Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The buzz: Soon there will be entire American football league built on the premise that fans should be able to choose the players and coaches that make up each of the eight inaugural teams and even pick the teams' offensive plays. The innovative league is based on the belief that fans will enjoy a product that feels more like a video game than a traditional football-watching experience." When Darren Heitner reported this in 2017 for Forbes SportsMoney, he was talking about the new Fan Controlled Football League (FCFL) powered on the Ethereum blockchain. Wow! The league ranks fans' voting power for drafting players, picking coaches and calling the plays by the seven-on-seven teams on the field – using a new FAN Token cryptocurrency. Prognosis? We'll speak with Ray Austin and Jason Chilton of the Fan Controlled Football League, Andy Dolich of Dolich & Associates, and Carsten Winsnes at Strive Tech. Join us for High-Tech Touchdown! Fan-Controlled Football and Future of Sports.

The buzz: We now have the world in our pockets. Our TVs are smart. Our cars soon to be driverless…The technology we craft creates new use cases, opportunities, and dangers. The tech and its application cannot be separated. This brings us to larger questions of how we should employ technology, what risks new tech may bring, and what the arrival of these new futures means to us as humans on our little ball of dirt. This is the sphere of digital ethics." (Adam Henshall). Are you loving the technologies that are making your work easier, your home smarter, your healthcare more efficient, and your social life more fun? We don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but the tech you love may be compromising your privacy and more in ways you can't imagine. Who is making the new rules? We'll ask the experts: Frank Diana at TCS, Seton Hall Law Professor John H. Shannon and Dan Wellers at SAP Insights You are invited to join us for Brave New World of Digital Ethics: Who's Deciding Our Technology Rules?

The buzz: The fashion industry is starting to care about people with disabilities…designing apparel, shoes and other products for consumers with non-standard body types, boosting an overlooked population's confidence – and their own bottom lines" cbsnews.com). When you got dressed today, other than deciding what to wear, was it EASY? Not if you have a disability that makes it challenging to use buttons, snaps, zippers, hooks, or pull on shirts and pants. Where to find "stylish adaptive clothing" with easy-on-off features? Many mainstream clothing retailers mostly ignore Americans with disabilities, despite their total disposable income of $490B. Can technologies like AI algorithms, robotics, and 3D printing help manufacturers adapt production processes to this market? We'll ask Mindy Scheier, Runway of Dreams Foundation; Billy Price, Billy Footwear; Matt Laukaitis and Maria Morais, SAP. Join us for Help Me Get Dressed! 1 Billion Reasons for Adaptive Fashion!

The buzz: I would like to see people more aware of where their food comes from (Anthony Bourdain). Food safety is becoming a serious concern along the entire "food chain" – hunters, fishers, farmers, processors, transporters, preparers, cooks, sellers, and, of course, eaters. How and where was your food obtained? Was anything added to it? Who touched it before it landed on your plate? Good news! Technology can now inform and ensure us that the food we consume is the real deal. Today, on our new series debut, we're saving a seat at the table for you, as our experts serve food for thought: Tony Costa, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer for Bumble Bee Foods. Drew Hingorani, CEO at Ai-BlockChain. Randy Evins, Business Development Lead for Food and Drug Retail, SAP America. Paul Larson, Senior Principal, Industry Executive Advisor for Consumer Products at SAP. You are cordially invited to join us for Today's Lunch Special: Tuna & Blockchain Sandwich!

The buzz: "The future is already here"? Tired of the hearing this? We are, too. That was yesterday's future. Today's future hasn't happened. After 7.5 years and 372 episodes heard by millions around the globe, Coffee Break with Game-Changers will be reborn as Technology Revolution: The Future of Now, produced and hosted by me, Bonnie D. Graham, in partnership with VoiceAmerica.com. Today you'll get a preview of the new show with 4 savvy futurists. Frank Diana, TCS: "The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward" (W. Churchill). Gray Scott, Futurist: "One of the definitions of sanity is the ability to tell real from unreal. Soon we'll need a new definition" (A.Toffler). Kai Goerlich, SAP: "Consistency is the playground of dull minds" (Yuval N. Harari). J. Paul Duplantis, Emergentweb.org: "The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action (John Dewey). Join us for Preview for Technology Revolution: The Future of Now!

