Dr Ian David Pearson BSc DSc(hc) CITP FBCS FWAAS FRSA FWIF FIN

Curriculum vitae

5/11/9

Roles & Accreditations

Futurologist at Futurizon GmbH, consultant, conference speaker

BT‘s Futurologist until end 2007

Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society

Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Nanotechnology

Fellow of the World Innovation Foundation

Honorary Doctor of Science, University of Westminster

Author and freelance writer

Columnist for Rolling Stone magazine

Consultant editor of The Communications Network Journal, Foresight, ShapingTomorrow.com

Advisory Board of the Lifeboat Foundation

Advisory Board of IT in the Community

Advisory Board of International Longevity Centre

Board of Editors of CIO Quarterly

Boards of Editors of Shaping Tomorrow, 'Wireless Business and Technology'

Member of World Futures Society

Member of FITCE

Contact details

Email: idpearson@gmail.com

Telephone: +44 1473 710870

Address: On request

Main web pages: www.futurizon.com

Education

Queen's University of Belfast, BSc Joint Hons. in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics 1978 - 1981
4 'A' Levels, 10 'O' Levels

Overview

I am an independent futurologist, (working via Futurizon GmbH, my wife’s business), advising and speaking on all aspects of the future across the whole field of industry and commerce, government and society. I speak internationally at conferences, where I deliver provocative keynotes on the impacts of future technology on business and society, and I attract a lot of media attention. Most of my audiences comprise CXOs and my customers include many Blue Chip companies and governments. I am currently involved in projects and project proposals involving government in the UK, Denmark, USA and the UAE. My recent work has involved writing, talks and consultancy on environmental issues, transport, national security, future IT, ageing, health care and emerging technologies across the board.

My customers look to me to identify threats and opportunities that others have missed. I am also recognised as being creative, so am often involved in shorter consultancy jobs and workshops for other business areas. My output is used extensively throughout the business at all levels of management.

I have made many inventions across a range of fields, including text messaging in 1991, active skin, and the direct retinal projection contact lens.

I have made over 450 TV and radio appearances, with thousands of printed press articles. I co-authored ‘Business 2010’ with Michael Lyons, and 'Where's IT going?' with Chris Winter and have made contributions to many other books. I edited The Macmillan Atlas of the Future, now available in six languages, and was the consultant for the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Guide to the future.

I was BT's Futurologist for 16 years until the end of 2007 (when I went independent), keeping track of developments across the whole field of technology and informing BT on emerging opportunities and threats.

My publications have always been well received and I have been given the following awards:

Prizes and awards (most recent first)

Honorary Doctor of Science from University of Westminster, Dec 2007

Highly Commended for “The role of future ICT in city development”, Foresight Volume 8 Issue 3, 2007

BT’s ‘best external thought leader’, 2005

Highly commended for ‘Living in an uncertain world’, Foresight, Vol 6 No 2, 2004

Best Paper award for 'Engineering and Future Social Problems - the need for responsible development', BT Engineering Journal, Oct 2001

Runner up award for Cyberspace - from order to chaos and back, British Telecommunications Engineering Journal, Vol 1, No1, Jan-Mar 2000, with David Greenop and Michael Lyons

ACE Thankyou award, Jul 2000

ACE Thankyou award, Mar 2000

Best Paper Award for 'Who Cares? Future of Telemedical Technology', British Telecommunications Engineering Journal, Vol 14, part 3, with Peter Cochrane & Dave Heatley, October 1996

Thank You Award from BT Centre for Human Communications, for publicising BT Laboratories, June 1996

Highly Commended for '200 Futures for 2020', British Telecommunications Engineering Journal, Vol 13, part 4, with Peter Cochrane, October 1995

Certificate of Merit for 'Broadband services, their markets and requirements', presented at EFOC & N 95, Brighton

'Most promising young engineer' for 'East meets west in cyberspace', 33rd FITCE European Telecommunications Congress, Dresden, August 30 1994, with Jon Chalmers and Jeremy Barnes

Highly Commended for 'Broadband - Liberating the Customer' update issued in BT Engineering Journal, Vol 12, Part 4 January 1994, with Dave Greenop and Trevor Johnson

IERE Benefactors Premium for 'Optical Telecommunications - Future Prospects', published in IEE Electronics and Communication Engineering Journal, Vol 5, No. 4, August 1993, pp. 221-232, with Peter Cochrane, David J T Heatley and Peter P Smyth

Best Overall Paper for 'Broadband - Liberating the Customer', 32nd FITCE European Telecommunications Congress, Antwerp, 4 September 1993, with Dave Greenop and Trevor Johnson

