CYBERSECURITY

a message from the ceo
DEAR FELLOW FUTURIST,
In 1966, Edward Cornish had the powerful insight that
the world needs an organization to serve as a “neutral
clearinghouse for the exchange of ideas about the
future.” Armed with that insight, and many dedicated
volunteers, he founded the World Future Society, a nonprofit
501(c)(3) corporation based in Washington D.C.
Today, the accelerating rate of change in areas from
technology to the global economy to our social and civic
lives make the need for such a global organization to
champion intelligent, imaginative approaches to the
future even more acute.
That organization is the World Future Society. For
fifty years, WFS has served as the world’s largest and
most impactful organization to advocate for thoughtful,
systematic, approaches to understanding the future. Yet,
conditions today are different than they were 50 years
ago. As a result, we needed a new kind of WFS to serve
the emergent needs of a global community.
When I took on the job of WFS CEO one year ago, I
pledged to ensure that WFS successfully serves its mission
for at least another 50 years, by spearheading a
multi-year transformation and modernization program.
Here are some of the broad elements of this program for
which I have been laying ground in the last year:
Become even more global. WFS has always been
remarkably international. Today we have members in
over 80 countries, with 80% of them in the United States
and 20% in other countries. In order to support a global
community and enhance foresight on transnational
issues, I will continue the groundwork laid this year to
strengthen our international chapter network and, by
2017, to develop new, regionally-focused activities.
Strengthen member benefits. WFS would not exist were
it not for our members, and it is critical for WFS going
forward to provide individual and institutional members
with meaningful returns on their investment, such
as global professional networking, educational and
work opportunities, as well as access to unique research
and analysis, to name a few.
Establish a digital-first and multimedia content
strategy. WFS was born in the print era, and its print
magazine The Futurist is remembered fondly all over the
world as an important part of many childhoods. Now,
we will combine our efforts in print with a variety of
other communications mechanisms to better reach our
global network and support more effective global information
and knowledge exchanges.
Increase our gender and age diversity. WFS and the
field of foresight will benefit from greater diversity,
and I am confident that WFS has a strong community
to offer a diverse community of futurists. I will be
working in the next few years to reach out to women
of all ages, to students, and to young and mid-career
professionals globally.
Amy Zalman, CEO
and President of the
World Future Society
Strengthen ties between futures work and active decision
making on future-critical issues. In the first two
generations of WFS, the field of futures studies was
established. As a result, today there are many techniques
for better understanding what might and could
unfold. Going forward, WFS will also be an advocate of
strong action: by promoting foresight as a leadership
skill, enhancing institutional capacity, and improving
decision making on future-critical issues.
Modernize and update The Futurist magazine.
The Futurist magazine and brand has been an important
benefit to many in our community over the years. Recognizing
that importance, I am delighted to introduce
with this issue our new interim Publisher and Executive
Editor, Mark Drapeau, who has taken the reigns for the
remainder of 2015 and will be taking steps toward a
complete re-envisioning and re-launch in 2016.
My agenda is ambitious, and it won’t happen overnight.
But the World Future Society has a crucial message to
relay: that we have the capacity to understand and act
in ways that shape better futures: for ourselves, our
communities, our businesses and governments, and our
planet. Such an important message deserves all the
energetic focus we can bring to it.
Warm Regards,
Amy
www.wfs.org • THE FUTURIST Summer 2015 5
© 2015 World Future Society • All rights reserved.