A highlight to HITEC® Europe‘s 2019 education program is the forward-looking keynote presentation by award-winning futurist Rohit Talwar. Talwar is an entrepreneur and specialist advisor on business transformation, disruptive strategies and radical innovation. Profiled as one the top 10 global future thinkers by the Independent newspaper, his controversial and inspiring keynote speeches enable teams to think differently, act fast and be first to the future.
“Rohit includes a good mixture in his presentation of technology, as well as management and business strategies to cope with the various disruptors that will be coming our way,” said HITEC Europe Advisory Council Chair Derek Wood.
Through his work, Talwar travels the world researching the innovations, developments and ideas shaping the future and uses these powerful insights, case studies and provocative imagery to shed light on the intangible and “yet to be seen” developments. His interests include the evolving world of technology in business and society, the future of emerging economies and industries, the future of education and embedding foresight in organizations.
Talwar’s research has explored the evolution of technology and its transformative impact. In his writings he addresses a number of subjects that explore the impact of technology on business and society:
On The Future of Business
“We are seeing a ‘possibility explosion’ from exponential science and technology developments. Not only that, we are seeing the potential of the combinational impact of technologies that are being developed in tandem, e.g. artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. What we know about these technologies is that they will drive dramatic and rapid change; in society, across industries, business, leisure, government, healthcare, and education.”
In his article, Talwar explores the effects and exponential possibilities of the most recent technological bursts of progress — and identifies six high value areas where technological advances that will have a fundamental impact across society and all business sectors.
On the Future of Work
“There have been several studies into the possible impact of automation — mostly through AI and robotics — on jobs and employment. There are a range of perspectives, but looking across the studies, the broad consensus is that something significant will happen — and arguably is already happening —to the jobs market. We can see evidence now that many jobs — or task components within jobs — will be automated.
“The questions are: Which jobs? What proportion of existing jobs? What and how many new jobs will new economic activity create? The choice we have as a society is to take action now to prepare the ground work for a range of different responses, to prepare for a complex and uncertain future world of work, or to do nothing and face increasing complexity and potentially a widening wealth/ poverty gap that could have grave consequences for the fabric of our society.”
Read the full article for insights gleaned from these studies and Talwar’s take on the future of work.
On the Future Disrupted
“The world is becoming increasingly aware that there is no such thing as ‘normal’ any more.
“Shocks have become something we accept as part of the mix in the modern world and — in a sense — nothing really shocks us anymore. However, preparing for shocks is important whether as individuals, society, governments, or businesses — and many can be anticipated. Indeed, this is core part of the work that we as futurists do. Shocks can be identified through a systematic review or ‘horizon scan’ of the trends, forces, developments, ideas, and weak signals of possible future changes.”
In his article, Talwar explores Ten Shocks that Could Overturn our World and how these disruptive outcomes could have a truly transformative impact on life, society, government, the economy and business.
On the Future of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality
During his exploratory keynote Destination Unknowable — The Next Five Years of Business and Technology Disruptions, Talwar will take HITEC Europe attendees on a journey to explore the key technologies that could impact the specific industries of travel and tourism in the next five years, and examine how they could transform our organisations, strategies, propositions and business models.
Register to Attend HITEC Europe Today
Register to attend HITEC Europe this April 9–11, 2019 in the stunning destination of Palma, Mallorca, Spain and be sure to attend Talwar’s session on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 10.
For more on the location, read Destination HITEC: All about Mallorca, the Picture-Perfect Locale of HITEC Europe 2019. Make your reservations now for hotel and transportation. Special rates are available at four Melia properties; reserve early for best availability.
The Full Conference option is an all-access pass to HITEC Europe that includes Talwar’s keynote presentation, as well as: the E20X competition and reception, education sessions, HITEC welcome reception, general session and two days of access to the exhibit hall (Wednesday and Thursday). Please see the schedule to learn more. Avoid the lines on-site and get the best price by registering online today. (Registration fees increase after March 9, 2019.)
Become a Guest Blogger
Take advantage of complimentary registration to HITEC Houston by becoming an official event guest blogger. Share your insights and experiences from this elite event with HFTP’s global audience on HFTP Connect. If you are interested, please send a message of interest along with any writing samples to Briana Gilmore, HFTP communications coordinator, at Briana.Gilmore@hftp.org.
The deadline to apply to become a guest blogger at HITEC Europe is Friday, March 15, 2019.
Briana Gilmore 
is the HFTP Communications Coordinator.
Briana can be reached at Briana.Gilmore@hftp.org or +1 (512) 220-4017.
