Technology Futurist Shara Evans is a globally acknowledged Keynote Speaker and widely regarded as one of the world’s Top Female Futurists. Highly sought after and in demand by conference producers and media, Shara provides the latest insights and thought provoking ideas on a broad spectrum of issues.
Regardless of your industry, Shara’s keynote speeches bring together the latest technology innovations and cutting-edge research projects, tying them into strategic insights specifically for your business.
As a futurist, Shara demonstrates an uncanny grasp of a broad range of technology (her technical background proving to be an essential asset) along with an understanding of society and its capabilities to absorb new technologies.Dr Dan Pitt, Executive Director, Open Networking Foundation, Palo Alto
Shara is also a regular media commentator on technology issues — appearing on shows such as Sky News, The Drum, Lateline, 7:30 and is regularly quoted in publications such as the Financial Review, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and many others.
As Founder and Managing Director of Internode, I worked with Shara and the Market Clarity team on wide range of projects over the course of many years. Shara is always a pleasure to work with, and has a long-standing track record of bringing innovative new research to the Australian telecoms community.Simon Hackett, Founder of Internode, Non-Executive Board Member at NBN Co Limited
Shara’s latest research is the Future Tech series, based on ongoing interviews with thought leaders in research labs, vendor labs, telcos, futurists and others — covering a very wide range of topics, such as: new form factors for phones and devices, wearables, implantables, sensors, wireless technologies, holograms, augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D printing, home automation, the Internet of Things, robotics, drones, cars of the future, artificial intelligence, security, privacy, cloud services, and the next wave of innovation.
She is also the Founder and CEO of Market Clarity, an award-winning technology analyst firm that provides insight, intelligence and advice on all aspects of the telecom and emerging technologies markets, as well as the Founder of Telsyte (which she sold to publicly listed UXC), and has been providing innovative research and strategic consulting on telecoms and technology throughout her successful career.
Shara provided a thought provoking and challenging presentation. She is a skilled presenter and clearly an expert in her chosen field.Michael Krasny, Exec Manager Strategic Projects at Commonwealth Bank Group
Shara has a long history of working with top scientific research organisations. She was a member of the CeNTIE (CSIRO Centre for Networking Technologies for the Information Economy) Advisory Board from 2002 – 2007, as well as being an Advisor to the Director of the Networking Technologies Laboratory within CSIRO’s ICT Centre. Most recently she served as a member of the Expert Review Panel for the Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation (ACBI), a collaborative research initiative by the CSIRO in partnership with NICTA, with foundation funding provided by the NSW Government.
Shara helps her clients understand new product and service opportunities that are being underpinned by emerging technologies. Frequently working with executive, strategy and product teams, Shara gets organisations to think outside the box of what’s available today to imagine the world in 10 – 20 years, and assists them in commercialising these concepts into innovative new products and services.
Shara prides herself on taking the time to work with you and your team to tailor her presentations to address the issues directly relevant to your company and industry.
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Shara’s Speech Categories
Banking, Finance and Insurance Emerging Technologies Innovation Healthcare Privacy and Security Inspiring Women in Tech
Shara’s Speeches
Cities of the Future Investing for Tomorrow – Hot Industries of the Future The Future of Artificial Intelligence Into the Future: How Technology Innovation will Transform our World New Technology Trends and the Next Big Thing — Future Industries, Services and Products Disruptive Technologies — Implications for the Finance Industry Unlocking the Future — Opportunities for the Telco Industry Technology Innovations — New Ways of Managing Risk Unlocking the Future: Opportunities and Risks for the Telco Sector Challenges and Opportunities for the Public Sector The Future of Aged Care — Cutting Edge Technologies that will Improve Older Citizens Quality of Life Health: Will Technology Let Us Live Forever? Privacy: Will it be gone forever? What every Company Director, Executive, Business Owner and Consumer needs to know From SciFi to Reality: New Attack Vectors for Cyber Criminals? CyberCrime: From Sci-Fi to Boardroom Threat – Where the Challenges Lie in the Digital Future Life in the Software-enabled World of Tomorrow Emerging Technologies: New Data Sets to Interpret and Monetize 3D Printing: A Truly Disruptive Technology Flying Robots – Friend or Foe? The Future of Travel — Business and Leisure Travel in 2030 Technology: A double edged sword Future Tech: Your Roadmap To New Opportunities Inspiring Women in Technology — The Role of Mentors in Fast-Tracking Your Career
Shara’s Signature Keynotes
The Future of Aged Care
Cutting Edge Technologies that will Improve Older Citizens’ Quality of Life
A realistic ‘here and now’ presentation for business and the end-user. Shara is an excellent presenter, clear, precise and engaging. The presentation had excellent content.Beth Mackenzie, Business Development Manager, National Infrastructure Services
Gone are the days of computers that took up an entire room, brick-size mobiles and Walkman stereos, futurist Shara Evans will explore the cutting edge technologies that will improve the quality of life for our aging population. With ground-breaking advancements in augmented reality, ingestible devices, smart homes, 3D printing of body parts and food, artificial intelligence and robots, Shara paints a picture of how these technologies will evolve over the next 10-years and beyond, where older Australians’ will harness the power of innovative technology to retain their independence for increasingly longer periods of time.
