Summary
Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in Sociology at George Mason University, exploring digital globalization themes and the ever-evolving dialogue between society and technology.
I am an instructor for the Next Systems Fellows, Intern Coordinator for the Global Politics Fellows , and faculty advisor for Students onAir @GMU.
OnAir Post: Dhruv Deepak
News
George Mason University is proud to offer a unique opportunity for undergraduate students, the Global Politics Fellows program.
The Global Politics Fellows program is a 15 credit academic program for selected students interested in Government and International Politics and Global Affairs at George Mason University. The academic program is based at the Mason Square campus and incorporates a significant internship experience into the semester.
The Global Politics Fellows make up a small cohort of 20 to 30 students, all interested in the role of government in society, here in the United States and abroad. The smaller classes allow for more student discussion and the opportunity to delve deeper into the issues the world faces today. The internship provides students the chance to immediately apply what they are learning and offers students greater insight into their future career in the arena of government and global affairs.
About
I am a strategic foresight advisor with 14 years’ consulting experience in the Middle East’s emerging technology, energy and public sector innovation spaces. I combine my management consulting background with an extensive toolkit of foresight methodologies in order to study complex futures for organizations and societies.
In an environment of accelerating change, I am passionate about researching and modeling future worlds that organizations and societies will thrive in, and decrypting their ‘new and next’ most critical challenges into winning strategies and opportunities.
Web Links
tenten100
Our mission is to drive organizations and societies towards their infinite potential.
tenten100 believes that engaging through the power of rich, enticing scenarios is an important step on our respective future journeys.
We embark on these journeys with our partners, providing guidance through exciting strategic foresight projects.
We investigate, model and communicate complex futures in imaginative, unconventional and compelling ways, so as to inspire action and positive change.
Solutions
Anticipatory Mindsets. Novel Insights. Modeling Futures. Designing for Tomorrow.
Complex futures can be unwieldy; imagining our roles in them can be uncomfortable. We have developed a service offering that takes our partners through the different dimensions of foresight in a structured manner. We are about:
- Undertaking ambitious, challenging projects
- Utilizing uncommon-sense to challenge conventional wisdom and weave through intricate complexities
- Tackling uncomfortable questions and profound uncertainty with sincerity and open-mindedness
- Above all, valuing originality, unshakeable logic and optimism
Research Opportunities
Asking questions today, that build tomorrow.
tenten100’s scenarios are logically-sound models built on a blend of data, expert testimony, crowd wisdom and creativity. We are currently interested in, or engaged in, investigating the following themes:
Feeding the Planet
Can an increasingly hungry and thirsty planet be feed equitably and sustainably?
Projections for 2050 show that the world might have a 60% calorie deficit if it has to feed 9 billion people. Furthermore, the link with water, an already stressed and scarce commodity that is needed for food production, creates an amplified crisis.
As we move towards brighter and desired futures, the questions we have to ask are:
– How far can innovative food technologies alleviate the problem?
– If we create systems to address global misallocation and food waste, to what extent can we solve real problems that already exist today?
– What are the scenarios in which world hunger is eradicated?
Space Exploration
What should my country’s space ambitions be for the next 30 years?
We live in a world where governments, corporations and even individuals are reaching for the moon, the stars and beyond. Space is now crowded – in terms of opportunity, in terms of concepts and physically, with all manner of satellites and debris whizzing by each other. There is no space race anymore, because the new objectives and the landscape of players have expanded almost exponentially.
Looking forward, what might meaningful space ambitions resemble?
– Studying and redefining new roles for government, international cooperation and private companies in space exploration
– Mapping opportunity and competitive landscapes
– A cost-benefit valuation of a long-term space program
The New Age ‘Third Age’
What will the new opportunities be in an ‘ageless’ society?
By 2050, the world might have over 2billion people aged 60+. Historically, senior citizens control a significant majority (over 80%) of the world’s wealth. Contrary to conventional wisdom, entrepreneurial activity is the highest in the 55-64 age group. Globally, senior citizens will continue to be an important vote bank and consumer of services.
But as millennials and future generations turn 60:
– Will they be a production powerhouse as well
– Will their skills and knowledge be effectively used?
– What is the role of healthcare and technology at large – living longer, or living better?
– How will they influence business, sociology and culture overall?
Valuing Nature’s Capital
What might our world look like if nature’s capital had equal economic value to domestic production?
Nature’s capital is defined as the stock of renewable and non-renewable natural resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) that combine to provide benefits to humanity. Natural capital has long been considered “free”, which allows us to take it for granted, but when climate change or pollution affects nature, economies are threatened too. The wealth of a nation or a business is more than just what people and machines can produce.
This research theme investigates what a reconfigured world would look like when nature’s capital is taken into account:
– Elements of the new ‘Web of Life’: where humans, all nature’s elements, and economic
production all work in harmony
– What new economic and societal value drivers emerge?
Neuro-capitalism
Brain data: a new sector ripe for commercialization, or the shocking infringement of the last frontier for privacy?
Your devices and wearables are collecting data on your organ functions. Implants have helped patients with paralysis to make things move, and will soon be able to control more bodily functions. Tech companies are actively (and successfully) working on reading your mind, and we have no control over the extent of the technologies’ abilities.
‘Mind-mining’ will happen very soon, and many questions abound:
– Who gets access?
– Will my brain have rights?
– Who wins in an arms race?
– Can we create a new, thriving, and optimally-regulated sector?
Cancer’s Downfall
Does human ingenuity have what it takes to envision and work towards an end to cancer?
Cancer is one of the world’s biggest killers, accounting for 9.6 million deaths in 2018. However, just calling it a ‘disease’ doesn’t do cancer justice. We all produce cancerous cells in our body everyday – but our immune system manages these. Cancer is better thought of as a condition where abnormal cells grow uncontrollably. It can happen anywhere in the body, and there are more than 200 types and sub-types. A future without cancer therefore might not necessarily mean eradication, but revisiting concepts such as incidence, mortality rates, prevention measures and access (to knowledge and care), in order to better understand success.
In 2050:
– What might the ‘end of cancer’ look like?
– What factors need to align to get there?
– How different might a world without cancer be?
Services
FOUNDATION
Unearthing exciting, critical challenges that lead to complex futures topics
Creating ‘soft infrastructure’: processes, tools, and methodologies that codify foresight work
Developing mindsets for working with deep uncertainty and complex challenges of the future: building an anticipatory outlook through talent identification, honing and nurturing
Inspiring a foresight culture: incentives, awards & positive working environments
EXPLORATION
Scanning, insight discovery, and capture through unique processes
Evaluating insights through rating and prioritization
Identifying drivers of change by examining correlations and cross-impact
ENVISIONING
Creating visual databases and systems maps
Modeling future projections
DESIGN
Prototyping the future through engaging scenarios
◘ Building scenario logic
◘ Creating rich, enticing scenario narratives
Foresight-driven strategic advisory
