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What type of Homework should kids be doing?
Occasionally I see a post that leads me to slap my forehead with the sheer simplicity of…
Environmental Factors and the Future Consumer
I’m part way through a small research piece for an FMCG company that is interested in exploring…
A quick look at the ‘Repeal Day’ concept – almost right
The Australian Government has announced a ‘Repeal Day’, intended to be used to axe the existence of…
2014 – The International Year of Food Security
Continuing his run of suggesting an annual theme and idea of world focus for the year ahead,…
Coming up on New Year’s Day – a look ahead to emerging issues
Yes I know, committing to an early morning chat on ABC Radio on New Year’s Day may…
How your Company Vision is doing you harm
The Australian Strategic Planning Institute website has a new article on why Visions, rather than being useful…
Unlocking the promise of ‘teleworking’
One of the great things about technology (especially of the instantaneous ‘social’ kind) is the ability to…
Keeping your Future, grounded to Reality
About once a week I get a call from a client or a media group asking if…
The 2013 Melbourne Cup – a Futurist Decides
Now before any of you rush out and stick your hard earned on anything I say here,…
Celebration of Hope fundraiser for Brain Cancer
Tonight I have the privilege of being the MC for Blackwood 8’s Celebration of Hope Gala Ball…
Marcus Barber’s Presentation from the V21 Digital Conference in Melbourne is available
‘ve just spent a delightful day learning about digital issues at the v21 Digital Conference at the…
The ever increasing computing power replacing jobs by the thousands
When it comes to ‘anti-technology’ thinking, a term often thrown disparagingly at people is ‘Luddite’. Luddites were…
Australia’s 2013 Election – LNP in a Landslide
Or is it? …Over the past six years, the mainstream media polls have consistently shown the Liberal…
Looks like some Soaps kill off more than Germs!
In my view ALL futures thinking about ‘big issues’ starts with futures thinking about personal issues. The…
For a Futurist, Focus is a Key Issue
What you look at, how you look at it and where you find your information are critical…
Innovation has to start somewhere, but where?
How do you innovate? Where do you innovate? Why do you innovate? How do I start innovating?…
Preparing for the Upswing & a Change in Direction
From an organisational perspective it is pretty common for senior managers to spend significant energy considering when…
Why your Race for Talent should be a ‘Slow’ one
If you’ve seen me speak before you already know I take a provocative stance when it comes…
Has The Age Editor called for the wrong resignation
I flag from the outset that I haven’t been a regular readers of newspapers for almost a…
Renewable Energy Technology faces same challenges as new carbon tech – fact or fallacy claims
In the search for fuels and energy sources that act as a replacement to Oil, there’s much…
A Counter to Doomsayers of Manufacturing in Australia
Every day people in positions of ‘opinion authority’ make choices about what ‘opinions’ they will offer on…
Emerging Consumers: Fact or Fiction?
As a futurist spending much of my time assessing emerging developments and their implications across an array…
The Trucking Industry is facing a crisis. It needs to Act. NOW
The Trucking Industry, as a key part of the wider Supply Chain and Logistics Industry is coming…
Why does Facebook think it’s okay to treat Violence against women as acceptable?
In case you haven’t had time to keep up with these events, here’s a quick overview of…
How the ‘Perfect Plan’ can lead you to Disaster
Today I have a bee in my bonnet, so please look away if my frankness might bother…
Micro Drones & Your Privacy
Whilst many people have heard about Drones in terms of their military applications, the concept of micro…
Assessing the Opposition’s Alternative NBN plan
The link below will take you to the audio of the discussion I had with Annie Gaffney…
Higher Ed is still playing catch-up – will it ever be on par?
In the article I link to below, Diana G Oblinger, the President of EDUCAUSE offers the Higher…
Jobs of the Future and What Parents can do to help their kids
In case you haven’t heard, technology is making so many jobs redundant, that only the adaptable will…
Coca Cola Versus the Public – container recycling as a branding challenge
Coca Cola, Lion Nathan and Schweppes have successfully challenged the Northern territory’s compulsory container deposit recycling scheme…
Advanced Strategic Organisational Management course in Manila
If you’re looking for an accelerated course in Strategic Planning and Advanced Management techniques in the Philippines…
Is your Personal Bio-Waste Stream a source of Potential Income?
Without putting too fine a point on it, most of us pay little attention to what we…
The Future of Retail has landed.
