenge.
You can find Sarah at @infospectives on Twitter and her writing on digital identity at https://infospectives.wordpress.com
Tom takes a look at tomorrow's car, following his work with Auto Trader. Plus, what will the future world be made from?
Original posts:
- https://tomcheesewright.com/your-next-new-car-might-be-a-new-brand-and-a-new-shape/
- https://tomcheesewright.com/what-will-the-future-world-be-built-from-askafuturist/
Will fake meat ever replace the real thing?
Plus, more #AskAFuturist answers: will nuclear energy replace fossil fuels?
Full show notes and references at https://tomcheesewright.com/podcast
Tom answers the trickiest #AskAFuturist question yet: what have you been most wrong about in the past.
Plus, why we need a new blueprint for the future.
Full show notes and references at https://tomcheesewright.com/podcast
What connects Brexit, Coronavirus, Ayn Rand and air pollution? All tell us something about our instincts for self-preservation. Plus, will we ever have flying cars?
The first step to building the future high street is accepting that the one we know is dead and gone. Plus, casting back to the start of lockdown with Tom's predictions then of how COVID-19 would affect us.
Tom talks to Simon Squibb about his mission to help a million people start their own business, and the need for entrepreneurship in the challenging times ahead.
In his #AskAFuturist series, Tom answer's Franck Nijhof's question: what will be left of privacy in 50 years?
Plus, what is the future of consumer credit?
Tom talks to fellow futurist Trond Undheim about his new book, FutureTech, and his incredibly busy career, as a civil servant, lecturer, start-up wrangler, founder, author, and podcaster. Tom learns about 'project identities' - a characteristic of busy people - and why democracy is an outdated concept.
Check out Trond's own podcast, Futurized for more on this:https://www.futurized.co/
And find out more about Trond here:
https://trondundheim.com/
Twitter: @trondau
LinkedIn: in/undheim/
Our time-shifted lives have created a new extended adolescence, beyond childhood but before the traditional markers of adult life.
Plus, why we should stop looking for the next big thing.
Tom talks to Chris Bishop, a man on his eighth career who now helps others to future-proof theirs. Tom and Chris chat about how music became data in 1985, why the best advice is to "chase the maelstrom", and why the future doesn't care how you became an expert (courtesy of Thomas W. Malone).
Find out more about Chris at this places:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisbishop
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherbishop123/
Website: https://improvisingcareers.com/
And check out his Future Career Toolkit - part of his LinkedIn Learning course called "Future proofing your data science career".
Interested? There's a 90-second overview on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/448958551.
Tom argues that the only way to tackle climate change is by offering people 'net luxury'.
Plus, Tom's talk to the property industry on the future of planning.
We’re reaching a critical point in the COVID crisis. The time has come for leaders to take radical decisions about their future direction.
Plus, what happens when half our money is spent online?
Tom speaks to Nicola Lovett, CEO of Engie UK & Ireland. Engie is an energy and services giant that has transformed in recent years from a carbon dinosaur to a pacesetter in greening both public and private sector.
Nicola speaks about her journey to the role of CEO, shares stories of Engie's work with local authorities and large businesses, and talks about transformation of a former coal plant site into 2000 low-carbon homes.
Tom talks to Janine Owen, specialist in recruitment marketing and technology, about the future of work in a post-COVID world.
What changes will we see to the way we hire and manage our teams? Can we expect dramatic shifts or just the acceleration of existing trends? How do we revalue humans in the new workplace? And what is the role of attitude over experience?
Robot-fan Tom speaks to Peter van der Putten, Assistant professor in AI & Creative Research at Leiden University, and Director, Decisioning & AI Solutions, at Pegasystems. Peter researches robots, in all their forms, looking particularly at the interface between human and machine.
He and Tom discuss emotional robots, misbehaving robots, and why it's important to experiment with machines that do bad, as well as machines that do good.
