Dr. Tom P. Abeles, exec. Director Navigating Futures tom@navigatingfutures.com “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean-neither more nor less.” Lewis Carroll Whether one goes back to Adam Smith’s volumes, the ideology promulgated by the members…

The “Advertising Platform” stands front and center in the minds of most individuals because of its ability to “mine” the data of the users without compensation and to monetize that information in the form of selling access for marketing purposes, sale of goods or services, and the ability to influence…

Over a decade ago a news and essay magazine sent each of its subscribers a customized issue that showed the block where they resided. That was also a time where simple word processing systems could customize targeted mailings. …

What Goes Up Must Come Down* Dr. Tom P. Abeles, editor Navigating the Future Review of: Lindsey, Brink and Steven M Teles, The Captured Economy: How the Powerful Enrich Themselves, Slow Down Growth and Increase Inequity, Oxford University Press, New York, 2017 “The Captured Economy” is an amazingly balanced perspective…

It is recognized that a campus is a “community” where networks are established and other externalities accrue to those who matriculate and enter the Ivory Tower. …

Having known and worked with “volunteers” in the Peace Corp since its beginning in the 60’s and working in a number of developing countries it is clear that there has been a significant change in both the volunteers and also in the country in which they work. In the beginning…

It is said that the two oldest entities are The Church and universities. While The Church has seen substantive changes over the years, the basic institution remains intact. Universities on the other hand seem to conform more to the disruptive models suggested by Clayton Christensen. With the arrival of the…

What would happen if the faculty and students in all the public universities in the United States in September of 2016, starting on Labor Day, called for a one week teach-in that shut the normal campus programs down across the US to explore the issues at hand and create a…

Academic publishing arose to serve the needs of university faculty, think tanks and other researchers to share their knowledge as a community. That knowledge filtered down to the students and out to the larger public. Distributed through journals for more immediate access and through books and monographs for longer works. …