Richard Watson (born 1961) is an English author, lecturer and

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

known for his 2007 book'' Future Files: a Brief History of The Next 50 Years'' and for his infographics, especially his Trends & Technology Timeline 2010-2050 and the Timeline of Emerging Science and Technology 2015-2030. He has written five books about the future WorldCat Identities
/ref> and is the founder of What's Next, a website that documents global trends. He has been a blogger on innovation for

Fast Company Magazine ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

and has written about

creativity Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

, and future thinking for a variety of publications including

Future Orientation In psychology and related fields, future orientation is broadly defined as the extent to which an individual thinks about the future, anticipates future consequences, and plans ahead before acting. Across development, future orientation is particula ...

( Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies) and What Matters (

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

). He is a proponent of

scenario planning Scenario planning, scenario thinking, scenario analysis, scenario prediction and the scenario method all describe a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. It is in large part an adaptation and gener ...

and an advocate of preferred futures, believing it is incumbent upon organisations to create compelling visions of the future and work towards their realisation. In addition to writing, Watson works with the Technology Foresight Practice at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and Lectures at

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

and the

King's Fund The King's Fund is an independent think tank, which is involved with work relating to the health system in England. It organises conferences and other events. Since 1997, they have jointly funded a yearly award system with GlaxoSmithKline. Th ...

. He is also a network member of Stratforma and has worked with the Strategic Trends Unit at the

UK Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to d ...

, the RAND Corporation, CSIRO, the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

and the Departments of Education in the UK and Australia.

Personal life

Richard Watson was born in the UK, but holds a dual British–Australian citizenship. He is married with two boys, with whom he enjoys practising hobbies like gardening, driving old cars and writing.

Books

* Translated to Hungarian, Korean, Turkish, Croatian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Arabic, Indonesian, Russian, Persian, Bulgarian, Czech and Thai. * Translated to Japanese, Korean, Serbian, Spanish, Thai, Chinese (traditional complex characters). * * *Watson, Richard (2016), ''Digital Vs Human: How We'll Live, Love and Think in the Future.'' Scribe Publishing.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Richard 1961 births English writers Academics of London Business School Living people