Category: Recent Ideas from Twitter

Data Futures with a Feminist Lens

What happens when you cross data science with feminism? Well – you get data feminism. Authors of a new book by this title Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein suggest that the way we approach data science, the way that we view, apply and understand data can be enhanced by careful examination of their (non-feminist) origins and that revisions to our thinking and methods for humanity are warranted. It comes out in March of 2020 – but reading the previews has definitely got me wanting more!

AI for Good – Is it Really?

I’m not sure I agree with each and everything in this piece but I really appreciate the effort to “complicate” the idea that “AI for Good” is just automatically so. In fact many of the challenges presented deserve careful, ethical consideration. I respect and appreciate this article. Here’s another piece that explores some of the same ideas with a slightly different flavor.

Future of Higher Education

Here’s an article about the “new” split higher education economy – that of online and traditional. It echos a lot of other literature on this topic but clearly shows that the shift many have been considering is happening and likely will not turn back.

Also – more sobering projections about the future of higher education and the coming enrollment “crash.” Along those lines – here’s a helpful overview of declining state support of higher education and the stinging impact this has and will have.

Algorithm World

I have seen numerous articles in the last year (and have included a few of them here) regarding a new kind of “privilege” – the privilege to opt out of algorithms and surveillance of various kinds. This new(ish) article is another in that category and worth a quick look. The authors suggest that the new digital divide is between people who opt out of algorithms and people who don’t.

Other explorations are increasingly considering a power analysis of AI now and in this future. This piece explores “when algorithms decide whose voices will be heard” and this one is called “AI ethics is all about power.” This type of power analysis is important and useful as we make sense of and track our work as social workers.

On that note, I did run across an article from our UK social work colleagues about how they view AI-enabled social work practice.

As always, I’m gathering a variety of items that comment on the issue of AI bias and how to counter it. Here, here and here. Lastly, here’s a new piece from the LA Times called “Rules for a new surveillance reality.“

Is Data the New Oil?

Everyone is using this phrase now…and folks are still arguing a bit about its accuracy. Here’s a great article that makes this case for its validity. I found the various categories to help us understand how your data, my data, everyone’s data is being used (not that I’m always a fan of this!!).

Thoughtful AI Requires Intelligent Human Participation

Here’s another review of a new forthcoming book called The Future Computed by Brand Smith and Harry Shum with some thoughtful ideas about a fast arriving future centering AI as significant driver. The discussion of potential AI-related job loss is notable, and the principles they assert (AI should be fair, trustworthy, transparent and controllable” are important.

Eco-Anxiety and Eco-Grief

I’ve had numerous interactions in the past couple of weeks with the concept of eco-anxiety and eco-grief. Here’s a brief piece I ran across online. But additionally, I’ve met a couple of people who are involved in self-help community eco-grief groups organized by the Good Grief Network. CBS did a story about this back in August.

I’m freshly back from the Institute for the Future’s 10-Year Forecast meeting. I’ll do a complete download in an upcoming post. It was, as always, a powerful, fascinating and engaging gathering. For now, here’s things I saw go by on Twitter that inspired, challenged and energized me. Hope they do the same for you!!

Special note: In the last few weeks, I’ve had occasion to meet a number of people who are regular readers of this blog. I just wanted to say that your stories of how you are using this material in social work/social work education spaces is deeply inspiring to me. THANK YOU for your feedback and your comments. Thank you for sharing, boosting an experimenting with these ideas in our shared mission to make the world a better place using new tools and frameworks. I also appreciate the ideas that you have for future social work curriculum, research and community development anchored in democratize futures principles. Let’s keep going and more to come!!!

Young Futurists

Want to feel inspired? Young peoples’ futures/social action movements are growing every day. You’ve heard about Greta (HOORAY) but how about these other extraordinary young people? Let’s boost all their signals. They are demanding brighter futures – let’s lift them up or get out of their way. This article reminds us that 41% of the global population is under the age of 24…and they’re angry.