You can find out more about Peter and his projects, both academic and corporate, at these links:
Academic page: http://liacs.leidenuniv.nl/~puttenpwhvander/
Bots Like You: https://sites.google.com/view/botslikeyou
Twitter: @PetervanderP
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petervanderputten/
Industry: www.pega.com, www.pega.ai
How are leaders changing in response to these uncertain times? Fiona McKay works with the leaders of global corporations to help them to change and develop.
In this episode she talks to Tom about the results of her research into the gender pay gap and the critical differences between the feedback that men and women receive in the workplace.
Plus how the nature of leadership is changing - and must change further - in response to a very different business environment.
In the second #AskAFuturist series, Tom shows why people are right to be sceptical about self-driving cars, but why they will ultimately take over.
Plus, why high frequency change doesn’t affect everything.
What are the five trends that will define the 2020s? This is Tom's bet.
Plus, the first in Tom’s #AskAFuturist series where he collects the questions you want to ask a futurist from social media: will we really eat insects in the future?
Tom shares his experience of mentoring people with an unconventional career path and suggests that there is always a story of your past that leads to your career future.
Plus, how Tom went about making predictions about the future of sport for a joint project with Grosvenor.
Tom answers one of his most frequently asked questions: will we ever put microchips in our brains?
Plus, why tomorrow’s worker is always performing, and why that might not be healthy.
Tom catches up with fellow futurist Dan Sodergren, in an episode that was due to be recorded at Mobile World Congress, the first major event to be cancelled after the COVID-19 outbreak back in February. Tom and Dan talk about the future of work, and a post-pandemic world.
Tom asks whether digital entertainment can ever stand up to the experience of a live gig. Plus, why the future high street is about community, not commerce.
The 3D printing revolution is running a few years late. But there's still a chance it will change everything.
Plus, why milk tells us everything about the future of content.
Tom speaks to Jeremy Thompson of Huawei about 5G. What is it? Why is it causing so much excitement? What are the opportunities it presents? And when will those opportunities be realised?
One of the first things Tom learned about being a futurist is that it is a lot easier to see what will happen than it is to predict when those changes will take place.
Plus, what is an algorithm archaeologist? It could be your job in the future.
Tom speaks to Chintan Patel, Chief Technologist for Cisco UK and Ireland at Cisco Live! in Barcelona, about STEM education, the importance of user experience, industry 4.0, machine learning, and much much more.
Doing radio phone-ins exposes Tom to lots of complaints about the modern age and exposes people’s fears of the future. How many of these do you recognise?
Plus what does the future of recruitment look like?
Agile organisations must take decisions more quickly. But how do you accelerate decision-making and become ‘hyper-decisive’.
Plus, Deliveroo for Builders: what happens when the digital age gig economy comes to construction?
Tom addresses the widely-shared myth that VHS won the videocassette format wars of the 1970s in spite of its competitor Betamax being the better technology. Despite being distant history, this debate continues to inform current practice. Plus, in this episode, why even the giants of the internet age will fall.
In this episode, Tom looks at the two technologies competing to power our electric cars: batteries and hydrogen. Plus, building the bionic banker. How will technology transform the future banking industry?
Kicking off a new season of episodes of the podcast, Tom shares some news about why he went quiet in late 2019 (it's all good) and invites you to #AskAFuturist your questions (Tweet him at @bookofthefuture with this hashtag or email hello@bookofthefuture.co.uk). Plus, an audio sample chapter from his book, High Frequency Change.
Tom speaks to the founders of AI-powered learning platform Future Builders, Spencer Ayres and Jordan Poulton, about the future of education and the need to keep our skills current throughout our careers.
In the future we may be able to ask whether a building, or even a whole city, is making us happy. Plus, what Apple’s announcements mean for the future of TV.
Why we should only consider the far future when we have understood the near. Plus, the ideology at the heart of the web: why it’s critical to keep it open.
Before you set off for tomorrow, look closely at where you are today, or risk getting lost along the way. Plus, Bright but bleak: futurism and the climate.
Tom talks to Michael Taylor, journalist, author, and recent Change UK candidate, about choice in politics, the fracturing of old alliances, and whether choice as a message is always a euphemism for markets.
