James Canton

James Canton

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Futurist, Author and Visionary Business Advisor

Dr. James Canton is a leading global futurist, social scientist, keynote presenter, author, and visionary business advisor.

For over 30 years, he has been insightfully predicting the key trends that have shaped our world. He is a leading authority on future trends with an emphasis on harnessing innovation. Dr. Canton has advised three White House Administrations and global business leaders. He is the author of Future Smart: Managing the GameChanging Trends that will Transform Your World, The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World in the 21st Century and TechnoFutures: How LeadingEdge Innovations Will Transform Business in the 21st Century.

Dr. Canton is CEO and Chairman of the Institute for Global Futures, a leading think tank he founded in 1990 that advises business and government on future trends. He advises the Global Fortune 1000 on trends in innovation, financial services, health care, population, life sciences, energy, security, workforce, climate change and globalization.

From a broad range of industries, clients include: IBM, BP, Intel, Philips, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Boeing, FedEx, and Proctor & Gamble. Dr. Canton has served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Research in Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, the MIT Media Lab Advisory Board in Europe, Motorola’s Visionary Advisory Board and the International Advisory Council, Economic Development Board, State of Singapore.

He has been an advisor to the National Science Foundation. Recognized as “one of the top presenters in the 21st century” by Successful Meetings Magazine, Dr. Canton is a highly sought-after keynote presenter. He has spoken to thousands of organizations on five continents.

He is noted for his fascinating, informative, dynamic and entertaining keynotes. A frequent guest of the media, Dr. Canton is a commentator on CNN. He was named “the Digital Guru” by CNN and “Dr. Future” by Yahoo. Dr. Canton’s media coverage has included CNBC, Fox, PBS, ABC, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Report, The New York Times, US News and World Report, CEO, CIO and CFO Magazines.

His Huffington Post blog and Twitter feed is following by a global audience.   

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Speaking topics

Future Trends: The Top Trends That Will Shape the 21st Century Enterprise

Welcome to the New Future. How are you going to cope with the most challenging business changes you have ever faced? What are the top trends you must know about today? How can you better plan for the future? The Institute for Global Futures provides an analysis of the top trends, scenarios and strategies that will shape the future of your enterprise. Whether that future is one minute or one year from today you need to be prepared to face the future challenges and risks.

Business leaders today need critical knowledge about emerging trends. Leaders must learn to navigate real-time change – whether that change comes from terrorism, competitors, customers, technology or global economic factors. Developing an ability to anticipate the future in the face of uncertainty, disruptions and chaos will be an essential part of leading the 21st century enterprise. Complex and fast changing trends must be integrated into business strategy.

An understanding of key future trends will drive opportunity for business leaders world wide. Key questions that must be integrated into future business strategy are: How will changing customer demographics affect business strategy? What workface shifts will attract talent? What are the top technologies and business processes that will shape competitive advantage? How will future economic trends affect markets? What new opportunities does science offer? What role will globalization and trade play in the future? What are the essential strategies to building an agile organization and navigating uncertainty?

In the following Future Trends section you will find forecasts affecting technology, customers, science and business. Developing a systems-approach to understanding the future is what this section is about. Both standalone trends and the fusion of different trends will shape future opportunity. Understanding which future trends will have an impact on you, your organization and your marketplace will determine your future success.

Customer Trends: Customers Are Shaping The Future

Customers are driving change and setting the trends that will shape the future. Are you listening? If your organization or government wants to be in alignment with the future, listen to customers needs, wants and concerns-not just what they want today but what they will want in the future. Listening for this future value is the key to your furure product and service development.

Understand how the new demographics can be a powerful force for charting the future of your enterprise. Building Future Maps and Scenarios around how to enable customers’ future needs will give your organization an edge on the competition. Those organizations that will lead their customers into the future, by listening to their desires will be successful.

Reaching The Real-Time Customer
Real-time customers in an on-demand fluid marketplace is what’s coming. These Real-Time Customers cut across all demographic segments. They have one thing in common: higher expectations of service, essential knowledge, the search for the best deal and they want it now! Understanding and reaching these customers, through Customer Relationship Management, data mining, wireless teleservices and online will make for a profitable future..

Culturally Diverse Consumers
Global diversity is a key trend for organizations to better understand because of the larege immature markets in emerging nations as well as the influx of diverse consumers in the US, Europe, South America and Asia. The Hispanic segment alone at 35 million in the US represents a potent new marketplace for workforce talent and consumer purchasing.

As the enterprise goes global, looking for new markets to expand and grow, an attention to the culturally diverse consumer will be necessary. How will culturally diverse consumer segments create opportunity? What are the most profitable trends affecting diverse consumers you need to understand to grow your enterprise?

Aging Baby Boomers
The largest concentration of wealth on the planet is in the hands of the aging baby boomers, 78 million strong-and getting older. How can we better understand and reach this powerful consumer segment? As health enhancement and genomic next generation medicine emerges, people will live longer and be healthier. How is can this be turned into competitive advantage? What is the impact on health care, workforce and society?

From Generation X to the Millennium Consumers
Young, smart, and high tech savvy. How is your organization changing it’s culture, products and services to attract these new generations of customers and workforce talent? Organizations that learn the unique cultural needs of these very different demographic groups will thrive in the future.

Global Diversity
Women will make up over 50% of the U.S. workforce by the year 2010. Will your organization be ready to meet this challenge?

Video clips

The New Future of Business and Society

The Future of Medicine

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