The Speakers and their Provocations
Kate Bailey, Senior Research Associate, Food Process Innovation Unit, Cardiff Business School
Kate has a background in supply chain and production management, having worked for major international companies within the electronics and automotive industries. Kate headed the research team for the Chatham House Food project which examined the effects of strategic global influences on the future of the UK food supply and co-authored the accompanying report Food Futures: Rethinking UK Strategy. Her current research interests include supply chain vulnerability, food supply networks and cross-chain collaboration. More
Provocation
As global population looks set to grow from 6 billion to 9 billion, food production will need to double at a time where there are real concerns over the availability of energy, land and water as well as the challenge of climate change.
Here in the UK, we may be facing an end to an era of ever cheaper and abundant food. Technology will need to play its part in transforming production but is it the only solution? How far will we also need to change our attitudes to food and food supply?
Great points. What do you think? How do our attitudes need to change? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
Image credit: worldproutassembly.org
Martyn’s research interests span both computer science and biology. He leads the Novel Computation Group, where members pursue work on agent-based simulation, computer architecture, biological computing and collective dynamics. He currently holds an EPSRC-funded Bridging the Gaps proposal “Nano-Info-Bio” which is about bringing nanoscience, informatics and biology together. Martyn is committed to encouraging dialogue between the public and scientists. He holds a Public Engagement Fellowship and is on the board of Directors of local ethical community exchange Arc Space Manchester. More
Provocation
The engineering of living cells is now routine; synthetic biologists are beginning to harness the power of life for the purposes of human-engineered processing.
Cells, gels and DNA are the wetware of the 21st century.
Engineered biological micro-bots will be directed at some of the most challenging problems facing humanity, but what are the risks, and who might get hurt?
A slightly scary future, some might say.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Image credit: New Scientist
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Remco has worked at universities across the UK and in Australia. Originally from the Netherlands he completed his first degree (DPhil) in Human Movement Sciences at the Free University in Amsterdam, subsequently completing his PhD in the Psychology Department of the University of York. Remco’s research interests are diverse and include stress and coping, psychomotor aspects of ageing, rehabilitation from injury, personality, and exercise in clinical populations (Obese, MS patients). More
Provocation
By the year 2060, nearly 30% of the UK population will be over the age of 65, according to this article by the Independent.
What are the implications of this and how are we going to be able to look after this group of people when resources are already stretched?
We need to have a radical re-think in terms of healthcare, the environment and the economy if we are going to be able to secure the future of humanity.
Your thoughts? Share them in the comments below.
Image credit: Age Concern Cardiff
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Callum is an internationally known environmental specialist who has worked in the aviation industry for the past 15 years at Manchester Airport where he established and directed a Bird Control Department, its Environment Department and its international environmental consultancy business. More.
Provocation
The air transport industry has over the past 50 years driven patterns of trade and migration and in so doing helped create the Global economy and multicultural society.
The twin issues on climate change and peak oil are a threat to the future growth and development of aviation and the role it will play in the second half of the 20th Century as at present there is no alternative to carbon based fuels for air transport.
So will we get a step change in technology to carbon free flight or will we take our holidays in Blackpool rather than Benidorm?
What are your thoughts? Please share them in the comments below.
Image credit: Weayaya
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Prof. Jon Whittle, Chair of Software Engineering, Lancaster University
Jon is a Professor in the Computing Department at Lancaster University and is also a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Scholar. He currently leads two major multidisciplinary projects related to the Digital Economy — one in using technology to make public spaces safer; another in looking at fads in the software industry. More.
Provocation
Twitter, Bebo, Facebook, mash-ups, web 3.0, delicious…. where does it all end? Are all these new technologies really improving our lives? Or are they just a drain on our time and resources, keeping us away from the things that really matter….?
The time is ripe for developments in technology to change society for the better. There are unprecedented opportunities to solve some of society’s most complex challenges through the appropriate use of technology. But we must be careful to focus on substance not fads.
Unless we understand the impact of technologies on society, we may never fully realise their potential.
Wise words indeed. How can we start understanding the impact of technologies like Facebook on society? Where does one start?
Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
Image Credit: ICTKM
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After graduating with a Law degree in 1997, Warren’s first taste of employment was with iconic record label Factory Records, the company responsible for launching the careers of Happy Mondays, Joy Division and New Order.
Warren founded four23 in 2004. four23is a multi disciplinary creative studio that deliver marketing, communication and branding projects for clients in Fashion, Arts and Culture and Architecture. Clients include Adidas Originals, Samsung, Virgin, bfi, Channel 4 and Gehl Architects. four23 also owns a licensed beatnick-style coffeehouse in Manchester, situated below their studio, called ‘An Outlet’.
Warren is an active board member of the DCMS initiative, Creative Partnerships, part of the Urban Renaissance Design Advisory Panel in his hometown of Barnsley and is a Marketing graduate of the Kelloggs Business School in Chicago. More