In this keynote speech, futurist Shara Evans explores the cutting edge technologies that will improve the quality of life for our aging population. Painting a picture of how these technologies will evolve over the next 10-years and beyond, Shara paints a compelling picture of the future, where older citizens harness the power of advanced technologies to retain their independence for increasingly longer periods of time.
Augmented reality, virtual reality, facial recognition, voice interfaces, biometrics + 3D cameras — Enhancing the way we interface with our environment
Wearable, Implantable and Ingestible Devices — Enablers for a new of Generation of Healthcare Services
Smart Homes — How connecting to the Internet of Things will enable elderly citizens to stay home longer, and remain socially engaged
Robots! Get ready for the robot assistant — everything from robot cleaning appliances, to beds that transform into wheelchairs, hair washing robots, personal trainers and even driverless cars will help elderly citizens stay mobile longer
Mind controlled prosthetics — Opening up new opportunities for elderly patients with physical disabilities
3D Printing — In the not-too-distant future everything from spare parts to body parts will be printable on demand. Get ready for 3D printed orthotics, exoskeletons, bionic ears and much more!
Artificial Intelligence / Digital Avatars – How smart software will assist aged care management
Cities of Tomorrow
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans shares her vision of the “Cities of Tomorrow” and the collaboration between government, industry, start-ups and researchers that will be required to create a future that we want to live in.
In the software enabled world of the near future, robots as a service will be offered by innovators in a range of industries, autonomous vehicles + drones will communicate with each other and the cloud, all kinds of things will be 3D printed on demand, and humans will become increasingly integrated with the ‘net.
Smart Cities — Bringing infrastructure to life with sensors, IoT connections and robots
Self Driving Cars + Cars of the Future
The Drone Revolution — Will our cities have highways in the sky?
Inside the Home of the Future — Connecting Gadgets, Appliances and Robots to the Internet of Things
Life in the Software-enabled World of Tomorrow
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans paints a vision of the future in a software enabled world, where Robots as a Service are offered by innovators in a range of industries, autonomous vehicles + drones communicate with each other and the cloud, where anything can be 3D printed on demand, and humans become increasingly integrated with the ‘net.
Investing for Tomorrow
Hot Industries of the Future
Your presentation at the ICT Trends 2014 – Celebrating the Technology of Tomorrow event was fantastic (very thought provoking and engaging). The guests I brought along today loved it.Sasha Jensen, State Manager – NSW, Launch Recruitment
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans paints a picture of emerging technologies that will create the industries that will shape the world over the next 10-20 years, along with creating new investment and finance sector opportunities and disrupting the status quo.
Topics include:
The convergence of Nanotech, Biotech, Info Tech and Cognitive Science — Creating the world of tomorrow
Automation — Understanding how Robotics and Artificial Intelligence will change the employment landscape, create new opportunities and industries, as well as raising huge challenges for businesses that don’t embrace disruption
3D Printing — Mass customisation, on-the-fly product fulfilment and exploring the potential of smart materials
Combining Biotech and ICT — Will tomorrow’s programmers have degrees in computer science, chemistry and biology? What kinds of new products, services and industries will emerge?
