This was the first in a series of Fast Future webinars on the theme of Aftershocks and Opportunities – Scenarios for a Post-Pandemic Future, hosted in partnership with IORMA. Over 800 people registered for the event with 490 signing in.

Aftershock and Opportunities

The context for the webinars is that the world is grappling with the twin challenges of tackling the unfolding COVID-19 crisis and trying to prepare for an uncertain future on the other side of it. In this unprecedented situation, a growing number of politicians and business leaders are beginning to acknowledge the advice of future thinkers, futurists, and scenario planners on how important it is to also be thinking about the next horizon and beyond.

A forward thinking approach can help ensure that the decisions we make today don’t lay the foundation for a new set of problems over the horizon. Equally, understanding the types of future that might emerge post-crisis can help us plan and prepare for those possibilities as we reshape our current strategies. Finally, such future insights might help us spot, train for, and adapt to the new opportunities, challenges, and risks that could arise as a post-pandemic world unfolds.

Global Perspectives on the World After COVID-19

In this opening seminar, futurists and scenario thinkers from around the globe highlighted possible scenarios of how things could evolve over the next two to five years. They went on to explore the possible regional differences in both the potential impacts and opportunities that could emerge. Key topics explored included:

• The Economy– How might the global economy and regional markets be reshaped?
• The Operating Environment– Are we looking at a complete reboot of the system or more gradual change?
• Consequences – Who might the biggest beneficiaries and victims be?
• Society – How might values and behaviours evolve?
• Action – What should leaders, politicians, and individuals be doing now to prepare themselves for such an uncertain future?

The key outputs from the session are summarized here for those who want to follow up:

1. Video– you can see the video of the webinar here.
2. Next Event– You can find the details for the next event on April 16^th here.
3. Survey– You can take the survey on The Social and Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic here.
4. Jerome Glenn’s Literature Review – The list of resources that Jerry and his team have been reviewing for the American Red Cross can be found here.
5. Pero Micic’s Scenarios – You can find the link to Pero’s paper here.
6. Rohit’s Articles – You can find my related articles here:

• Navigating Covid-19 Impacts and The Coronavirus Tech Handbook
• The Economic and Social Footprint of Coronavirus, Part 1 – The Macro Consequences
• The Economic and Social Footprint of Coronavirus, Part 2 – The Next Futures of Organizations, Work, and the Workplace
• The Futurist Perspective – Ten Key Messages on Navigating a Crisis

7. Social Media Groups– we have set up groups exploring Post-Pandemic Futures – Scenarios and Projections for our World After COVID-19 on both LinkedIn and Facebook:
   https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13841900/
   https://www.facebook.com/groups/825138974664277/
8. Forthcoming Book– We will be publishing Aftershocks and Opportunities – Futurists Envision our Post-Pandemic Future on June 1^st, 2020. The closing date for submission of 1,000 word chapters is April 19th, 2020. Full details are available here.

Panel Members
Puruesh Chaudhary – Member of the World Economic Forum Network of Global Future Councils, Pakistan

karachifutures.com

Jerome Glenn – Executive Director and CEO – The Millennium Project, USA

millennium-project.org

Tanja Hichert – Scenario Planner – Hichert and Associates, South Africa

www.hichert.co.za

Pero Micic – CEO – FutureManagementGroup AG, Germany

futuremanagementgroup.com/de/

We will post updates on future events. If you are interested in being a panellist on a future event, please contact us.

Rohit Talwar
CEO
Fast Future

Mob +44 (0)7973 405145
www.fastfuture.com
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