Polis Media Agenda Talks: We expected jet packs, but we got 140 characters – the unfulfilled promise of the information revolution

Contributor(s): Norman Lewis | I aim to explore the gap between the potential of information communication technologies and the narrow narcissistic focus which dominates society’s obsession with the technology today. The contrast between the productive potential of Big Data, cloud computing and billions of connected people across the planet on the one hand, versus our obsession with narrow narcissistic consumption and our lowered expectations about what this technology can deliver, is startling. We may have Big Data but we have small ambitions. We may have ‘smart’ devices in our pockets with more computing power than the Lunar module that put man on the Moon but we have a diminished view of human beings and the knowledge developed to create this in the first place. There is no app for low expectations, only apps’. Discuss…. Dr Norman Lewis is recognised as an expert on future trends and user behaviours with regard to technology innovation and adoption. He has spoken on these topics at events all over the world. Norman is currently a Director at PwC responsible for running their crowd sourced innovation service. He is a co-author of Big Potatoes: the London manifesto for innovation.