Bert Van Thilborgh

Speaker
Dutch
English
Photo of Bert Van Thilborgh

Who is Bert Van Thilborgh?

Via his company Futureproved Trendwatchers, Bert advises companies on trend analyses, trend implementations, trend communication and trend acceleration.

In his lectures, Bert adopts an enthusiastic and infectious approach to highlight developing trends in our society. His lectures address a variety of themes, like artificial intelligence, robotisation, people-centricity, ever-increasing consumer expectations and the generation gap and its impact on the economy and society, not only now but also in the future. He also presents trends for 2020 and tailormade keynotes about the future of various sectors (food, retail, entertainment, information technology, healthcare, education, transport, tourism, consumer electronics, the public sector and lifestyle).

*photo by: Caroline Dupont

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    The Time Capsule 2055 - A History of the Future

    In 'The Time Capsule 2055 - A History of the Future', our narrator Bert Van Thilborgh takes you on a fascinating journey to 2055, a year when everything we know today has been transformed by technology, love, loss and hope. From the future of 2055, we look back over the last 30 years to find out how we have reshaped our lives in the decades to come? What do our cities, our food, our transport, the way we work and live and our relationships look like in an age where technology and humanity are increasingly connected?

    This keynote is an experience. The narrator unravels his personal story and interweaves it with the big societal changes that have shaped us all. He opens the time capsule to reveal images, objects and stories that take you through the highlights and challenges of the last 30 years. From smart toilets to hybrid citizens made from insects and algae, from 3D printed cities to the recent discovery of eternal life, it all comes together in this powerful and personal journey.

    With humour, poignancy and wonder, this one-man show makes you see the future differently. It is an inspiring and sometimes confrontational look at what happens when the future becomes reality. Will you dare to travel with us beyond the horizon? Come and find out.

    Healing and Harmony are the new trend rail roads of 2023

    The turbulent permacrisis governs all social domains: our identity, our collective behavior and actions, our economy and purchasing power, the social fabric, polarized politics, and above all, our environment. For our planet and ultimately our own self-preservation, the clock is ticking mercilessly. Eco-activism, instant impact and physoterratic dominate the sustainability issue in 2023. So there is much healing to be done in our fractured society, if not derailment is imminent. Trendsetting companies, innovative brands, new services and experiences will help and inspire us.

    In 2023, we seek harmony for ourselves by striving for control and creativity. The latter is booming with the revival of crafts that refer to the past and a certain nostalgia. But it is not only craftsmanship that trumps. We are also using technology, especially open AI en masse from 2023 onwards to take new art, music, literature, photography, culinary recipes, computer software and a host of other expressions to new dimensions. We seek harmony through more openness, more transparency, more mental resilience. And the good news here is that we are getting help and great examples from various organizations and brands with new innovative products and experiences. 

    Join us on the 2023 trend train and be guided and inspired by our driver on duty Bert Van Thilborgh. Book this inspiring keynote now for your next corporate reception, conference, congress or internal inspiration session.

    Trendsurfing The Keynote

    What megatrends are we surfing on today and in the future?

    Author, historian, future thinker and social analyst Bert Van Thilborgh proves in his book Trendsurfing that trends are the driving forces behind a lot of innovations. The media, retail, automotive, tourism, banking, construction and numerous other sectors are looking for innovation in order to retain their customers of today and tomorrow. But are they taking enough notice of trends and especially of the individual and his behavior in a world of change? This keynote zooms in on our role and that drives identity and individuality.  That identity is multimodal, drives DNA research and genetics, formulates new applications and explores possibilities and opportunities in the virtual metaverse.  More fluid, greener, bluer, quieter, healthier, longer young, shorter old, funnier, even immortal and this in different ways. Our identity constantly engages with society, with various innovative technologies, with nature in a new struggle for self-preservation.  That field of tension makes organizations, companies and brands innovate and provide solutions for ambiguous consumers. The key word is trust and collaboration, because we can create and create surprisingly beautiful things from today and much more in the near future in symbiotic collaboration with technology, under the form of AI.