Nanotechnologies — Miniaturising our interface with the world: the latest research in medicine, electronics, and augmenting the human body
The implications of living longer — Will retirement still be an option?
From SciFi to Boardroom Threat
Where the challenges lie in the digital future!
Shara Evans is the modern day Melisandre, high priestess of tech. Fantastic presso! Feeling frightened but excited about future!Leigh Angus, Director, Industry and Investment at NICTA
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans describes how emerging technologies can be leveraged by cybercriminals in new and inventive ways, including examples that may seem straight out of a science fiction movie, but are eminently do-able with technology available now or in the very near future.
By showing how and where sensitive business and personal information may be compromised in the future, from spying drones to connected cars to mobile apps, Shara will provide you with insights that will help you navigate the new world of ubiquitous connectivity and how these lessons can relate to securing your most valuable information.
Topics covered include:
Current State of Play: Data Security, Hacking Targets, Privacy and Social Media – The bottom line impact of data breaches
The Next Generation of Wearables: Augmented Reality, Facial Recognition, and over the horizon technologies
Health Services + Embedded Technology
Connecting to the Internet of Things
Cities of the Future: Sensors, Next Generation Vehicles, Drones and Robots
Artificial Intelligence: The next wave of Big Data, Expert Systems, Machine Learning and Digital Avatars
The Next Big Thing
Future Industries, Services and Products
Shara obviously knows her space extremely well, and is a world authority on this changing landscape.Julian Day, CEO, Consensus
There are an amazing number of new technologies on the horizon, which will create a world 10 years from now that may – in many ways – be unrecognizable, and in 20 years seem straight out of a SciFi movie.
Not only will these technologies change the way we live our lives, but they also have the potential to completely transform industries such as manufacturing, transport and logistics, healthcare, agriculture and many others. Along the way, they’ll create new investment opportunities, new product categories, completely new jobs, and disrupt business as usual.
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans explores emerging technologies and trends that will shape the world over the next 10 years.
Topics covered include:
Setting the Scene — The Current State of Play: Mobile Apps, Social Media, Hacking Targets, Wearables
Augmented reality, facial recognition, voice interfaces, biometrics + 3D cameras — Changing the way we interface with our environment
Wearable, Implantable and Ingestible Devices — Enablers for a new of Generation of Healthcare Services?
3D Printing — In the not-too-distant future everything from spare parts to body parts will be printable on demand
Home automation — Connecting to the Internet of Things
The next generation of shopping — The technologies underpinning mass customisation (will we still need shopping centres?)
Sensor Networks — Instrumenting the Environment: A Key Enabler for Smart Cities
Air, Land + Sea: Expect to see Robots everywhere!
The Next Wave of Big Data — How Digital Avatars / AI will Transform Information Silos
By showing how cutting-edge technology developments can be leveraged by a wide range of industries, as well as identifying increasing risks in the area of data security and privacy, Shara will provide you with insights that will help you navigate the new world of ubiquitous connectivity.
Disruptive Technologies
Implications for the Finance Industry
Shara has been an honour and joy to work with. She has played a key role in the success of this year’s conference and we would love to work with her again in the future.Australia Finance Conference (AUSFIC) 2015
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans paints a picture of the FinTech disruptors that are already appearing on the market, as well as emerging technologies that will create or disrupt business across a wide range of industries, along with their potential for creating new investment and finance sector opportunities.
Topics covered include:
FinTech State of Play — New Banking and Finance Options (P2P Lending, Robo-Advisors, Big Data Analytics), Crypto Currency, NFC (smart cards, digital wallets / phone payments, new form factors for ATM machines), FinTech Hubs
Emerging Technologies — Profound changes in the way we live (augmented reality, virtual reality, holograms, 3D scanning, 3D facial recognition) — cross-industry impacts and opportunities
3D Printing set to shake up the supply chain — In the not-too-distant future everything from spare parts to body parts to houses will be printable on demand
The next generation of shopping — The technologies underpinning mass customisation (will we still need shopping centres or retail stores?)
