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SUMMARY:The WTF Economy - Tim O'Reilly\, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media
  Inc
DTSTART:20170523T160000Z
DTEND:20170523T173000Z
UID:TALK72108@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Professor John Naughton
DESCRIPTION:*Abstract*\n\nWhat do self-driving cars\, on-demand services\,
  AI\, and income inequality have in common? They are telling us\, loud and
  clear\, that we’re in for massive changes in work\, business\, and the 
 economy. We are heading pell-mell towards a world being shaped by technolo
 gy in ways that we don’t understand and have many reasons to fear.\n\nJu
 st about everyone’s asking WTF? (“What the F***?”) but also\, more c
 haritably “What’s the future?”) Where is technology taking us? Is it
  going to fill us with astonishment or dismay? And most importantly\, what
  is our role in deciding that future? How do we make choices today that wi
 ll result in a world we want to live in?\n\nWhat is the future when more a
 nd more work can be done by intelligent machines instead of people\, or on
 ly done by people in partnership with those machines? What happens to work
 ers\, and what happens to the companies that depend on their purchasing po
 wer? What’s the future of business when technology-enabled networks and 
 marketplaces are better at deploying talent than traditional companies? Wh
 at’s the future of education when on-demand learning outperforms traditi
 onal universities in keeping skills up to date?\n\nWe are at a very danger
 ous moment in history. The concentration of wealth and power in the hands 
 of a global elite is eroding the power and sovereignty of nation-states at
  the same time as globe-spanning technology platforms are enabling algorit
 hmic control of firms\, institutions\, and societies\, shaping what billio
 ns of people see and understand and how the economic pie is divided. At th
 e same time\, income inequality and the pace of technology change are lead
 ing to a populist backlash featuring opposition to science\, distrust of o
 ur governing institutions\, and fear of the future\, making it ever more d
 ifficult to solve the problems we have created.\n\nThe biggest changes are
  still ahead. Every industry and every organization will have to transform
  itself in the next decades\, in multiple ways\, or fade away. We need to 
 ask ourselves whether the fundamental social safety nets of the developed 
 world will survive the transition\, and more importantly\, what we will re
 place them with. We need a focused\, high-level conversation about the dee
 p ways in which global computer networks and platforms are transforming ho
 w we do business\, how we work\, and how we live.  This talk frames that c
 onversation.\n\n*About the speaker*\n\nTim O’Reilly is the founder and C
 EO of O’Reilly Media Inc. He publishes books\, runs conferences\, invest
 s in early-stage startups\, urges companies to create more value than they
  capture\, and tries to change the world by spreading and amplifying the k
 nowledge of innovators. Tim is also a partner at O’Reilly AlphaTech Vent
 ures\, an early stage venture firm\, and is on the boards of Code for Amer
 ica\, Maker Media\, PeerJ\, Civis Analytics\, and PopVox. \n\nOver the yea
 rs\, Tim has built a culture where sustainable innovation is a key tenet o
 f business philosophy. His active engagement with technology communities b
 oth drives the company’s product development and informs its marketing.\
 n\nHe graduated from Harvard in 1975 with a degree in Classics. He began w
 orking as a technical writer\, and soon began writing and publishing his o
 wn books on technology topics. Since 1978\, O’Reilly has been a chronicl
 er and catalyst of leading-edge development\, honing in on the most signif
 icant technology trends and galvanising their adoption by amplifying “fa
 int signals” from tech innovators. His company is publisher of the iconi
 c “animal books” for software developers\, creator of the first commer
 cial website (GNN)\, organiser of the summit meeting that gave the open so
 urce software movement its name\, and he was a key figure in the “Web 2.
 0” renaissance after the original dot-com bubble burst. In 2009\, with h
 is "Gov 2.0 Summit\," he framed a conversation about the modernization of 
 government technology that has shaped policy and spawned initiatives at th
 e Federal\, State\, and local level\, and around the world.  He has now tu
 rned his attention to the implications of AI\, the on-demand economy\, and
  other technologies that are transforming the nature of work and the futur
 e shape of the business world.\n\nAn archive of his writings\, speeches an
 d talks can be found "here":http://www.oreilly.com/tim/\n\n*BOOKING*\nThis
  event is free but space is limited.  To reserve a seat click "here":https
 ://www.eventbrite.com/e/tim-oreilly-the-wtf-economy-tickets-33676786174
LOCATION:LT1\, Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Builiding\, West Cambri
 dge site
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