As co presenter of the ‘Future Matters’ series with the National Geographic Channel back in 2004, I…
In the Ins of the Outs of Crowdsourcing
In tracking shifts across the world and across industries, the rise of Crowdsourcing continues to unleash some…
Can the Northern Territory beat the Drink ‘Bully Boys’?
Allow me to flag my bias from the outset – I’m tinged green. My shade of green…
The Future of Manufacturing is Upon us
The burgeoning shift in the manufacturing sector has been coming for a touch over a decade and…
Ten Trends Shaping Government Today
Futurist Jack Uldrich has posted an item to his website looking at Ten Trends shaping Government today….
Should we really keep Politicians away from Scientists?
Sir Paul Nurse has ‘weight’ when it comes to science. His position is the head of The…
2013 will be the International Year of Crowdsourcing
I’ve been thinking long and hard about what to call 2013. After saying 2011 would need to…
Five Emergent Ideas for 2013 you won’t find on any ‘Trends for 2013’ list (just yet)
There’s lots of talk about ‘next big things for 2013’ right now, just as there has been…
Does the Mayan Calendar recommend opening your Christmas present early?
Here it comes, the 21st of December 2012 – the last known recorded date on the Mayan…
Five Degrees Hotter? A quick reality check
As a Strategic Futurist I love a good scenario like the rest of us in the futures…
2013 Trends – fair or fantasy?
Over at The Australian Strategic Planning Institute an observation has been made about the so called Top…
Open, Closed, Free or Fare?
Creative Commons is an approach that attempts to ensure that information in its various forms, can be…
The Energy challenge & rising prices
Some topics are too big to cover in a few minutes on radio. In this brief snapshot,…
Cities of the Future: a view from Perth
What does a City tell you of itself, by how it shows itself? There’s much to be…
The Melbourne Cup and a Futurist’s view
Okay the time has come again where people ask me, as a professional futurist, for my tips…
Make your own teeth? Should parents have a ‘licence to parent’? and more on ABC Darwin
ABC Darwin’s Vicki Kerrigan and I chat about the future of dentistry – is it possible to…
Time to combine Life Cycle design & penalties for environmental waste to solve a ballooning problem
Organisations like CleanUp Australia and Take3.org have (along with many others) taken a leading role at identifying…
Selective Consumption and the Retail sector
The Retail sector in Australia is slowing coming to grips with the fact that for the past…
Strategic Agility and the Art of Paying Attention
he many people who’ve been through one of The Australian Strategic Planning Institute’s workshops over the past…
How to Build an Effective Twitter Group
As a Futurist I’m often asked what I think about certain social media tools (and most technology…
The Future of Beer (and alcohol)
Will alcohol have a legitimate place in societies in the years to come? As we slowly awaken…
The Top 3 Questions and Answers for the Future
Well as I’ve discovered them! These three questions (and my normal answers) are based on what I…
Heading down the drain with the ‘4 Minute Shower’.
Every now and again what sounds like a really good idea turns out to be less beneficial…
Mars on Earth – is the red planet an indicator of things to come?
There’s a lot to like about Mars. For centuries the name given to the Roman God of…
The Future of…
Most everything. The various papers, presentations, radio interviews, magazine articles, books and newspaper references have been reformatted…
The Continued Rise of ‘Enoughness’
I came up with the term Enoughness in late 2008, and early 2009 as a result of…
Need a Career Change? Here’s some roles to consider
Business Insider has a story today of 7 jobs you’ve never heard of and why they’re awesome…
Our Disappearing World Languages
In this article on the LifeBoat Foundation’s website, Laurence Baines discusses the loss of languages around the…
Science Fiction writer Ray Bradbury has died aged 91
Few books (and a subsequent film) influenced my desire for knowledge in the way that Bradbury’s Fahrenheit…
How Secure is your WiFi Usage?
Ah well, you’d be surprised at how easy it is for someone to steal a piece of…
The Future of Money
Have just spent a few hours discussing the Future of Money, hosted by James Bibby at Microsoft…
Six Emerging Trends in Corporate Sustainability
Ernst & Young and GreenBiz have completed a survey of business executives looking at the development of…
The Future of War
On the eve of ANZAC day here in Australia ABC Radio Darwin’s Vicki Kerrigan chats with futurist…
The Future of Workplace Design
In this chat with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Radio Darwin, we chat about workplace design and the…
Happiness Makes the World Go ‘Round
Columbia University’s Earth Institute have just made publicly available their World Happiness Report, joining the expanding list…
Local Councils’ Role in Economic Activity
Whilst the main thrust of Australian economic activity is said to be in the hands of the…
Eat or Extract – Farming versus Mining in NT and Australia
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber chats with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Radio Darwin about the challenges facing the…
Top 10 Tips for Resilience
As most of you know I nominated this year as the 2012 International Year of Resilience because…
Is more foresight needed for Urban Planning in Darwin?