Equitable Technology

Here’s a piece that is an excellent discussion of the role of technologies that further marginalize or complicate gender non-conforming community members. Here’s one that talks about how “code” is still binary – and provides an extremely narrow way of categorizing (and automating those categories) in a world that is much more complex gender-wise. I found another piece that talks about “the trauma of travel for transgender people” which is worth a read. Given that most folks agree that the gender binary will continue to evolve in the future…we need to get better at being ready for the full range of human expression in the “real world” and through our technologies.

A recent study has come out with lots of mentions regarding inequities found in artificial intelligence in health care spaces. This is definitely concerning, but is another reminder that we can’t assume AI is bias free…evidence continues to mount that old biases show up in new ways. Here’s a good new article about AI bias in general…and some ideas about what to do about it that are actionable. Finally, here’s a new piece out from AI inequity scholar Ruja Benjamin called “Assessing risk: Automating Racism.” This is a fine shorter piece building from her book on the same topic which I’ve spoken about admiringly on this blog before.

Economic Frameworks/Issues of the Future

I’ve been really intrigued with the idea that people should be paid for their data – it strikes me as a contemporary way to guarantee a universal basic income and I’m not alone in that observation/imagining. That said, this author says it won’t actually work. I found it to be a challenging and interesting piece. We have to keep wrestling with this carefully – too much is at stake.

I’m still exploring and learning about cryptocurrencies and how they might fit into the “future of the economy” story. This article says they are the future. I’m not endorsing this point of view – just sharing what I’m reviewing and learning.

The World Economic Forum has a new piece out about the top risks to the global economy – which of course will impact many things that we care about either directly or indirectly. Worth a look.

Art, Speculative Fiction and Science Fiction as Bridges to Futures Understanding

In the category of “one of my new favorite things” is discovering the work of futurist Leah Zaidi. She’s shared her 2017 Master’s Thesis called “Building Brave New Worlds: Science Fiction and Transition Design.” It is fascinating and inspiring from a creative thinking perspective. Do yourself a favor and look through her dynamic work. She’s just getting started! Here’s another of her pieces (from 2019) including some speculative fiction regarding jobs of the future.

This fine article about Afrofuturism as a bridge to a world without violence is inspiring.

Here’s another new to me speculative fiction writer named Cory Doctorow and new book he’s written called “Affordances.” This article reviews the book and draws links to the very contemporary issues it illuminates. I’ve also been hearing a lot about Ted Chaing lately. He’s a writer getting a lot of attention for his “not always dystopian” but more hopeful science fiction offerings. This is a nice overview/review of his newer work.

Climate Change and Global Regeneration

As I write this blog post, California is experiencing yet another season of devastating fires…and other parts of our country, and our planet, are experiencing other significant challenges. It felt especially good to nurture some eco-healing inspiration with some finds from Twitter.

Here’s an article about the future of wind energy – which some suggest, with current tech capability, could meet the world’s energy needs several times over.

This is a powerful article centering the voices of People of Color globally who assert that they will experience climate change disproportionately and have a strong vision for what should happen next. This one is worth a thoughtful read.

I ran across this inspiring “earth design manifesto” focused on asserting earth design-centered principles. Another design-leaning eco-focused article explores ecological design, system complexity, and systemic health. Also noted this wonderful short (12 minute) film about regenerative agriculture.

The Future of War

Powerful special edition of the MIT Technology Review on the future of war. It’s sobering, but important to explore.

Reimagining Community Resilience

This wonderful article is medicine for reading about the future of war in the link above. It’s a feminist vision of the future of community strengths and healing.

This is a regular blog post that I do to simply round up some signals that I see go by on Twitter and think might be of interest to my fellow travelers interested in topics related to social work, health, human rights, community well-being, higher education and other related topics.

You can peek at past “recent idea from Twitter” pages here.

Learn to Think Like a Futurist with IFTF and Coursera!!

The Institute for the Future is declaring the year 2020 the year of the future. In a beautiful and generous effort to “democratize the future” they are offering FREE futures/foresight training through Coursera. Check it out here!! This is information that has fueled my journey – IFTF has some of the inspiring folks globally teaching and guiding. Join in the adventure!!!

