Tim Bennet, Chief Executive of NZX, discussed some elephants in the room at day one of the three-day ForesightNZ workshop in Wellington on 27–29 April.
You can watch the video of his presentation on the McGuinness Institute’s YouTube channel, or view it below.
Tim described three trends that will impact us in the next 5, 10 and 20 years:
- You will never own a car in 10 years time. Tim argues that the combination of Uber, electric and driverless cars will make owning a car redundant. The consequences and implications of this are dramatic for related industries, as well as how our cities are structured.
- You will never read a newspaper as we know it because the core funding in media: classified advertising, has been decimated. We are caught in a situation whereby news outlets are providing news that people want to hear, rather than what’s good for them. He raises the question; what does this mean for democracy to have news without analysis?
- Everything will be self service: soon we will have virtual currencies and mobile devices that will house vital personal information. He then asserted that soon identity will not be defined by age, gender, ethnicity or nationality. Instead, it will become what you own and everything you have done. Tim argued that the environment is sure to change in the next 5 to 20 years and we need to adapt and embrace it.
ForesightNZ playing cards
Tim’s presentation led to the development of the ForesightNZ Trend Card: Urban Density in NZ. This card is one out of a pack of 64 that was developed at the ForesightNZ workshop. Participants created a robust foresight tool in the form of a pack of cards based on the events and trends that they believe could significantly shape New Zealand’s long-term future. They then designed three different games to play with the pack. The games aim to develop a deeper understanding of the possible futures that might occur if a small number of those cards played out in real life. The pack of cards are in the final stage of production and will soon be made available to download, print and cut your own – keep an eye out on the website. They are also available to purchase from our online store. The accompanying booklet is now published on the website and available to purchase here.
About the ForesightNZ workshop
Project: ForesightNZ aims to build public policy capability in New Zealand by encouraging long-term, agile thinking around our uncertain future. Initiated in 2008, ForesightNZ is about conceptualising the broad range of possible futures for New Zealand through up-to-date tools and conceptual approaches used in the field of futures studies. The primary focus of the ForesightNZ: Untangling New Zealand’s long-term future workshop was to develop a way to deal with the increasing complexity and uncertainty in the world around us. This workshop was a collaboration between the New Zealand Treasury and the McGuinness Institute. To watch other speaker presentation videos from the ForesightNZ workshop, head to the McGuinness Institute’s YouTube Channel.