Fascinating piece from the Rotary Club of Dover, a bit too late for DHB though.
A glimpse into the near future was provided by Dover resident Kate Adamson, Chief Executive of Futurenautics, when she was the guest speaker today at our weekly lunch at the Ramada, Whitfield.
Mrs Adamson, an expert on the impact of the exponential growth of technology, focused on the rapid changes that can be expected in the shipping and maritime industries.
In her view Dover Harbour Board, with its plans for the multi-million pound cargo hub for the port, was not innovating with its western docks out-of-date “renovation” when it should be preparing to provide a platform for the future, not just the provision of a port.
In the near future, she predicted, unmanned ships would be sailing the seas so ports should be providing new skills to maintain the machinery and equipment of the vessels.
The combined effects of a range of advances in technologies will transform all our lives in the coming years, she believes. “In the next 50 years we will be seeing greater changes that there has been in the last 300 years,” she said. Those changes, some in the next four or five years, would include the use of drones carrying heavy lifting cargoes, driverless cars (soon to be seen in London) and the growth of nuclear fusion that would “wipe out” the carbon fuel market with its economic impact on Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries.
“Great benefits could be obtained in this whole new world,” said Mrs Adamson who is an author, novelist and a keynote speaker at forward-thinking organisations.
Futurenautics, which Mrs Adamson founded, is designed to help maritime leaders and stakeholders to understand new skill-sets required to remain competitive in the face of aggressive new competition.
http://www.futurenautics.com/