Higher Education

There is a new app called “Change Ed” that is promising to “revolutionize” student loan debt. Interesting idea – and good to see some innovation on this topic. Is this an answer? Not clear. Here’s another bit of media coverage. Much more needs to be explored. Worth a look.

There is a steady stream of news coverage exploring, imagining and predicting various futures of higher education. Here’s a new one from Quartz on their take on the Future of College.

Communities and Tech

As readers know, I’m a big fan of efforts to help social workers become more tech savvy and tech enabled in ethical ways. But this article promotes the “importance of citizen data scientists and how to support them.” Democratizing the processes and associated power of understanding and using data for the well-being of all is a future I can get behind. How about you?

This article suggests that left to its own devices, emerging technology that monitors and provides various types of surveillance is disproportionally harmful to already vulnerable populations. Their term “digital dystopias” is powerful. This one is worth a read. Another related piece talks about increasing use of algorithms to make welfare decisions despite it’s limitations. Vital for social workers.

Children’s Digital Rights in Europe

This is from 2018, but here’s a thought provoking look at the European Union’s guidelines to “respect, fulfill and protect the rights of the child in the digital environment.” Here’s is the UN’s report on this same topic where they begin their report by saying that 1 in 3 internet users is a child – something I think we don’t often enough take into account as social workers. While searching for additional information and resources, I also found this from the Child Rights International Network.

As I did a brief search of this, I found very little that was U.S. based – which is not to say it doesn’t exist, but advocacy, policy and other guidelines are more prominently featured internationally.

Tech Ethics and Guidelines

What if we taught human rights law to software engineers? This article suggests that would be an excellent way to embed key ethical principles and related capacity for human rights protections into the software development workforce and ecosystem.

Social Work Tech

Social workers in the UK are taking their responsibility to “skill up” and build tech capability across their profession seriously. This new report gives details and provides inspiration for us to continue to grow our capacity here in the U.S.

Tech and Storytelling

Virtual reality (VR) is exploding as a sector. How will we use these new tools in our work as social workers? Lots of interesting experimentations in play. Here’s an inspiring piece about the emerging role of VR in storytelling and journalism.

Indigenous Futures

Here’s a nice piece about five Indigenous Speculative Futures writers you should know about. Let’s engage!

Other Futures Books to Read

This book came out in 2017 but I’m just learning about it. “Twitter and Tear Gas” is a book about how social media is simultaneously changing, expanding and impairing contemporary social movements. A growing body of knowledge is emerging to study and chronicle how social media is changing patterns, methods and results of new types of communication tools in social change work. This is an important reference.

Sustainability Design

Ran across this certificate program that focuses on preparing people to become “regenerative sustainability design” practitioners. I don’t know a lot about it yet – but I found their materials inspiring and creative. Worth a look!

Hello friends – there are A LOT of signals flying around these days. Growing, working and learning in the futures/foresight space is NEVER a dull moment!! Here’s some signals I’ve run across in the last month.

Tech Matters

Recent stories about increases in use of facial recognition software are on the rise…and so is news of communities who are pushing back. This article gives quite an overview of how communties are successfully pushing or keeping this technology out of their community spaces (and why). And if you’re interested in some future fashionable ways to confuse and bewilder facial recognition software – check out this new artist’s work that creates facial jewelry to make things complicated!

Going deeper into this topic, facial recognition technology is really only the beginning…there are other ways to be “bio tracked.” This article suggests that being “anonymous” will increasingly be a thing of the past. Another interesting article called “The fantasy of opting out” further explores this new world of being seen, tracked and analyzed…and what is may all mean to those who just want to be left alone.

This is a recent NYT article about increasing use of AI in the hiring process (otherwise known as “automated hiring.” While often touted as decreasing or even eliminating bias, this article suggests that in fact, it could make it worse (following from other authors who are tracking racism and bias in this space).

Machine learning has learned to see through walls and in darkness. As always – we ask questions of ourselves and each other…how will this kind of technology be used, who will drive this use, who will lose – and what will vulnerability mean with potential increased use of this kind of tech? More social workers at the table means our ethics are at the table…and some of these questions will be asked.

