Betting into the future (1)

“The best way to predict the future is to create.” – Peter Drucker

“Futures betting” or “future bets” is a type of wager placed on events or outcomes that will be determined at a later date. This can include:

1. Sports: Betting on championships, awards, or future performances.
2. Politics: Betting on election outcomes, policy decisions, or leadership changes.
3. Entertainment: Betting on award shows, movie releases, or celebrity news.
4. Finance: Betting on market trends, stock prices, or economic indicators.

Future bets rest on three alphabets ‘EAR’ which stand for Entrepreneurs, Academics and Researchers respectively. The future of entrepreneurship is the future of societies and economies; it is predictable through research findings, unfolding events, trends and patterns in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Macroeconomic variables also play a large role in future bets.

Revelation precedes a revolution. Entrepreneurship is a function of the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are visionary innovators who create new enterprises and products by thinking the unthinkable and shattering the status quo. From the first industrial revolution to industry 4.0 (4IR), entrepreneurs have been applying creative solutions to problems and to opportunities to enhance and to enrich people’s lives. The best way to predict the future is to create. The best way to create the future is to predict. It takes strong foresight through keenly following trends and painstakingly carrying out research to accurately predict and create the future. Researchers predict while entrepreneurs create.

 

PREDICT AND WIN

Entrepreneurs, Academics and Researchers (EAR) are always betting into the future in order to predict and create future-proof products/solutions and a better world for mankind. Technological advances for instance are outcomes of future thinking and betting. Innovators are individuals or organizations who lend a “listening EAR” to future echoes as well as societal ethos in order to create socially relevant and culturally responsible enterprises.

Betting into the future is characteristic of a typical entrepreneurial spirit which is the ability to think creatively and take calculated risks. An entrepreneur thinks of “two generations”: 1. Idea generation (creativity), 2. The next generation (posterity). It is important to understand that as ‘EARs’, the ideas we generate to solve problems are seeds for the next generation to also bet into the future with.

Industry 4.0, which is synonymous with smart manufacturing, is the realization of the digital transformation of the field, delivering real-time decision making, enhanced productivity, flexibility and agility to revolutionize the way companies manufacture, improve and distribute their products.

Industry 4.0, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR, refers to the current period of connectivity, advanced analytics, automation and advanced manufacturing technology.

 

– Key features of Industry 4.0 include:

– Internet of Things (IoT) technologies

– Cloud computing and analytics

– Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning

– Augmented reality and automation

– Advanced engineering, such as 3-D printing

– Industry 4.0 technologies can be applied across various industrial sectors, including:

– Discrete and process manufacturing

– Oil and gas

– Mining

– Benefits of Industry 4.0 include:

– Increased automation and efficiency

– Enhanced productivity and flexibility

– Improved decision-making and responsiveness

– Increased competitiveness and innovation

No one can create without a “listening EAR”. Researchers read and search in order to fill knowledge gaps, academics provide theoretical and methodological frameworks for research while entrepreneurs leverage knowledge-intensive activities to apply creative solutions to problems and to opportunities to enhance and to enrich people’s lives. The tripartite synergy of Entrepreneurs, Academics and Researchers (EAR) is the best strategy to predict, create and win the future betting. Knowledge warns. Knowledge wins. Knowledge and creativity are twins.

 

Creativity and knowledge drive innovation, innovation drives productivity, while productivity drives economic growth.

 

Predicting the future and preparing for it helps in the following areas:

1. Policy designs
2. Effective planning
3. Proactiveness in solving problems
4. Research and development
5. Continuous innovation (radical and incremental)
6. Continuous learning as a result of the growth of the knowledge economy
7. Rapid obsolescence of ideas and a replacement with better ones.

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