One of my domains of knowledge is Futuristics, a study of the future. I rely on the Laws of Systematic Technology Evolution (a part of Laws of Systematic Innovation) to predict the likely dynamics in the world of the future and can describe the major technology trends that will change the way you live and do business in next 20-30 years.

The changes will be far more dramatic than what we have experienced in last 20-30 years. Sufficed to say that manufacturing, distribution, wholesale and retail will likely be largely a relic of the yesteryear. Things will be produced where we need them, when we need them, how we need them, in a quantity we need, from local resources. Think in terms of marriage between 3D-printers and Nano-technology.

People will still buy things: designs, ideas, advice, learning, guidance, social status, health and fitness technologies, identity protection, organic naturally produced items. But the way we will be buying things will be completely different, most likely not transactional at all. More likely it will not even be people that will be doing buying, but their electronic agents, communities and other associations.

Much of the world will be slow to transition in to this world and disparity will increase many-fold, causing all kinds of friction. Transition will not be smooth or consistent. First to move in electronic only realms will be content rich materials: books, music, video. Then it will be items that can be manufactured out of basic plastics and energy: furniture, clothing, parts for transportation devices. Eventually, it will be highly complex items, that are made up of complex molecules, that contain many elements: food and medicine, body and mind enhancements.

This world is coming soon. Things we are capable of doing today already partially fulfill many of these seemingly science-fiction projections of the future. But neither you, not your family, nor your company, nor your school or government are ready to start thinking in terms of this world, yet. And until you are ready, you will not be able to benefit from this transition to the degree that others will.

Are you ready to consider the world of the future and your place in it? Let’s talk about the way your industry will transition in to the world beyond Information, in to the world of Knowledge and Wisdom and how you can position yourself to succeed both during the transition and in the world that is more different from today than much of the science-fiction literature has led you to believe.