Professional history

Dates Jan 2008 – present	Position Futurologist As an independent futurologist, my role is to formulate a consistent view of the future and advise my many diverse customers on the many diverse threats and opportunities they face. I am an internationally respected consultant and speaker in the field of future technology, and its business and social impact. My output is used extensively by senior managers across the whole of industry, government and society, globally. I am regularly involved in trying to further science and technology education and public awareness. This involves frequent media appearances and a great deal of writing. My main work is keynote speaking at conferences. I also undertake a variety of consultancy engagements, such as commissioned writing, workshops, and giving face to face advice to senior managers and government ministers. I generally work alone but often undertake work in futurology and management teams with other consultancies.
Dates Jul 98 – end of 2007	Position Futurologist, Principal Consultant, BT My role here was to formulate a consistent view of the future for use by other parts of BT and its customers. I became an internationally respected consultant and speaker in the field of future technology, and its business and social impact. My output was used extensively by management at all levels up to board level both inside and outside BT, often abroad. I was used regularly as "BT's Futurologist" by marketing to improve BT's image with our customers and have helped win and retain many important contracts. My work on forecasting future technological developments regularly attracted international media attention - I made over 400 TV and radio appearances and appeared in the press almost daily. My technology calendars alone have been requested by thousands of companies and individuals. I represented BT on several external collaborative ventures with other Blue Chip companies. I edited the 'Atlas of the Future', now available in six languages, and was consultant on the 'Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Guide to the Future'. My most recent book is ‘Business 2010’ co-authored with Michael Lyons. I also wrote 'Where's IT going?' with Chris Winter. I have provided chapters for many other books.
Jan 98 - Jun 98	Strategy Analysis Manager, BTUK My time here was brief but useful. I provided the technology input into BT's UK strategy review and analysed existing UK strategy from a technology viewpoint. However, this job only ever consumed a fraction of my time and the rest was basically continuation of my old futurologist role. After four months, various management environment factors stimulated my return to the research area.
Nov 1991 - Dec 97:	Futurologist, Applied Research and Technology Department In this period, I became an international consultant and speaker in the field of future technology, and its business and social impact. My output was used extensively by management at all levels up to board level both inside and outside BT, often abroad. I was used regularly as "BT's Futurologist" by marketing to improve BT's image with our customers and have helped win and retain many important contracts. My work on forecasting future technological developments regularly attracted international media attention - I made over 60 TV and radio appearances in the last two years of this post and appeared in the press almost weekly. Unlike my previous roles in BT, this one permitted me to publish my work, so I wrote many papers and conference presentations, seven of which won awards. I was regularly involved in trying to further science and technology education and public awareness. Finally, I was a monthly columnist for Business and Technology Magazine, mostly read by senior management, and edited the Macmillan Atlas of the Future, as well as writing parts of several other books on the future of technology.
Mar 1990 - Nov 1991:	Senior Evolution Consultant, Network Studies Unit, BT Labs Part of my work in this group was aimed at recommending smooth evolution paths from today's networks to the far future. The rest looked at the impacts of various factors on network evolution, mainly computing and information technology, taking account of social and demographic trends. My main areas of specialism were in future services and their needs, advanced computing, interfaces and broadband communications. I generated many ideas for new network solutions, interfaces, and services. I applied for patents on two novel computer interface devices.
Jul 1988 - Mar 1990:	Senior Engineer, Local Access Division, BT Labs In the Local Access division, I managed four people studying ATM transmission over passive optical networks; the design has now been down-streamed. I also studied wavelength multiplexing and mobile communications. I obtained my first patent here, for 'addressed time slicing', designed a hybrid local access carrier and contributed various hardware implementation ideas.
Jul 1985 - Jul 1988:	Performance Engineer, Performance Engineering Division, BT Labs In BT's Performance Engineering Division, I analysed various performance issues of computing and telecommunications systems, including exchange design, protocols, office automation and CTI systems. After being promoted, I ran a sub-project analysing Open Systems architecture, and managed two new graduates in studies of packet switching, performance evaluation of various architecture implementations and predictions of future traffic levels. I also learned and wrote progams in several computer langauages.
Sep 1981 - Jul 1985:	Systems Engineer, Shorts Missile Systems After graduation I worked for four years at Shorts (now Bombardier-Shorts). I worked in almost every department - mechanics, hydraulics, testing, guidance, aerodynamics, propulsion, lethality, tactics analysis, performance and reliability. This varied experience was invaluable training, equipping me with systems engineering skills and programming skills in several languages.