The Institute for the Future has a new report out called “Connected Living” about increasing use of “smart items” that continue to grow and multiply in the world around us. How will these trends potentially change the way that social work is practiced? Or how will it potentially impact the lives of vulnerable people? As usual, this is a terrific tool to use with students to inspire different kinds of questions – and expand what “human behavior in the social environment” might mean in the future.

Future of Government

The group Nesta (in the UK) has prepared a really interesting publication that explores issues of trust, viability of government and general “future of government” kinds of issues.

Climate Change

I ran across a recent issue of the Journal of Community Practice devoted to the topics of “Ecosocial” work and community practice. It includes a terrific and engaging collection of articles that are relevant for social workers focused on climate change-anchored practice.

Literary Hub recently published a commencement address given by author Naomi Klein called “Advice for the next generation of climate activities.” It is an inspiring piece.

INSPIRATION

I guess we all know it is a particularly challenging time to be alive. It can safely be said that every single social work colleague I know, has also reported that the load is heavy. Here’s an article from the publication “The Grist” that gives us a window on 50 young activists who are changing the world in some way. It is powerful. It is inspiring. Let’s help each other stay fueled…all our work matters!!

Higher Education

Should universities be preparing students for the gig economy? This article says yes. And though we may debate this issue intensely. Certainly there will be value in finding pathways where students see ways for themselves to succeed in the future. Even if we’re not inspired by the gig economy – few would argue that we need to help our students prepare for the way the changing world of work is unfolding.

What does designing the “learning ecosystem of the future” mean? This article says we are in need of a full out upgrade to meet the changing needs of the world we live in now and the one that is coming up right behind it. This piece wrestles with the ultimate challenge – creating learning environments and preparation for folks to become “competent” in jobs that haven’t even been invented yet. More vision, more risk, and more agility will be needed.

Inside Higher Education did a great overview of the “critical digital education” world and noted that some of the most important voices on the topic are coming from outside of higher education. There is a list of names with links to explore more. Their point is that those within higher education institutions face many challenges to approaching the topic with sufficient disruptive sensibilities – and that may be part of why higher education continues to struggle to innovate.

And because it is good to get international now and then to boost our viewpoints – here’s an overview of what leaders in Canada’s system of higher education see on the horizon.

Here’s an article that explores the role of artificial intelligence in higher education and seeks to identify some of the ethical challenges that we’ll be facing as we figure out how to make the most of the available technology.

Curious Futures

I thought this was a super creative article called “Seven Ways to Die in the Future” which does what a really good piece of futures writing should do…made me curious, made me laugh, made me cringe and made me think! Check it out and see if you find yourself in any of these scenarios…think twice as you journey into the future!!

Futures Thinking, Methods and Frameworks

This is a great article about the evolution of the futures movement and some early actors that made huge waves.

Loved this particular article on augmented modernity. Thoughtful and creative provoking the reader to consider what kind of larger transition we are engaged in connected to technology and the role it plays in our life.

The French government is utilizing the creative powers of science fiction to imagine and even plan for future threats. Interesting intersection with futures work – sometimes I referring to futures work as “if you a made a practical real life career of applying and/or dreaming up science fiction” situations. Fun read.

Speculative design practice in the EU more on the intersection of creativity, design fiction and the arts in helping to build better futures.

Climate Change and Human Well-Being

Is artificial photosynthesis possible and could it save the world? Interesting article that describes this possibility.

What is climate change sensitive architecture of the future? Maybe this?

Medical schools are encouraging physician preparation on issues of climate change. Should social work be even more bold in articulating and requiring climate-change related competencies for practice for all workers?

Could climate change put the insurance industry out of business? This article troubled me…thinking about how important insurance is to protect the middle class. How vulnerable would people be without it?

Climate change is already worsening human health around the planet. This article has huge implications for social work policy and practice.

Technology-“Enhanced” Humans

Here’s two articles that you can’t quite believe are real but they are. Who gets to decide if these are a good idea? Or the more pertinent question…just because we can, does it mean we should?

Elon Musk wants to link brains directly to machines.

