Media Center
> July 28, 2005
Pressley Ridge Futurist Examines Future Technologies
PITTSBURGH—What if you could map the future of technology, and make smart decisions about what kinds of technology will transform your industry and provide growth opportunities? Scott W. Erickson, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Pressley Ridge and fellow futurist Joel A. Barker explore these options in their new book, Five Regions of the Future, preparing your business for tomorrow’s technology revolution.
The authors provide a brand new way to look at the interplay of technology, business and daily life. Five Regions of the Future explores the choices and describes the options that are unfolding for humanity. As futurists who have been studying this phenomenon for the past twenty-five years, Erickson and Barker believe that they have identified five major directions the future could take.
“We’ve identified five distinct technologies that have their own unique traits and benefits. We’re hopeful that after industry leaders read this book, they begin to recognize that decisions affect not only their end product, but what products and services will be effected in the future”, stated Erickson. “We’re confident these ideas will stimulate conversation about the future and help maximize the benefits of technology.”
This book offers a bold new way of looking at today’s rapidly evolving technologies as "ecosystems" that operate with a distinct set of values, advantages, and disadvantages:
- Super Tech: Bigger, better, more! (e.g., fusion power)
- Limits Tech: Use what you’ve got (e.g., aerogel insulation)
- Local Tech: Think small, think home (e.g., electric wind turbines)
- Nature Tech: Be one with nature (e.g., organic plastics)
- Human Tech: What lies within us (e.g., stem cells)
“The Human Tech region is of particular interest to us because of our mission to help troubled children.” stated B. Scott Finnell, President and CEO of Pressley Ridge. The Human Technologies focus on both the physical and mental capacities. Dr. Erickson’s book examines internal and external measuring tools to understand the human being.
From wave power to individual DNA chips that identify our sensitivity to allergens, this book provides a totally new way to understand and take advantage of the future of technology. Each technology affords great opportunity for new businesses and new ways of living.
For more information, interview and a photo, contact Yvonne English Roebuck at 412.442.4612.