Institute For The Future

IFTF Vantage’s new public webinar series is a powerful Q&A forum for you and your organization.

Moderated one-hour Q&A sessions with experienced futurists, IFTF Vantage Ask a Futurist webinars are a forum for you to ask questions and hear answers from IFTF futurists drawing on insights from years of research and experience. Ask a Futurist webinars are free and open to all, and each session will be archived and available below.

Future of Work and Its impact on Health

On Tuesday, June 29, 2021, Institute for the Future Research Director Rachel Maguire and Blue Shield of California Foundation Senior Program Officer Rachel Wick discussed the two year foresight collaboration between IFTF and BSCF to explore how present and future work conditions will impact the health of workers, their families, and their communities. Rachel and Rachel went through the urgent questions that drove this research and what it uncovered about how work arrangements such as gig, contingent, or shift work, technological forces such as automation, and economic policies are contributing to new health risks and declining overall well-being of workers, and that of their families, and the community at large. Read the full report here.

Future of the Attention Economy

On June 10, 2021, IFTF Ambassador to the Future, Daria Lamb, hosted a conversation with Tim Hwang, Data & Society Researcher and author of "The Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet," and Ben Gansky, artist, designer, community organizer, and researcher focusing on the politics and social aspects of data ecosystems.

Optimistic Futures with Jacques Barcia

On Tue, Jan 19, 2021, IFTF Vantage Research Director Vanessa Mason hosted a conversation exploring optimistic futures with award-winning journalist, author, and futurist Jacques Barcia. Jacques' core interests are in the futures of narratives and narratives about futures. He is co-founder of Futuring Today, a network blending foresight, design, and science fiction to prototype futures.

Future of Families with Ben Hamamoto

Self-driving cars, augmented reality, AI—when you ask people what the future will look like, there are a set of technological changes we all know are on the horizon. But when it comes to social change, we have less shared visions. IFTF Vantage Research Director Ben Hamamoto and Family Story Project Executive Director Nicole Rodgers talk about our recent, jointly-released report, Families in Flux: Imagining the Next Generation of the American Family. We discuss how one of our core social institutions, the family, could change profoundly in the coming decades, describe what that change could look like, and pull out implications for what that means for other institutions and organizations.

Design Futures with Jake Dunagan

IFTF Research Director Jake Dunagan  explores how media, design, and immersive experiences help people feel futures. Jake’s focus is the examination of social invention and the redesign of systems in light of current and emerging tools and knowledge. He has conducted research, written, and lectured on a wide range of topics, including strategic foresight, governance design, comprehensive cognitive design, intellectual property, judicial foresight, kids’ technologies, Internet law and politics, mobility, and the future of learning and work. 

The Hyperconnected World with Mike Liebhold & Nick Monaco [video coming soon]

What exactly does the hyperconnected world of 2030–2040 look like?

The hyperconnected world is a future in which 5G networks have been widely and globally deployed, and in which the normal, day-to-day functioning of society depends on billions of connected devices having highly reliable, low-latency connectivity. On August 28, IFTF Distinguished Fellow Mike Liebhold and IFTF Digital Intelligence Lab Director discussed IFTF's new report with IFTF Vantage Research Director Vanessa Mason.

XR and Simulation with Toshi Hoo [video coming soon]

On August 12, 2020, IFTF Emerging Media Lab Director Toshi Anders Hoo along with IFTF Vantage Research Director Vanessa Mason explored and answered your questions on XR, simulation, and other experiential technologies that will transform how we relate to the world and each other.

Our Magical Future—Science, Art, and the Imagination with David Pescovitz

Futures thinking calls for us to imagine different possibilities.

Creative mediums like art and science fiction are vital tools in every futurist's toolkit, making what's imagined feel more real and provocative. On May 6, David Pescovitz, editor/partner at the influential tech/culture website Boing Boing, and IFTF Editorial & Research Director Mark Frauenfelder discussed how art and science fiction can allow us to create present-day provocations that build possible futures.

Full-Spectrum Thinking: How to Escape Boxes in a Post-Categorical Future  with author Bob Johansen

Full-spectrum thinking is a creative mix of skills, literacies, and mindset. It will unlock clarity while challenging certainty.

On April 23, IFTF Distinguished Fellow Bob Johansen, author of the new book Full-Spectrum Thinking, spoke with IFTF Vantage Research Director Vanessa Mason about the book and addressed questions about learning to see new gradients of possibility in a chaotic world.

Feeling Our Way Into the Future with Jane McGonigal

Emotions play a powerful role in our responses to foresight—and can both compel us to take action and paralyze us in overwhelm.

On February 12, 2020, IFTF Director of Games Research + Development Jane McGonigal along with IFTF Vantage Research Director Vanessa Mason answered your questions about gaming, simulation, and how we can feel our way into the future.

For more information about becoming an IFTF Vantage partner, please contact:

John Clamme | jclamme@iftf.org