Pikes Peak Economic Forecast Event Recap

Dr. Tatiana Bailey, Director of the UCCS Economic Forum, University of Colorado, and Thomas Frey, futurist, founder and executive director of DaVinci Institute, provided economic forecasts and discussed technology trends that will affect businesses in the future.

At the event Dr. Bailey highlighted the growing economy of the Pikes Peak region. Bailey laid out factors "hinting" at continued economic growth, which include the healthy growth of global economies, increased demands for U.S. goods, Tax Act increases and its impact on the stock market, increased labor participation, and continued low interest rates.

With El Paso leading the Colorado Springs market in growth, health care and software engineering - due to automation technology - as well as the energy sector and statisticians to interpret new big data.

Though the state economy remains strong, a few national factors suggest an economic downturn sooner than previously expected. Unemployment is below 3.5 percent, rising wages lead to inflation, concern over potential tariffs and interest hikes, aging population and stagnant productivity are factors that could lead to another correction. Asset bubbles such as the stock market and housing could also spur a correction.

"The recent correction was overdue and a good thing!" added Bailey.

Futurist expert Thomas Frey then transitioned attendee focus to how technology growth will disrupt current business models in the future.

"By nature, we are backward looking, almost as if we are walking backward into the future," Frey began. "The future gets graded by those in the mind. If we change someone's vision for the future, we change the way they make decisions today."

Frey reminded attendees that all industries are a bell curve, that all industries will eventually end. For example, he predicted that by 2030 over 2 billion jobs will disappear.

"Every time we download a mobile app we eliminate a tiny piece of a job," he added.

According to Frey, Oxford researchers say 47 percent of today's jobs will be automated out of existence, but he ensured attendees that just because our jobs disappear doesn't mean we run out of work to do. Most of the next generation jobs will come from future micro industries. One of those is the sensor movement. The first iPhone had five sensors; today's iPhones have 20 sensors. It's predicted that by 2022, we'll see the first trillion sensors being used in products, which will lead to many jobs.

Another future micro industry is the "internet of things," where all things will be connected to internet. Already, smart jeans are being designed with GPS and smart hairbrushes will tell consumers when their hair is dry and offer products. Crypto currencies like Bitcoin, the expansion and use of flying drones, all-encompassing search engines - to learn things like which dog has rabies, where stalker activity is high or which intersections are most dangerous - will be commonplace by 2028, Frey said.

Driverless technology will make driving safer than it is today, eliminating an entire area of transportation jobs. "Driverless technology will be the most disruptive technology in all of history," Frey added. "It will disrupt in a shorter period of time than anything else, more than automobiles or electricity. There will be over $500 billion lost in the healthcare industry by the elimination of auto accidents alone."

Frey predicted that 3D printing will be equipped to work with 10,000 different materials by 2025. And teacherless education will change the role of education completely. By 2030, he believes the largest company will be the one that drives the future of internet education, and it will be bigger than any others we know now, like Google and Apple. All of these industry changes will require people to reboot their career eight to ten times by 2030.

More information about the speakers can be found here.

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