Tom speaks to Dominic Collins, co-founder and CEO of Darabase, a company built to solve one of the critical challenges of a world where physical and digital begin to blend together.
Tom speaks to Damian Thompson, global head of consumer insight for Wavemaker, about how we make buying decisions in this age of endless choice.
Forget 5G, 10G is on its way: 10 gigabits per second broadband. But what on earth is it for? Plus, what are suburban capitals, and why are they growing?
Doping recycled plastics with new materials can give them properties better than the original. Plus, how do you choose a career when you're interested in everything?
The power of a good apology should not be underestimated, especially in the age of automation. Plus, why is it always two steps forward and one step back with progress?
We cannot underestimate the value of community in a difficult future. Plus, future energy: why the medium is the message.
When we focus on optimising our businesses, it's all too easy to engineer out the creativity. Plus, why tomorrow's Luddites will be raging against invisible machines.
Tom travelled to The Accenture Dock in Dublin, to interview some of the thinkers guiding global corporations through their digital transformation. In this recording, Tom speaks to Ryan Shanks, director of The Dock, about active listening and the future of skills.
Tom travelled to The Accenture Dock in Dublin, to interview some of the thinkers guiding global corporations through their digital transformation. In this recording, Tom speaks to Ryan Shanks, director of The Dock, and Lorna Ross, Group Director of Fjord.
Hobbies are a great opportunity to jumpstart your learning processes, and to get a dose of humility at the same time. Plus, what if we hadn't taken a step back every time a civilisation fell. Where would we be now?
Tom kicks off a new collection of episodes with some updates about applied futurism in 2019.
Everyone thinks they know the story of King Canute, but there’s another version that has a very different moral. Both speak to the current Brexit crisis. Plus, how the car will continue to shape our cities, if we let it.
In the debate around automation, people often confuse jobs and work. Understanding the difference is crucial to successful planning for a brighter future. Plus, is that future fractured, or just diverse?
If your ideas are too complex for others to understand, that’s your failure, not theirs. Plus, why knowing too much isn’t good for us.
As digital experiences consume more of our lives, will we value the physical thrills of the theme park ever more? Plus, can the EU challenge the dominance of the big digital platforms?
If you wanted to make a lever to move the world, what material would you choose? Plus, how different do you want the future to be? Past performance is no guarantee of future returns…
Tom shares advice from his mentor about simply doing less: sometimes everyone needs an external perspective. Plus, the future of work: what matters?
Will we really all take to the skies? Or is terra firma a safer bet? Plus, have you ever thought about the bandwidth between you and your machines? It's falling.
As more and more of our daily experience is digitised, do we lose touch - literally - with the physical world? Tom doesn't think so. Plus, the TSB banking failure: what really happened?
We have barely entered the quantum age, yet already our expanded understanding of physics has begun to define our world. What's next? Plus, moving money: how will we pay in the future?
As levels of faith fall, what replaces religion in tomorrow's society? Plus, Tom returns to the Cambridge Analytica story: how will we manage - and monetise - our personal data in the future?
Tom examines what is - and what isn't - true innovation. Plus, fighting friction, what role does 5G have in saving us time and hassle?
Tom explores the assumption that no-one will own a car in the future, and that we will all be serviced by self-driving fleets, arriving on demand. Is this realistic? Plus are futurists here to share a vision, or advocate for one?
Would you want to be nursed by a machine when you're in your old age? Tom explores the adoption of robots in care. Plus, why transparency undermines trust and threatens human strengths in the workforce.
Tom explores the Cambridge Analytica story: will this be the bucket of cold water that awakens people to how their data is data is being traded by social networks? Plus, why the art of lying will be a growth business in tomorrow's mixed reality world.
Tom replays his talk from SCVO's giant charities conference, The Gathering, where he helped third sector organisations to understand how automation my benefit - and threaten - their organisations, and missions. Plus, takeaways from Mobile World Congress, one of the world's largest technology shows.
Tom explores two possible policy responses to rising automation in the workforce: enhanced employment regulations and rising corporation taxes. Plus, how do you make a phone disappear? Three critical considerations for whatever replaces the smartphone.