Scientists grew tiny human brains and then hooked them up to robots

Artificial Intelligence

This particular article is a more nuanced and thoughtful look at the landscape of the “future of jobs.” More than clickbait, as can be common on this topic. How to look at the “future of jobs” issue with AI more ecosystemically

Avoiding/derailing the AI “intelligentsia.” This is a great piece about inclusion, diversity and equity in the design of future AI.

Economic Futures

One of these days, I intend to do a whole blog post about futures frameworks related to economics and “a futures lens on economies of the next chapter.” Until then, here’s a couple of thought provoking pieces I found stimulating and of interest on this topic. Is it possible to upgrade capitalism so that people matter more than money? – and – Beyond capitalism – an urgent need.

Ethics

A couple of weeks ago, I did a tech round up on this blog, underscoring some of the most important ethical issues that are being debated right now in tech and science. This particular piece is a wonderful teaching tool…helping to empower students to “get to ethics” sooner as they move into the emerging workforce. How to interview a tech company? A guide for the ethically minded student

There have been lots of fascinating things (as always) floating around online to spur some new thinking and inspiration related to futures work and study!

If you follow this blog, you may know that I do regular posts about things I find that relate to areas of interest – future of government, well-being, social problem/solution-building, higher education, ethics in tech, and other related topics. You can scroll through some previous posts along these lines here. I curate this for those who are in my particular field of social work education – but also for others that may have common interests. This is a way that I personally/professionally track “signals” that I see, compare, combine and consider about what may be coming!

Excited to share that earlier this summer, I became a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, CA. I’m very intrigued and inspired by the work they do there, and the varied and diverse fields of practice that their team includes. My sabbatical should provide some needed time and space to delve into so many of the interesting projects and explorations they have in play. If you’re interested in learning more about them – they have a fantastic conference once per year (called a 10-year Forecast Summit). This year the theme is about the future of power…a timely and vital topic. Information about the gathering is here. I will be there!!

The Future of Food and Agriculture

Thinking about how to grow food and feed people in the future is something that many in the futures world are thinking about and many scientists are exploring and experimenting with. How about this idea from an international design competition in 2017 – a vertical farm skyscraper? Nothing short of amazing. Along those lines – I noted a couple of other pieces in recent media concerning this topic. The United Nations recently (June 2019) had an international symposium on the future of food and nutrition – you can view the program here. Just a quick read of what was discussed is very illuminating. How will big technology (including artificial intelligence) influence the future of food production/farming? Some more innovations having great potential to influence the future of agriculture are here. Of course, climate change is now and will only continue to be a powerful force influencing everything about a future of agriculture. This piece addresses some of the most important opportunities associated with this issue. This article suggests that Indigenous People (not surprisingly) have methods and knowledge that are deeply needed and relevant as these issues are navigated. Note that the Institute for the Future has a whole lab dedicated to the future of food and food systems. There are some really interesting projects that have come out of this area.

Futures Thinking and Tools

You may recall that I recently had the chance to attend a gathering on the future of nursing facilitated by well-known and regarded futurist, Amy Webb. I reviewed one of Amy’s books “The Big Nine” on this blog as well. Recently, the Harvard Business Review published a terrific, short-form article about how foresight and strategic planning can work together to produce greater impact. If you want to dive deeper, I also recommend her book “The Signals Are Talking,” which I just finished reading, but haven’t had a chance to review on this blog yet.

Intriguing, inspiring and important piece by the BBC on “the perils of short termism” as our planet’s greatest threat. This idea is frequently discussed in futures work – and in many respect – foresight is the opposite of, or anedote to, this limited set of perspectives.

UN Sustainability Goals 2030.

Ever feel like we ought to be doing a better job keeping our eye on the future of humanity in general? I have gotten very interested in the United Nations International Sustainability Goals of late, and honestly – I’m wondering why we aren’t talking more about them in social work (special thanks to those who are…but I’d like to see more!!). I find these goals to be truly visionary, developed by global voices, and actionable both politically and from scholarly perspectives. Here’s another nice overview. And, they obviously lay a groundwork for a progressive and human/planet-centered future. I’m intending to learn more about how and where social work can, is, and should be incorporating these frames and tools into our work. I’m also interested in whom, in the futures world, is building off of/interacting with these frames as part of their practice. Enthusiasm aside, there is always an important (and constructive critique – these goals aren’t a panacea and they are far from perfect). Important dialogue is emerging globally to continue to improve, refine and assure independence from larger economic and political drivers. P.S. Want to have fun with an app? The Sustainability Goals group even has an app you can upload to find other folks near you working on goals that you are interested in. Smart and interesting!