Home automation — Connecting to the Internet of Things, Smart Appliances and Robot Shoppers set to make financial transactions
Air, Land + Sea: Expect to see Robots everywhere! Examples include driverless cars (impact on financing, insurance, individual car ownership, car parks), drones popping up everywhere, and robots as a service
Artificial Intelligence — In a world where Digital Avatars conduct transactions, what is the impact of automation on jobs?
Flying Robots – Friend or Foe?
A very dynamic and motivated presentation, inviting creative thought into the possibilities of flying robots large or small.Ken Cregan, Cregan Consult
In this fun talk, technology futurist Shara Evans presents her latest research on the use of flying robots (aka drones), looking at both the incredible benefits and challenges we face as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) take to the sky.
Topics covered include:
Industrial use of drones: mining, agriculture, surveying, healthcare
Massive disruption coming to the transport and logistics industries
Whimsical uses of flying robot technology
The Yin and Yang of video camera-equipped drones
Safety issues: What can go wrong?
3D Printing: A Truly Disruptive Technology
In this keynote speech, futurist Shara Evans discussing the amazing potential of the latest technological innovations, along with cautionary concerns about security, privacy, ethics. Will early adopters be on their way to becoming super-human? Are we about to see the emergence of a new species, what Shara calls “homo-technica”?
Future Tech: Your Roadmap To New Opportunities
Wearable, implantable and ingestible devices, massive changes in the automotive sector, sensor networks, new form factors for phones and tablets, home automation, drones, the Internet of Things, cloud services, security and privacy, and the latest telecom technologies may seem loosely connected.
But if you look more closely, you’ll see a common pattern of communications technologies underpinning new markets, along with new service and product segments targeted at both consumer and business customers. Future service opportunities are already unfolding, you just need to know where to look.
One way to do so comes from spotting technologies and trends early, and translating them in to viable business strategies.
Future Tech is your roadmap to understanding and accessing the growth potential of tomorrow’s world. In this talk Shara describes:
The technologies and trends that are creating new service and product markets
Leading edge innovation in transport and logistics, whitegoods, agriculture, and many other industries that require ubiquitous communications networks
Six new service sectors that any company offering telecom-related services should consider
Consumer and technology trends that will be essential for the global growth of your business
Cutting edge research on the wide range of gadgets, technologies, and trends that will impact telecom services (and everyone that uses these services).
Available as a high impact 30-60 minute keynote or a half-day workshop with interactive facilitated discussion, Shara’s Future Tech talks provide insights into the technologies that are shaping new service sectors, and how these emerging trends will affect businesses and consumers.
The Next Wave of Mobility
Integrated Mobile Connectivity in Everything
In this talk, leading telecoms futurist Shara Evans explains how the emerging Internet of Everything provides new opportunities for enterprise mobility, as well as enabling completely new lines of business. For example:
Radio chips embedded into everything will enable a phone or tablet to remotely access parameters like temperature, humidity or flow rate to control a wide range of processes and devices — ranging from simple consumer gadgets to complex machinery or scientific instruments.
Completely change the way that asset management is done using a combination of embedded GPS chips, RFID tags and mobile SIM cards.
Reduce field staff site visits by remote evaluating (or diagnosing and fixing) equipment before the first truck roll — and where required, arriving on site with the correct parts.
How wearable, implantable and ingestible devices are set to revolutionise the health care industry, opening new business opportunities such as remote patient monitoring.
Along with amazing opportunities, the Internet of Everything also comes with increasing risks in the area of data security and privacy — from an expanding number of attack vectors — a topic also explored in this talk.
Shara has a proven track record for accurately predicting the impact of emerging technologies. In this prescient video from 2011 (at the NetEvents APAC Press Summit in Langkawi, Malaysia), Shara described four mobile trends that she saw shaping the near-term future of mobile apps and services:
Location-based services — now used by thousands of apps
Integration with cloud services — now part of mobile operating systems
Easy access to social networks — such as signing into apps with Facebook
The impact of front and back cameras in mobile devices — feeding the huge growth of YouTube content
This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn how your business can leverage ubiquitous mobile connectivity, Shara’s “Next Wave of Mobility” is must-see talk.
Privacy: Will it be gone forever?
