- or the yet-to-be invented close cousins and voice calls will be free. People will be able to reach out and touch anyone, anywhere, anytime, at no cost. However, if more sophisticated telecommunications services are desired, that will cost something. People will also pay for a lifetime phone number and their own personal bandwidth (wavelength) on which to transport all data transmission. Trend #7 The next century will be the century of biotechnology, a time when the promise of genetic engineering will finally pay off. Some of the greatest advances will occur as the life sciences converge with computer technology. Amazing things will happen. Bio-computers will assemble and program themselves. Even better, they will respond to the unique characteristics of each user, remembering preferences, correcting common errors, thinking along with us as we build files, write programs or crunch numbers. We may not learn from our mistakes, but our computers will. What hunger exists in the world will be a result of distribution problems, not production problems, as bio-engineered crops produce grains, fruits and vegetables that are not just disease resistant, but carriers of disease-fighting properties that ward off common killers such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Bioengineered bodies will re-grow organs as they deteriorate, eliminating the need for organ donors and the risk of organ rejection. Genetic markers will be found for all inherited diseases, enabling us to replace the bad genes and wipe out diseases such as sickle cell anemia and tay sachs disease. Trend #8 Innovation requires a whole different way of thinking, a whole different way of looking at the world. Consequently, we need to begin today to educate children differently. The skills our children and their children will need in the workplace include the ability to think outside the box, to work as well independently as collaboratively, to reason, make judgements, analyze and be creative. Innovation comes not from discovering something wholly new, but from putting elements together in a wholly new way. In the economy of the future, those willing to take risks will be the most successful. Trend #9 The workforce of the future will be a diverse community of multilingual global citizens who movewith ease from country to country in pursuit of career opportunities.

Trend #10 Permanent, full-time employment with a single employer will become a relic of the hierarchical industrial era as we shift form organization man to free agent. Everywhere, communication skills will be more highly valued than computer skills, as workers move in and out of different work environments. Management will face two enormous challenges as we enter the coming century: continued labor shortages and the growing generation gap, as the cycle of education, work, family, career success and retirement will end in the early part of this century. People will remain in the workforce long past the traditional age of retirement, but will have different work needs and expectations as they close out their careers. The one thing the new economy's whiz kids forgot was that with age comes a certain amount of wisdom. They're going to want to get it back. Trend #11 We are entering a kinder, gentler era in which phenomenal technological developments will be tempered with greater concern for the human condition. In the 21st century the long-anticipated era of ubiquitous computing will become a reality, and all of us will be tethered together by unseen strands of light and sound, carrying voice, data, text and video to every corner of the globe. Our homes and offices will be fully networked. Rooms will adjust to suit the environmental preferences of whoever is in the room. Appliances will talk to us and to each other. Desktop computers will be gone. The computer will be in the desktop as the era of ubiquitous computing finally dawns. Sit down and the computer will bring up the most recent file you worked on, already fully edited, or will bring up one requested as you left for home the previous evening. Homes and offices will be networked, enabling all of us to work from either location without shuttling even a single file back and forth. Smart cars will travel along smart highways, avoiding time delays and catastrophes with sensors that relay messages about traffic volume, congestion and alternate routes. Robots will go where men fear to, or cannot, tread. Nanotechnology will introduce miniature chips with more power than today's microchips. Even as we explore the vast reaches of the universe along the information superhighway, most of us also seek a community of people with shared identity, language

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ys, avoiding time delays and catastrophes with sensors that relay messages about traffic volume, congestion and alternate routes. Robots will go where men fear to, or cannot, tread. Nanotechnology will introduce miniature chips with more power than today's microchips.

Even as we explore the vast reaches of the universe along the information superhighway, most of us also seek a community of people with shared identity, language

| Team Boston Home | The Sun Index | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 |