Books I’ve Been Reading!

Just finished reading “Fix the Future” by Andrew Keen. I liked a lot of things about it! Thumbs up. Here’s a review. Will probably do a review at some point.

Also just finished reading “Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code” by Ruha Benjamin. Huge thumbs up on this one! Will definitely be doing a review with strong implications for social work. I would go so far as to say social workers and social work scholars should run out and get this book ASAP. Important and significant implications for our work and scholarship. Here’s a review.

Artificial Intelligence

There is always more to learn and consider regarding the future of AI and what it means for humanity and the future. I found this brand new article quite interesting – invite an anthropologist to weigh in! I’m always looking for articles and resources that shed new light on the challenges and variations associated with evolving our systems of ethics faster to keep ahead of new developments and applications of AI. This piece came out last year (on challenges associated with ethics and AI) – but has a terrific timeline that I found quite helpful and interesting. Here’s another recent piece that compares AI ethics guidelines with other frames related to law and human rights – and suggests the latter may actually be more constructive in achieving more ethical aims. I found this particular blog post, by Ph.D. Student and researcher on human-computer interaction (and related power dynamics), Ali Alkhatib to be particularly moving as he explores issue of power and which stakeholders get to weigh in on vital matters of AI impacts by stating “the voices, opinions and needs of disempowered stakeholders are being ignored today in favor of stakeholders with power, money and influence – as they have been historically…” Note he is critiquing a new effort at Stanford called the “Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence.” As a social worker, I have found this need for increased power analysis, creative and meaningful engagement of real people in democratic spaces advising and contributing to a future where AI grows in prominence to be urgent to a future that is good for all.

Shout out to Dr. Desmond Patton for an impactful, inspiring and activating recent piece about why social workers belong in artificial intelligence and the tech sector in general!

MIT’s “Future Factory” featured on 60 Minutes

There was a great segment about MIT’s Media Lab on a recent episode of 60 Minutes – well known in futures circles. The piece gives a really interesting perspective on how the lab works. So many interesting implications here for the future of humanity – and how “innovation” is framed, discussed and produced. While I am impressed (and even “gobsmacked!!) by what I see in this episode (I am a fan of their work), as a social worker I worry that these increasingly elite spaces threaten to be challenged as their own echo chamber, with limited voices and actors taking center stage. While I admire so much of what they do (and there is some attention to issues of social justice in their work) – is there a critique needed that ultimately could/should open and broaden the impact and value of the work done in this important space? With a decidedly “pro tech” and even “tech utopian” kind of lens – it seems that ideas and innovations that relate to other ways of thinking or being (Indigenous, Afrocentric, or other perspectives for example) are excluded. I have a bias (that is backed up by lots of good research on innovation) that the more perspectives around the table – the more meaningful and far-reaching the innovation! Note: MIT Media Lab has also been in the news in the last couple of weeks regarding upheavals with the revelation that some money from unsavory sources was revealed.

The Future of Law and the Legal Profession

A few months ago, I did a review of the highly impactful book “The Future of the Professions” on this blog (which I continue to recommend to anyone who will listen). This past month, I had occasion to meet with an attorney who was most interested in the future of the legal profession and on her way to becoming trained as a futurist here in Portland. After getting together, I came back to do a little searching about what I could find to help her get started on her journey. Dr. Susskind is back at it with some specific scholarship and thinking about the legal profession. Here’s a talk he gave at Harvard Law School on this topic (from 2017), an article, and a review of a new book he’s written on the future of law and the legal profession. All of this has enormous implications to help other professions (and for the purposes of this blog – social work) understand how the changes occurring in the world are indeed changing and evolving professions, whether the professions themselves are attending to this or not. I found these resources to full of sparks, insights and linkages to lots of futures topics.

