Hi all: Sitting on the plane to Atlanta, I've spent the last hour reading a number of histories of the first decade of the Institute for the Future, from 1968 to 1978. What's really interesting, which I never knew, is that the early support IFTF received from the Ford Foundation and Wesleyan in Connecticut were to a great degree designed to create a center that would apply computational methods to urban problems and the study of the future of cities. (Urban simulation was the rage in the late 1960s, led by people like operations research pioneer John Forrester at MIT)
It's got me thinking a lot about this list... once upon a time back in 1998, 1999, TELECOM-CITIES was an active community of researchers trying to figure out what fiber optics and cell phones and dot-com startups meant for the future of cities. Over the years, the list has maintained that focus, but growth of readership has been stagnant for years. My own postings to the list are, often as not, an afterthought or a rudimentary form of clipping. I've started to realize that the scope of the list is too narrow. Really what I'm interested in, and I think many of us are, is the future of cities in a world of advanced computing and telecommunications. I've also started to realize there are much better ways to disseminate the content we share here. As such, I'm considering moving this list over to a new blog, and broaden the topic to the "Future of Cities". My goal is to continue to share the kind of information I always have, but with more commentary and analysis, and with more of a long-term view that will connect to my other work at the Institute for the Future. My longer-term goal is to build a network of experts who we can periodically convene to develop forecasts of global urban futures. My ideal goal is to drive this towards a fundable activity that I can afford to devote a larger amount of my time to. In a sense, I want to try to bring the Institute full circle to one of its founding goals - to improve the study of the future of cities. I'm going to be inviting some of the regular contributors to TELECOM- CITIES to be authors on the new blog, as well as new voices outside our small community. There are a number of tools that will allow you to continue receiving posts by email, and I'm glad to help anyone with the transition. As always, please share your thoughts and reactions publicly or privately with me. Regards, Anthony Townsend Research Director Institute for the Future [EMAIL PROTECTED] +1-650-233-9522 (desk and mobile) skype anthonymobile blog (http://future.iftf.org) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TELECOM-CITIES Current searchable archives (Feb. 1, 2006 to present) at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Old searchble archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
