Editor’s note: Stefan Hyttfors, an acclaimed futurist, author and global speaker, will be the closing keynote speaker at ISACA Conference Europe 2022, to take place in Rome, Italy, and virtually 19-21 October. Hyttfors recently visited with ISACA Now to discuss some of his favorite themes—the future, emerging technology and trends in globalization and sustainability. The following is a transcript of the interview:
ISACA Now: You say the future is not to be predicted but created—how did you come to embrace that mindset?
When I was doing my military service, we were taught a simple rule: you either know or you don't know.
Predictions are like guessing or gambling—it can be fun, and sometimes you win, but it's not a professional approach. In a worst-case scenario, predictions make you forget the importance of decisions and actions.
ISACA Now: What is the most important thing professionals can do to create their own future, rather than have it dictated to them?
Study trends and watch out for opinions, including your own. The size of a trend is not crucial—focus on speed. How fast is it moving? Then, think in terms of scenarios: wild card scenarios to stretch imagination, possible scenarios to allocate resources, and probable scenarios to take action.
ISACA Now: Which emerging technologies do you find to be especially promising from an enterprise perspective?
Artificial intelligence because it means free time, renewable energy because it means abundant growth, and cryptocurrency because it means democratization of money.
ISACA Now: Why should technology professionals pay attention to sustainability?
The shift toward sustainability is the overall purpose of everything we do in the coming decades, since the alternative is the end of economic growth. Any professional who doesn't understand this will be outcompeted due to inefficiency. So far sustainability has been a cost, but from now on it’s the new opportunity.
ISACA Now: What are some of the major trends in globalization that have caught your eye these past couple of years?
The most important trend is the new world order, where one side has access to a free and open internet, and the other side doesn’t. Unfortunately, freedom has been a negative trend for 16 years. One example is the press freedom index. Today only eight out of 180 countries are defined as “free” for journalists. Net neutrality and data rights are as important as sustainability. The actions we take or don’t take today will impact all future generations.