The buzz: "Today's average high-end car has roughly seven times more code than a Boeing 787" (mckinsey.com). The auto industry faces unprecedented changes: ride and car-sharing, electrification, autonomy, climate change regulation, new ownership and distribution models. Each one challenges the industry's ability to be nimble and quickly reinvent itself, neither of which automotive does well. What will it take to turn customers into fanatics, products into obsessions, employees into ambassadors, and brands into religions? The experts speak. Jordan Katz, Qualtrics: "The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program. And if we become extinct because we don't have a space program, it'll serve us right! (Larry Niven as quoted by Arthur C. Clarke). Moncombu Raju, SAP: "The world's gone from flat, to fast, to deep (and probably be psychic next)!" (Thomas L. Friedman). Join us for The Key to Automotive Industry Disruption: Become Customer-Obsessed – Part 2.

The buzz: "In this century the paramount moral challenge will be the struggle for gender equality around the world" (Nicholas D. Kristof). Organizations from the United Nations to university clubs have been trying to secure a world of equality in business for years. Recent initiatives like the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC), WiDS and FQ (Female Quotient) have created a vast ecosystem matrix focused on creating change. How and where is it happening? The experts speak. Shelley Zalis, The Female Quotient: "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different" (Coco Chanel). Judy Logan, Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference, Stanford University: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams (Eleanor Roosevelt). Anita Varshney, SAP: "Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality" (Jonas Salk). Join us for The Future of Equality in Business, Technology and Innovation – Part 2.

The buzz: "The idea that social selling is dead or dying is a bit over exaggerated…Cold calling should be dead" (Koka Sexton). In conversations about account-based marketing, we keep hearing that cold calling, email and social selling aka digital selling are dead. True or false? It depends. The key to the longevity and success of any channel is its rocket fuel: content. Timely, targeted and relevant messages can help you break into target accounts and drive ongoing buyer engagement in a range of channels. The experts speak. Paul Slack, Vende Social: "What we've got here is failure to communicate" (Cool Hand Luke). Tom Martin, Converse Digital: "Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss (Lou Mannheim). Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: "Invest your evaporating time and leave a legacy behind for future generations" (Sunday Adelaja). Join us for Is Digital Selling Dead? – Part 2.

The buzz: When UX doesn't consider ALL users, shouldn't it be known as "SOME User Experience" or… SUX?" (Billy Gregory). The World Health Organization estimates 1B people, 1 in 7, live with a disability. Per the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, access to information technology is a basic human right. The impact of design and user experience (UX) on business success is profound. User experiences impact customer satisfaction and loyalty in a competitive marketplace. How to eliminate disability barriers in workplace software? Harness advances in natural language processing and artificial intelligence. The experts speak. Neil Milliken, Atos: "Diversity is reality, inclusion is a choice" (Stephen Frost). Debra M. Ruh, Ruh Global Communications: "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see (Henry David Thoreau). Nicole Windmann, SAP: "Done is better than perfect" (Sheryl Sandberg). Join us for Accessible and Inclusive UX Design: The Business Case.

The buzz: "Augmenting human decision-making at the enterprise level will bring us to the next level in growth" (Joseph Byrum, Principal Financial Group). Companies are exploring how to cope with the volume and velocity of change, as political turmoil, climate change, market and supply chain globalization, rise and fall of economies converge into a perfect storm of business disruption. Will becoming an Intelligent Enterprise solve these challenges? If yes, are Machine Learning, Blockchain and IoT enough to get you there? The experts speak. Chris Beiswenger, PwC: "Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, ... distinguishes the strong soul from the weak" (Thomas Carlyle). Scott Feldman, Technology Evangelist: "Only the paranoid survive" (Andy Grove). Shammy Sohal, SAP: I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet" (Sadi). Join us for Do Intelligent Technologies Make The Intelligent Enterprise? – Part 2.