What every Company Director, Executive, Business Owner and Consumer needs to know
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans spills the beans on some very disturbing trends that will impact every business and consumer. Namely, there are a range of emerging technologies and business practices that are impacting our privacy, as well as increasing the risk of security breaches — including identity theft.
For instance, we’re glued to our smartphones and putting more and more financial information on them. But, have you considered whether or not your phone is really secure? Or, how apps might use your information? By collecting big data about individuals, are governments and corporations putting us at risk? Are companies exposing themselves to massive revenue loss because of data breaches?
Technologies like facial recognition, emotion recognition, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, drones, robots and the Internet of Things will radically change our world over the coming decade, but will these same technologies open up new attack vectors for cyber-criminals?
By showing how and where your sensitive business and personal information may be compromised, Shara will raise your risk awareness and provide you with insights that will help you navigate the brave new world of ubiquitous connectivity.
We’re Losing Our Privacy — It’s Time To Do Something About It
The Future of Travel
Business and Leisure Travel in 2025
The emergence of the world wide web was a game changer for the travel industry — spawning airline websites with online booking portals, price comparison sites for flights and hotels, social reviews of tours, hotels, and anything travel related. This is just the beginning. Emerging technologies are set to have an even more profound impact on travel in the future.
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans explores emerging technologies and trends that will shape leisure and business travel in the year 2025. Topics covered include:
Augmented reality — Changing the travel experience
Virtual reality — Will VR replace physical travel?
AI / Digital Avatars – How smart software will impact travel planning
Travelling in 2025 — How technology such as smart tags, facial recognition, biometrics, wearables, avatars and self-driving cars/taxis will change your travel experience
Hotels of the future — A hotel experience in 2025
Peer-to-peer accommodation booking — The impact of sites such as Airbnb
Next generation travel gadgets (smart glasses/contacts, translators, sensors, implants, drones)
Space and underwater tourism — Will these become a mass-market opportunities?
What’s next for travel agents?
Emerging Technologies
Challenges and Opportunities for the Public Sector
In this keynote speech, technology futurist Shara Evans describes an amazing array of emerging technologies, and how they will pose both opportunities and challenges for the public sector. Topics covered include:
Setting the Scene — The Current State of Play: Mobile Apps, Social Media, Hacking Targets
Wearable, Implantable And Ingestible Devices — Enablers for a new of Generation of Healthcare Services?
Sensor Networks — Instrumenting the Environment: A Key Enabler for Smart Cities
Air, Land + Sea: Expect to see Robots everywhere!
The Next Wave of Big Data — How Digital Avatars / AI will Transform Information Silos
The Emerging Internet of Things: A Timeline to 2025
By showing how cutting-edge technology developments can be leveraged to provide a new generation of government services, as well as identifying increasing risks in the area of data security and privacy, Shara will provide you with insights that will help you navigate the new world of ubiquitous connectivity.
Measuring Mobile Network Performance
One of the major focus areas of Shara’s research in 2013 was mobile broadband network performance measurement, and in particular the power of crowd-sourcing performance tests in an automated manner.
This talk explores the ways in which consumers gain information about mobile network performance and coverage, examines the factors that impact mobile performance, and the challenges affiliated with representing results, which are highly influenced by transient events.
Shara then discusses the role that mobile speed test apps and crowdsourcing initiatives can play in measuring mobile broadband performance, and provides an analysis of how the features and methodologies of eight major speed test applications compare and contrast.
Lastly, Shara provides a brief review of the US Government’s Broadband Mapping Program; and some closing thoughts on lessons for Australia.
In November 2013, The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) convened a Mobile Network Performance Forum. Shara was invited to present a paper on “Mobile apps as one possible solution” for measuring mobile network performance.
Inspiring Women in Technology
In this talk, Shara shares her personal story — her journey from a newly-minted university graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science to following her new found passion for technology, software engineering and designing telecommunications protocols.
Rising through the technical ranks to become a lead software architect, and having fabulous business mentors who encouraged her to become involved in international computer associations. Sharing the triumphs, trials and tribulations along the way, Shara will talk about her path to founding and running two successful professional services firms, the first of which (Telsyte) she sold to publicly-listed UXC.
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