Singularity University Gives Execs a View of the Future

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Later in the week came visits to Bay Area companies and organizations that are putting new technologies in motion. NASA researchers discussed using algae to produce new types of fuel, while researchers at Halcyon Molecular talked about breakthroughs that helped them produce ultrafast, low-cost genome sequencing techniques.

Participants were especially wowed by a jaunt to Menlo Park's TechShop, a kind of Kinko's for industrial design that gives members access to an array of tools, from drill presses and band saws to laser cutters and metal-bending machines. Initially set up with hobbyists in mind, TechShop has also become an entrepreneur's workshop that underlined one of the key themes of the week: Thanks to technological advances, even small players on a budget can disrupt long-established companies. "It used to cost almost a million dollars to get prototypes out the door," Gillam says of TechShop. "Now someone can do it on their own in a couple of weeks." TechShop charges a $120 monthly membership fee.

For the last part of the program, students worked with facilitators from Palo Alto (Calif.)-based innovation and design consultancy IDEO and used feedback from university faculty to describe how they expect the emerging technologies to impact their industries in the coming decade.

Forum on the Future

Lunk Jayanata traveled from Jakarta, Indonesia, to glean insights for his three companies, including one that invests in tech startups. "This is the only institution that gathers all these smart people in a forum to discuss what's coming," he said.

Singularity University hopes the classes will also pay dividends through an alumni network that helps keep participants on top of the latest developments and helps them recruit future employees and business partners. "There's no way any one of us can keep up with everything," says Ross Shott, a student from the summer program who helped run the executive program. "But there's very little that's going to slip by all of us."

Ismail says 18 companies, the governments of six countries, and representatives from four U.S. agencies have expressed interest in the next executive session, scheduled to start in February. Some companies have also approached him about creating an in-house version on their own sites, an option Ismail is considering. "The world is completely changing in every domain at a very fast pace," Ismail says. The companies that are interested in Singularity University "think we have a finger on the pulse of how it's going to change and how you can navigate that."

E.B. Boyd is a freelance journalist in San Francisco.

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