In this talk for the University of Glasgow's Future Proof IT event I explore a few near future careers and technologies that will impact learners and institutions, such as self-driving vehicles, and how we might respond to them.

1. Back to the future – Future Proof IT 2017
Martin Hamilton
1Back to the future - Future Proof IT 201718/08/2017

2. Towards the intelligent campus
1. Near future careers
2. Rise of the robots
3. Implications & next steps
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3. About Jisc
» edtech not-for-profit with ~18m users:
› Running shared services like Janet, eduroam and JiscMail
› Negotiating deals with IT vendors and publishers
› Providing advice & guidance
» Major initiatives right now in digital skills,
research data and learning analytics
» My role:
› Leading a small group looking at emerging technologies
likeAugmented Reality and brain computer interfaces
› Generating & channelling new ideas
› Building partnerships to bring them to fruition
3Health Education England - Horizon Scanning workshop - June 201718/08/2017
Photo CC BY-NC Flickr user feuilllu

4. 1. Near future careers:
From DNA editor to asteroid miner
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5. Near future careers
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Now hiring… DNA editors

6. Near future careers
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Now hiring… DNA editors, drone engineers

7. Near future careers
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Now hiring… DNA editors, drone engineers, asteroid miners

8. Near future careers
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SpaceX first stage booster landing,THAICOM8 mission, May 2016 - via SpaceX

9. Near future careers
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10. Near future careers
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Near future careers
Coming soon… UK spaceports

12. 2. Rise of the robots
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13. Rise of the robots
13Back to the future - Future Proof IT 201718/08/2017
Photo CC BY-NC Flickr user feuilllu
Photo CC BY-NC Flickr user nestle
› Pepper acts as greeter in 140+ SoftBank stores in Japan
› Nestlé planning to introduce in 1000+ sales outlets

14. Rise of the robots
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Pepper the robot visits the FinancialTimes

15. Rise of the robots
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Photo CC BY-NC Flickr user greenplasticamy
› Amazon uses over 45,000 robots already in its
warehouses and distribution centres

16. Rise of the robots
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Photo CC BY-NC Flickr user greenplasticamy
› Amazon uses over 45,000 robots already in its
warehouses and distribution centres

17. Rise of the robots
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From http://futurism.com

18. Rise of the robots
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Startups and scaleups
› Jisc Startups competition
– Six month accelerator programme
– Support package includes cash grant
and mentoring
› Winners: Omni Invent (now EngX)
– 4 nozzle 3D printer + CNC mill,
automatically embed circuits/sensors,
automated tool changer
– Selected for Hax hardware accelerator
programme, in top 3% of entrants
– Team moved to Shenzen to finish
commercialising
– http://engx.io

19. Rise of the robots
19Back to the future - Future Proof IT 201718/08/2017
Photo CC BY-ND Flickr user chijs
Photo CC BY-NC-SA Flickr user portalgda
› Tesla owners have already driven over 140m miles on Autopilot
› 90,000+Teslas with Autopilot are already on the road

20. Rise of the robots
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Photo CC BY-ND Flickr user chijs
Photo CC BY-NC-SA Flickr user portalgda
› Tesla owners have already driven over 140m miles on Autopilot
› 90,000+Teslas with Autopilot are already on the road

21. Rise of the robots
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Google DeepMindAI learns to play Breakout

22. Rise of the robots
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Obstacle detection and avoidance in the Google self-driving car

23. Rise of the robots
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Startups and scaleups
› Jisc Startups competition
– Six month accelerator programme
– Support package includes cash grant
and mentoring
› Winners: Wildfire Learning
– World’s first AI content creation
service for learning
– Create learning objects from any text,
PowerPoint or video
– Generate a course’s worth of content
in an hour
– www.wildfirelearning.co.uk

24. Rise of the robots
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25. Rise of the robots
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26. 3. Implications & next steps
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27. Implications & next steps
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Societal implications:
› You might be surprised at just how much
more can be automated
› Further erosion of unskilled and semi-skilled
employment opportunities
– Watch out if your white collar job can be reduced to an
algorithm or “learned” from data
› “New Luddites” throwing stones at the
Google bus?
– Versus universal basic income?
– Versus psychological need for a greater purpose?
› Health implications of sedentary lifestyles,
musculoskeletal disorders
– Already 86% of Chinese high school students are
myopic – screen time & indoor play?
Back to the future - Future Proof IT 201718/08/2017
CC BY Flickr user boykoblagoev

28. Implications & next steps
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Developing digital capability:
› There will be whole new careers & existing ones will
change beyond recognition
– We should view this as an opportunity, e.g. smart homes need smart
plumbers & smart electricians
› We will need to embrace portfolio careers &
continuous/bite sized learning
– No longer enough to learn a trade or achieve professional
certification
› Impedance mismatch between digital tech and the
apparatus of the nation state
– Brexit vs. Estonian e-residency
› Reaching the next billion learners
– Last mile issues for trans-national education
Back to the future - Future Proof IT 201718/08/2017
CC BY-ND Flickr user chijs

29. Implications & next steps
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VLE data
+
Student record system
+
Attendance data
+
Library data
Buildings data
+
Learning space data
+
Location data
Teaching quality data
+
Assessment data
+
Curriculum design
data
Content data
+
Learning pathways
data
Better retention
and attainment
Retention and
attainment
Retention and
attainment
Retention and
attainment
A more efficient
campus
Improved teaching
& curricula
Personalised and
adaptive learning
Efficient campus Efficient campus
Improving teaching
& curricula
Now
Learning
analytics
Institutional
analytics
Educational
analytics
Adaptive
Analytics and AI
Future

30. Implications & next steps
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Tri-modal model for innovation
CC-BY Simon Wardley – see
blog.gardeviance.org/2012/06/pione
ers-settlers-and-town-planners.html
Tackling the Innovator’s
Dilemma:
› What’s the right mix of
Pioneers, Settlers andTown
Planners?

31. Implications & next steps
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32. Implications & next steps
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33. Continue the conversation…
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Except where otherwise noted, this
work is licensed under CC-BY
Martin Hamilton
Futurist, Jisc
@martin_hamilton
martin.hamilton@jisc.ac.uk
Back to the future - Future Proof IT 201718/08/2017