Jun 19, 2023 | Signals to Watch
Jamie Lynch, Envision Board member and Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation Signals Team
This year, over half of the states in the United States will officially recognize Juneteenth as a public holiday. The recognition of Juneteenth has gained momentum in recent years, with increased public awareness following nationwide protests against racial injustice. For now, Wisconsin does not recognize Juneteenth as a holiday. Pew Research offers a short but insightful summary of state differences in recognition of Juneteenth.
Jun 19, 2023 | Signals to Watch
By Jeff House, Envision Board Member and Economic Transformation Signals Team
A hydrogen fuel plant is coming to Mulberry, Florida, by way of South Korea. A Korean company plans to build a clean-hydrogen facility in Polk County using natural gas from a nearby pipeline. The plant will produce “blue hydrogen” made from natural gas, but, down the road, solar power could be an option to power its operations (which would make it green hydrogen). Read about the project here.
Jun 8, 2023 | Signals to Watch
By Jeff House, Envision Boad member and Economic Transformation Signals Team
An Ohio bill establishes a community solar pilot program that will consist of 1,500 MW of community solar, enough energy to power almost 300,000 homes. Subscribers will be eligible for a bill credit, usually equal to 10 to 20% savings, from their utility provider for the proportional amount of energy generated from the community solar facility. In addition, any community solar facility built on a brownfield will be eligible for grants to help cover costs associated with site preparation and construction. This comes at a time when the US solar industry has enjoyed its best-ever first quarter, installing more solar panels than in any previous quarter. Read about the proposed bill here.
May 29, 2023 | From our Leadership
Phil Hauck, Envision Board President
Imagine a 175-page book, at a cost of less than $15, that offers you a simple, readable primer on how to effectively use ChatGPT! That book is available, and it delineates fifty business activities that could be improved with AI’s various formulations. It’s called The AI Whisperer: Handbook for Leveraging Conversational Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT for Business.
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May 29, 2023 | From our Leadership
Phil Hauck, Envision Board President
Save 20%, help Envision, and get the video series and a hard copy of Frey’s book, Future Like a Boss, by ordering through Envision. Learn to “think like a futurist” through 14 stand-alone lessons.
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May 29, 2023 | From our Leadership
Phil Hauck, Envision Board President
Recognizing the value of re-convening with fellow participants to confidentially share stories of scanning and trends, a few of our SF grads have worked with Envision to form the first SF networking cohort. We got organized in February and started our bi-monthly meeting series in May. Our recent conversation ranged from getting re-connected to scanning experiences to experimentation with AI.
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May 29, 2023 | Envision Success Stories
Susan Gallagher-Lepak, Dean, College of Health, Education and Welfare, UW Green Bay
“You’ve given me an accessible way to consider what might be coming for our campus.” That’s one of the encouraging responses I received from colleagues recently as we wrapped up our own 3-session virtual webinar series called “The Future of Higher Education.” Inspired by my experience in the Envision Foresight workshops with Garry Golden, and with the support of my Provost and colleagues, I led a work group which planned and offered the series this spring.
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May 17, 2023 | Signals to Watch
Beverly French, Envision Board member and Arts, Culture, and Entertainment Signals Team
In March 2023, artist Refik Anadol explained to a PBS resporter: “My primary material is data, the information, and my second material is a ‘thinking brush’ that is assisted by machine ‘dreaming.’” Anadol has spent seven years uploading images of flowers, landscapes and art, contributing to the 75 million images of flowers generated with computer data through the work of scientists, software programmers, researchers, architects and designers.
A thinking brush?! Read a transcript of the interview.
May 6, 2023 | Signals to Watch
Nan Nelson, Envision Board member
Envision’s World Futures Day featured speaker Professor Thomas Frey has identified six ways the Artificial Intelligence revolution is likely to shape our lives within the foreseeable future. Are you ready for transformation of our reality, creativity, work, and even our sense of free will? Here’s his analysis of the benefits and risks.
May 4, 2023 | Upward Mobility Signals
Jim Golembeski, Envision Board Member
I will always correct people when I hear negative comments about the work ethic of our young people.
Granted, the Millennial generation (born 1980-1998) has struggled, but mainly because they did what their Baby Boomer parents told them to do: get a college education in any area. Just go to four-year college! Now we have too many psychology, sociology, and political science majors trying to find a place in the workforce.
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