Augmenting your connection with customers is a critical component of building a future-eady organisation, Tom argues this week. Plus, is tomorrow's trucker a glorified hitch hiker?
As we begin to adapt our cities to the challenges of climate change, should we be considering a more radical move to the stars? Plus, when does a company become too big to be regulated by the market - a market in its own right?
Automation promises to fundamentally reshape the traditional hierarchy of our organisations. Could we see future businesses with more people at the top than the bottom? Plus, how do we prepare tomorrow's workforce for a world where creativity is the most important human talent?
Is Facebook forever? Tom doesn't think so. Mark Zuckerberg has led the company to sustained success through acquisitions and rapid change, but one day it is bound to be outpaced. This is how it will happen. Plus, why there is no single future for everyone.
Tom talks to his house. Well, sort of. What can we learn about smart cities and artificial intelligence from basic experiments. Plus, why we shouldn't be too negative about the impact of technology on young people and their social lives.
New Year means curious journalists, wanting to know what's next. This episode features a round-up of the key technologies for 2018 that Tom's been talking about on the radio. Plus, why tech is the starting point for examining possible futures.
Tom shares 10 trends that are transforming the future home, following his closing keynote at the Property Week RESI 2017 conference.
Tom talks to Andrew Back (@9600) founder of the Wuthering Bytes festival of technology in Hebden Bridge, about this year's programme and the global open source project, collaborating to solve tomorrow's tech problems in everything from the Large Hadron Collider to NASA spacecraft
Tom talks to host of the Tech for Good podcast, and Reason Digital's Head of Strategy & Insight, Rebecca Rae-Evans about technology and society. Is tech a force for good? How will bots be applied in public service? And what's wrong with tech?
Following a series of conversations with local authorities and housing associations, Tom reflects on the future citizen and the need for participation - and education
Tom talks augmentation to an audience of marketing professionals at this year's Tug Life conference, and about the trend of 're-intermediation', the growing market for middle men and women to help us handle complex choices. Plus, hyperloop and how a futuristic project faces some very old challenges: physics and planning.
This week Tom speaks to principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon, and recognised expert on law, the internet and social media, Steve Kuncewicz, about calls to 'bring the internet to heel' in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Manchester and London.
Tom addresses the argument for accelerated change and explains the wave theory, separating speed from scale. And he introduces VUCA - Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, and explains how you navigate through it.
With the NHS held to ransom by the WannaCry malware, Tom imagines how such infections might affect us as we become ever more reliant on technology - or even integrated with it.
With the news dominated by politics, Tom thinks about getting away...far, far away, with two stories about the future of space travel.
Tom explores the balancing act between health monitoring and invasion of privacy as Manchester hosts the Informatics for Health conference
This week Tom looks at the future of work - and what we do without it. How do we get the most out of our working day, and will the state support us when it's time to retrain with a Universal Basic Income?
What skills do we need to survive and thrive in tomorrow's world? Tom talks education with fellow BBC tech commentator and UTC MediaCity's business engagement lead, Dan Sodergren.
Inspired by the Science Museum's robots exhibition, and a debate with Google and the BBC on augmented reality, Tom explores tomorrow's mixed reality, populated by virtual beings both digital and physical.
This week Tom starts work on the '4G Kitchen' with famous designer Johnny Grey and the National Innovation Centre for Ageing at Newcastle University, and highlights the differences between 'smart cities' and 'living cities' at Pro Manchester's digital disruption conference.
Tom speaks to Andrew Beechener, founder of 'Republic of Things' about the strengths and weaknesses of smart cities, and Manchester's CityVerve programme.
Reviewing the newspapers for the BBC, Tom connects two stories about our faith in technology and the effects of that faith being undermined.
Tom reveals five trends for the future of energy from a new report produced with Nabarro, and debates the future of mobility at the University of Cambridge.
Tom visits the Superyacht Design Symposium in Austria to discuss how tomorrow's technologies will remove the design limitations from these already-extreme vehicles.