The Future of Work

Here’s another glimpse of what some are saying about the future of work. Focused on “globotics” – this is a summary of a new book by author Richard Baldwin about evolution/revolution going on before our eyes, but not necessarily with our consent or participation. Looks interesting – but I haven’t read it yet.

Welcome to Summer!

After a brief hiatus involving changing jobs (hello sabbatical!) and changing houses after 20 years (hello new house!), I’m back to share some futures items I thought were noteworthy from the past month – regarding topics I find important in my focus on the future of social welfare, higher education, the arts and more!

Afrofuturism on the Rise

Inspiring new piece from the Guardian in the UK, about the increasing attention and accolades afforded to Afrofuturism globally. Super place to get some good ideas for new reads before summer is done!

Future of Higher Education

Amazon has announced that it is getting into the training business with some serious dollars invested in this quest. This is a short piece that lays out what is involved and the scope of their aspiration. While there are many corporate partnerships with higher education successfully operating, some express concern that this bypassing of universities altogether could be an emerging trend. What is the “purpose” of higher education beyond preparing folks to participate in the workforce? What is the difference between education and training? What is a future where folks are continuously trained but not educated? What happens to the idea of academic freedom, open inquiry, challenging multiple points of view or politically unpopular perspectives in such a scenario? These are some of the questions that such movement inspires.

This recent piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education highlights a long-discussed but recently amplified case for free higher education nationally. It challenges faculty and administrators to be more vocal advocates.

New to me but active for years is Bryan Alexander’s robust website on the future of higher education. He describes it as “an ongoing, participatory, and open video conversation about the future of higher education.” So many good things here with representatives from a wide expanse of our sector. One can spend a nice long while exploring – and with good results! Particularly good segment here on the future of academic freedom. Check it out.

Good short piece on Washington state’s new plans to make college education free for all.

Future of Mental Health and Social Welfare

Responding to challenges from its members, Pinterest (and numerous prestigious partners) recently launched a new service through its webpage to help users find resources to manage stress and anxiety. Interesting spin on “go where the people are” kind of approach rather than starting freestanding apps or services. Worth a look.

Going digital to improve addiction recovery rates is the focus of this article challenging the addiction intervention and treatment fields to seek out, experiment with and use new approaches to supporting those suffering. Here’s another brief article that suggests a new generation of digital tools to respond to mental health needs of the world’s populations is coming and needed. The name of the report’s author is the Global Council of Future Neurotechnologies – which in and of itself should awaken our sensibilities, our ethics and our sense of inquiry into a rapidly expanding set of options that will be increasingly part of our mental health toolkit. Are we ready? Other authors explore the future of the mental health sector (neurotechnology figuring prominently) here, here and here. Finally, even the National Institute of Mental Health is increasingly focused on a futures lens.

Sobering story on the coming climate change-related migration – and the ways in which social welfare will be impacted (negatively). This piece suggests that the rich will be able to escape the impacts of climate change at even higher rates than has been the case, and that the poor will not. How can human rights protections evolve to address this concern? Urgent for us all to consider.

Race and Tech

Excellent article (and related paper) on advancing racial literacy in tech. There is also a recording of a related talk given on this topic here.

Futures/Foresight Lens

Fun article about why thinking of “crazy-sounding scenarios” about the future is smart and increasingly more popular all the time. Classic futures information!Powerful and well-written piece regarding the role and responsibilities of the entire futures field to tackle global inequities as part of its moral responsibilities. This line inspires me: “We have an opportunity to re-imagine human and planetary flourishing in the 21st century, and to achieve this, we need radical hope and inclusive progress.” Thank you author Aarathi Krishnan.

Data and Privacy

Quite interesting to read the UK’s recently released guidelines for “Data Protection Regulation” and imagine what it would look like if all countries operated openly, transparently with these such guidelines. Many countries are wrestling with this issue.

Government and “Technocracy”

What is the future of citizenship? What if membership in a virtual community connected with issues such as sovereignty? This article explores these and other complex, fascinating and slightly unnerving dimensions to these kinds of questions.