The festival’s second Thomson Reuters Knowledge Exchange event was titled “Cracking the Genetic Code,” and featured an excellent panel. Moderated by Chris Kibarian, president of our IP & Science business, the panel included Harvard professor John Quackenbush, Brian Fiske of the The Michael J. Fox Foundation, and Paul Rejto from Pfizer. The three panelists each brought a unique perspective to the discussion, and their varied expertise helped to turn complicated subject matter into something very easy to understand and enjoy.
The conversation started and revolved around the human genome, and the project to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA, as well as identifying the function of human genes. Professor Quackenbush almost poetically explained complicated scientific information so that it was easily comprehensible. He talked about the roadmap of the human genome and the new technologies that have contributed to the decreasing costs of identifying genes. He talked about a time in the very near future where the cost would become so low that we’d be able to generate huge amounts of data in an economically responsible manner. This data would then contribute to a better understanding about genetic factors contributing to risk of developing diseases and being able to develop more personalized care for serious illnesses. (more…)
In the 1950s, the assembly line was a conveyer belt we gathered around, each employee with a single task and a hope for years of service to the same company.
The new assembly is about connecting information, continuous learning, evolving skills, critical thinking, technology, networks and communities of diverse thought and contribution. We will assemble and reassemble and no longer accept stasis. The new professionals will assemble their worlds around adaptability.
In addition, the new professional life is no longer a hyphened life. Life is the frame. There is no longer a conflict between values at work and values at home. Life is merged, and the new professionals are structuring their lives based on mission and values. And many more, due to the economy or necessity, are choosing to be entrepreneurs, opting to start their own businesses.
The rapidly changing landscape and the need for our businesses to create a culture that cultivates curiosity and innovation and learning will be essential for the strength of our companies and strength of our economies. The new professional will fundamentally change how we think about organizational development, advancement, contribution and teams. Current cultures will be challenged.
In the Thomson Reuters Knowledge Exchange event titled “The New Professional”, Heidi Moore moderates a panel with Reid Hoffman, Deirdre Stanley, Susan Peters and Mark Penn about maximizing the knowledge and intellectual potential of your employees in a digital world.
30 Jun 2012Thomson Reuters
Follow the conversation on Twitter at #AspenIdeas.
We have reached the end of day two here at the Aspen Ideas Festival, and with over 40 events taking place, ranging from the future of Olympic sports, to the Earth in 2050, to the future of democracy and technology, ideas flowed freely and with fervor. We were incredibly happy to be a part of the program today, and excited to see what comes from the ideas presented in today’s panels.
The day started off again with Thomson Reuters Digital Editor Chrystia Freeland’s conversation with Alan B. Krueger, titled “Reversing the Middle Class Jobs Deficit”. They had an in-depth conversation about the state of our economy, and the middle class in America. Krueger is the chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors and a member of his Cabinet.
We then moved over to our “Knowledge Exchange” panel on “Cracking the Genetic Code” featuring Chris Kibrarian, the president of our IP & Science Division. The discussion also included Brian Fiske of the Michael J. Fox Foundation and John Quackenbush of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Be on the lookout for a recap post and video tomorrow.
Some of the world’s poorest cities are the most productive, says Richard Florida, a leading urbanist. Good mayors can propel a city to a greatness and bad ones can cause them to bust. And perhaps Florida’s most interesting finding is that the best mayors appear to be party neutral.
Today was the first full day of the Aspen Ideas Festival, and it was a very full day indeed, with more than 30 sessions and events focusing on themes ranging from world affairs, the economy, our planet, arts and culture and America 2012. We were very pleased to be involved in today’s conference program:
28 Jun 2012Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Digital Editor Chrystia Freeland opened the day with a session in which she interviewed Honeywell CEO Dave Cote about his proposal for an “American Competitiveness Agenda.”
Chrystia also interviewed Simon Johnson, professor of global economics at MIT’s Sloan School of Management in a session titled “White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You.”
We also hosted a Knowledge Exchange panel discussion on “The New Professional,” featuring our chief counsel Deirdre Stanley.
Some of the most interesting, provocative and salient quotes we heard around the Aspen Ideas Festival today:
“We are not perfect, but we are a force for good, and things are better because we are here.” – Douglas McMillon, President & CEO, Walmart International
28 Jun 2012Thomson Reuters
“Storytelling gives soul to technology.” - Kenji Williams, Founder & Director of Bella Gaia
“When did we start to give the responsibility of job creation to administrations as opposed to companies that have a lot more control over that?” – Heidi Moore, New York bureau chief and Wall Street correspondent
“Does leadership create the culture, or does the culture create leaders?”Susan P. Peters, VP of Executive Development & Chief Learning Officer, General Electric Company
“There is no distinction between social and ecological.” – David McConville, President, Buckminster Fuller Institute
The Aspen Ideas Festival panel discussion “Will College Learning Be Influenced By Society” included Stanford Professor Andrew Ng and chief of staff to US Secretary of Education, Joanne Weiss. Moderated by NBC News Correspondent Rehema Ellis, the panel discussed how higher education is being influenced by changing technology.
The rising cost of higher education is becoming a major issue in the US. Joanne Weiss made the astonishing point that the cost of a college education has been rising at five times the median household income. This is simply not sustainable. So what’s the answer?
The first event that I attended at the Aspen Ideas Festival was titled “Exploring the Rational Middle: How Do We Stay There in the Natural Gas Debate?” The panel was a powerhouse of energy experts: Gregory Kallenberg, Alexis Karolides, Russ Ford, and Richard Newell, and moderated by Thomson Reuters Chrystia Freeland. The inspiration for the title of the session comes from The Rational Middle Energy Series, which is a series of short films created by the team that produced the acclaimed documentary, “Haynesville: A Nation’s Hunt for An Energy Future.” During the session, we previewed two of the series’ films, “What’s at Stake” and “The Great Transition”. They touched on subjects such as where American energy comes from, renewables and their miniscule representation of total energy consumption, how natural gas can play a role in renewable energy and how patience and innovation can make major changes in our energy future.
28 Jun 2012Adam Cohen
Although the title of the session mentioned natural gas, that topic wasn’t really discussed much until the end of the session. The beginning portion focused mainly on our current consumption environment and the role that renewable energy will play in the future. 2050 was the key year that kept coming up as a target date. Alexis Korolides talked about the importance of keeping consumption constant over the next 40 years. This could be done by increasing the use and efficiency of renewables. Richard Newell (described by the panel as an “energy stud”) and Russ Ford weren’t so optimistic about being able to eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels by 2050. But an interesting point that Newell made was (more…)
01 Jul 2012
“We are not perfect, but we are a force for good, and things are better because we are here.” – 