A new city is due to emerge in Darwin over the coming couple of years and the…
After the Rains – thinking about Urban Planning in a future of havoc weather
Dorothea Mackellar’s poem ‘My Country’ is best known for its second verse – “I love a sunburnt…
Innovation in Your Supply Chain – Symbiotic Supply Chain management
Potentially the biggest area of untapped competitive advantage (and arguably one of the biggest areas where costs…
Remote Mining poses challenges for Australian Airlines
There’s a shift underway in the mining industry that will likely catch Australian airlines out if they…
Is Your Organisation’s Strategy D.E.A.D or A.L.I.V.E?
Simple question really. Or is it? In this quick article I provide an overview of the difference…
Are you lining your future up in the right direction?
Lots of thoughts for the year already underway, with some covering a range of ideas from ‘don’t…
2012 International Year of Resilience – top 10 Tips
In thinking about the year ahead I’ve decided to call it the International Year of Resilience. With…
Rising Household Energy Costs NOT due to Environmental Polices
The United Kingdom’s Committee on Climate Change has released a report that shows rising household energy costs…
Official Reports for Travelers – who should you believe?
After a great although too brief trip to Islamabad in Pakistan, I joined Vicki Kerrigan on ABC…
The massive missing piece of Australia’s Tourism approach
It’s taken me a while to get the Tourism Thinking piece together given the extensive travel this…
A Wildcard to Top them all
I alert you from the outset that I’m about to make a massive leap of potentially an…
Asteroid Management and Mining
n this MP3 with Paul Dale on ABC Darwin radio we chat about the recent fly past…
Futurist Marcus Barber discusses the Future of Sex (Part Two) on ABC Darwin with Vicki Kerrigan
The MP3 file below captures part two of our chat looking at the Future of Sex. Picking…
History as Future – TV Show Who’s Been Sleeping in My House?
Who’s Been Sleeping In My House? is a new Australian series presented by archaeologist Adam Ford that…
Professional Futurists running their Follow The Sun Futures Program
The Association of Professional Futures is holding its first Virtual Gathering, following the sun from Europe, across…
Marcus Barber on ABC Darwin – the Future of Sex Part 2
I join Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Darwin radio where we continue our discussion about the future of…
The Future of Sex Part One
In this chat with Vicki Kerrigan on radio ABC Darwin we discuss the future of sex. This…
Soft House Prices or Unrealistic Vendors?
There’s been a bit of discussion in recent months about a softening housing market around Australia but…
We’ve Been hit by an email Virus and apologise to everyone impacted
Unfortunately it looks like my main email address has been hijacked and has been used to send…
The Future of Plastic Bottles
Given the amount of plastic swimming in our oceans and rivers and the volume littering our land,…
Is Alcohol or Cannabis more Harmful?
Deciphering the hype from reality with regard to drug use can be a challenge for most of…
The Future of Clothing Part Two
Vicki Kerrigan and I finished off our discussion about the Future of Clothing on ABC Darwin yesterday….
The coming age of Robotics in In-Home Healthcare
I’ll be talking with Vicki Kerrigan again this afternoon, this time discussing robotics as in-home carers. I’m…
Australia 2030 – a view from Siemens
I recently attended a session with South East Business Networks where the CEO of Siemens Australasia provided…
The Future of clothing
In this very brief chat with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Darwin, we kick off the discussion of…
Futurist Marcus Barber on Scenarios for Water Industry at World Water Week
Marcus Barber will present the case study of his work with Central Highlands Water and their use…
For a Futurist, 50 Years isn’t so long ago
A quick note for the history buffs among us – in this month of August fifty years…
The Flaws in Demand & Supply thinking
Let me start by saying that my Masters of Science qualification is NOT held in economics and…
Cultured Meat’s potential for energy and water reductions
Below you’ll find this afternoon’s discussion with ABC Darwin radio in which host Vicki Kerrigan chats with…
Speaking of the Future at the World Futures Conference
Continuing the futures discussions on ABC Darwin Radio, this time with Paul Dale who is filling in…