     

    Eternal life or compulsory death? The choice is yours ... or is it?

    In 2050, we will reach two milestones, one positive and one negative. Let's start with the good news. In that year, world population growth will slow down. At that time, the world population will be close to 12 billion people. So that's the number of the current world population and we'll add another half. It's getting crowded on our planet. We're already building more in height, our habitable area is shrinking, we're going to struggle with potable water and affordable food in the coming years. But the bad news is that by 2050 we will manage to extend the human lifespan ... to infinity. The last taboo has thus been broken and eternal life lies ahead for our (grand)children. 

    Immerse yourself in an exciting story about (im)mortality. Various questions and answers pass in review: how will we prepare our society for this? Are we going to keep working indefinitely? Will the duration of a mortgage be extended to 100 years? What about pensions and leisure? How many generations are going to be part of our active population at the same time? What are the consequences for our social (in)security? How will cosmetics brands deal with eternal youth? Will people become living museums? What about residential care centers? Are we going to offer lifelong learning for the 200-plus? Does anyone want to die at all?

    Robotisation and artificial intelligence: a threat or a blessing?

    It is clear that we are moving massively into robotization and artificial intelligence. Is this a threat or a blessing for humanity?

    After a brief historical insight, the speaker explains the various driving forces behind the recent waves of automation in different economic sectors. Future productivity gains will be driven by the latest generation of robots and artificial intelligence. How will we deal with this? Should we work less or differently? Will we introduce robot taxes? Are we evolving toward a guaranteed basic income for everyone in the world? Can we further develop our standard of living with the help of robots and artificial intelligence?

    The future of healthcare

    Trend watcher Bert Van Thilborgh paints a picture about the future of health care, medicine and the new homo sapiens of the 21st century. Starting from current demographic trends such as aging, the extension of our average lifespan and the increase of the world population in this century, a totally new health care and medicine emerges. Bert outlines the pursuit of a healthy mental and physical lifestyle, but equally the applications of nanobots, 3D printing, AI, DNA and robotization in healthcare. Are we achieving eternal and infinite life in the 21st century? Are we evolving into a new human 2.0? What about happiness, the social aspect and emotional intelligence?

    Is our education system ready for 2040?

    Starting point: shake up and thoroughly rethink our current education system, and start again with a blank page. In the 21st century we will continue to learn constantly, online, offline and virtually until we die. Frightening, no, because learning will only become fun in the coming decades. In such a rapidly changing world, we will learn new skills and be open to reverse teaching, global rockstar teachers, online certificates as NFTs in blockchain environments, but also to Youtube Classes, Apple Academies, Metaverse applications, Open AI and Edtech tools. 

    Let us also not forget that three quarters of the current professions will disappear in a few years and polish the plate for technological profiles. With the applications of AI, those new successful occupations of the future will still have to be invented and defined. Exciting for current students facing choices today.

    Crucial to the education story is our mindset shift whereby with an open mind, adaptive capacity, innovativeness and a critical mindset we enable that transition. If not, our existing education system risks imploding and other disruptors will take over that societal role.  Trend watcher Bert Van Thilborgh analyzes current trend developments and applies future thinking methods that outline possible scenarios for educational evolution in the next 20 years.

For our annual conference, we were looking for an exciting speaker who could captivate a very diverse audience. This was not an easy task but, after searching for a while, we thought Bert Van Thilborgh would be the ideal speaker to address our guests. The audience was treated to a fascinating hour-long lecture, which was well delivered by an expressive speaker who liked to move around the stage. The audience was enthusiastic throughout, and the comments afterwards were very complimentary. Our interaction with Read my Lips also flowed very smoothly. If we need a speaker in the future, we will certainly recall the success of this afternoon and will not hesitate to contact Bert Van Thilborgh again, because such lectures are certainly worth experiencing a second time! Thank you!

Vanessa Thijs

VEA-CEB

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