POST COVID-19, AUSTRALIAN CEOs AND DIRECTORS OPTIMISTIC ON TECH AND SCIENCE - BUT CONCERNED ABOUT INVESTMENT AND GOVERNMENT PLANS

Sydney. 30 June 2020.

 

Futurologist & Author Rocky Scopelliti today released Australia 2030! Where the bloody hell are we?, a new Australian-first book on Australian professionals sentiment about the decade ahead, based on a major study conducted before and during the eye of the COVID-19 storm.

 

The study revealed that whilst 89 per cent of CEOs are positive about technological and scientific developments over the coming decade, 78 per cent were not confident that government has effective plans with industries for the economic, technological, social and cultural transformation over the coming decade. Additionally, during the COVID-19 period, 88 per cent became concerned that Australia is not investing enough in technological, scientific and skills development compared to other countries over the coming 10 years.

 

“One massive societal amygdala hijack”

Scopelliti explains that people have hit pause on common sense.

 

“The speed, scale and impact of COVID-19 has left us knowing that not all decisions and choices made follow an orderly, predicable pathway”.  

 

Australia 2030 explores ‘what’s on the other side’ and how do professionals feel about it. The research contrasts our views about the future and how they changed when the massive societal amygdala hijack set in. The insights centre on the collision of eight megatrends and predicts the future tipping points that collectively will define Australia politically, economically, environmentally, regionally, socially, trustworthily, knowledgably, scientifically and technologically over the coming decade.

 

“This programmatic decade will see major technological and scientific advances such as gene editing, artificial intelligence, nano technology and many more that will present us with many choices – perhaps some more profound than many decades before,” said Scopelliti. “But for many of those, going backwards or changing our minds will no longer be an option.”

 

Australia 2030 is a fascinating investigation of how Australian professionals are being affected by the 4th Industrial Revolution, how they're adapting to thrive within it and how companies can do the same. The research revealed that 31 per cent of CEOs don’t think their companies will be around in the next 10 years and that 53 per cent believe that leadership qualities such as values-led policy change, integrity, honesty, transparency, humility and accountability will be the most important for world leaders over the next 10 years.

 

In technology we trust, but not the systems and actors

“With trust at its historical low, we have crossed the inflection point, upon which the question has changed from ‘who do we trust’ to ‘what do we trust’. The implications of this suggest that restoration of trust as it was bestowed, and to recipient actors in the past, is no longer a plausible pursuit, rather we will see the transition from placing our trust in governments, or other institutions to technology.

The research found that 60 per cent of Australian professionals believe we will trust technology more than institutions such as government over the coming 10 years – even 31 per cent would trust decisions made by robot intelligence on their behalf,” said Scopelliti.

 

The 4th Industrial Revolution can be overwhelming. It is characterised by emerging technology breakthroughs, which have potentially highly disruptive effects in the areas of artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, biotechnology, nanotechnology, materials science, energy storage, blockchain and quantum computing.

 

In 2030, 68 per cent of Australian professionals anticipate there will be treatments for illnesses such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, ageing-longevity, physical disability and mental health and 74 per cent expect to reflect back on that technological and scientific advancements improved our future. However, geopolitically, we find ourselves socially, culturally, economically, technologically and scientifically divided and unclear on the impact of the Asian century with 76 per cent of CEOs either unsure or disagreeing that the world would be better led by Asia, than the past decade when it was led by Europe and the US.

 

Interpreting the surveys’ findings, Scopelliti advises:

 

With 86 per cent of Australian professionals feeling positive about the role of technological and scientific development over the coming decade, we need to get our ‘juvenescence’ on to keep pace with a world of accelerated change. We must learn to adapt just as quickly, again and again at the pace set by Asia.  

 

“Transformation is not a one-time event, nor an end state. Those who understand the principle of adaptation, leverage their capacity to learn, evolve and thrive in a continuous state of youthfulness. Even corporates and institutions must embrace this juvenescence if they want to survive, remain relevant and achieve exponential growth,” said Scopelliti.

 

Scopelliti’s expertise and pioneering research into the confluence of demographic change with emerging digital technology has influenced the way we think about our social, cultural, economic and technological future. More than 150 boards and leadership teams – including Fortune 100 companies – seek his strategic advice annually.

 

About the Australia 2030 research:

 

It’s often said that hindsight is 2020. So, as the third decade of the new millennium kicks off, I put that wisdom to the test. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight (in 2020), and with ground-breaking new research, Australia 2030, investigates Australian professionals’ attitudes towards the coming decade. These attitudes were formed the decade before and during a time when the nation’s and the world’s worst crisis since the last world war is unfolding.

 

The question of how to increase our capacity to adapt to a world of accelerated change, has been thrust upon all of us by COVID-19, and it will be the test of that wisdom that will define the society we will become in 2030. The central questions we are all searching for answers to are what to believe – who, what, how and where the bloody hell are we? which road do we take? and what is on the other side anyway?

 

By invitation, 673 Australian professionals (170 classified as CEOs, Chairman, Board Directors) participated in the quantitative and qualitative study conducted during January–April 2020 that is referred to as the Australia 2030 research. It considered our attitudes towards the decade ahead, including the following questions:

 

·       How confident are we in the government’s plans for our future?

·       What issues do we predict will affect Australia and the world?

·       What qualities do we expect from our leaders?

·       What contribution do we want organisations to make in our society?

·       What are the priorities in their organisations today?

·       What is our place in the world and region?

·       How do they feel about demographic changes with the aging population and the rise of Millennials?

·       Who do they believe has the greatest role to play in making the world a better place?

·       What contribution do they believe businesses should be making to society?

·       What are our concerns about our jobs and the workplace?

·       Who do we trust to control our best interests?

·       How do we feel about the impact of technological & scientific developments on our personal, professional and family lives?

·       Are we optimistic or pessimistic about technological & scientific developments?

·       What parts of their life they expect will change the most in 2030 due to technological and scientific developments?

·       What do they think they will be experiencing in 2030?