The Inevitable & Exponential.
Give yourself the chance to sit down in a quiet place, relax in a comfortable position, breathe in deeply, hold, then release a very long out breath gently through the nose, when you have no breath left, be still and listen intensely, you may be able to hear the waves of the Inevitable, the exponential technologies hitting the web. The force of these waves is Inevitable, like rapid plankton blooming in the deep sea or the technium bloom in the deep web, they are as Inevitable as each other.
As you read this there are more than 60 trillion pages/nodes/points of information interconnecting on the net. Since you started reading this paragraph, another five hundred pages/nodes/points of interconnected information were created and uploaded to this higher intelligence. This vast (AI) mind, stretching across the bios and technos, hardware and software, biological and technological infrastructures, wired together through the internet of things. This entire cornucopia has been created in less than 8,000 days, a very big library that goes beyond our own understanding; the whole is always more than the sum of its parts.
It’s not just the volume of data in the Technium that is staggering, but also the acceleration force within it. Technology is becoming so advanced, due to the “laws of acceleration returns”, we will not witness 100 years of progress in the 21st century, it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate of acceleration). Today a single bedroom can now be home to a 50-petabyte hard-drive, and that can hold the unfathomable cornucopia of information created by 108 billion humans (estimation of births since the dawn of the human race) including and not limited to, 310 million books, 1.4 Billion articles, 180 million songs, 3.5 trillion images, 1 billion hours of video and 60 trillion web-pages, and so much more.
What is driving this force, what is the technology looking for? Like living organisms, ecosystems; forests, coral reefs, the technology looks for and favours the waves of collaboration, transparency, flexibility, adaptability, decentralisation, and complexity. We are seeing and witnessing the emergent of new technologies, markets, sectors, new economies, and just like us, these new emerging entities want more efficiency, opportunity, emergent, diversity, specialisation, freedom, avolvability and sentience. Life favours more life, technology and biology are searching for more possibilities.
Liverpool’s Neo Cultures.
The City of Liverpool is in the early phase of its technological revolution. As Knowledge Quarter Liverpool becomes a major hub for technology, supporting design, arts, biotech and the health sectors across the city’s new infrastructure, how will the city position its potential and become a renewed world leader on digital frontiers?
Technology has been growing exponentially over the last half century, innovations connecting biological and technological infrastructures will ensure smart city growth as a key economic driver for Liverpool. New technologies and cultures will change everything within every sector from architecture to engineering, from health to communication. Preparing for and delivering this massive change and importantly exposing our students to the leading actors will become an increasingly important part of Liverpool’s growth over the coming decade.
Liverpool’s journey to become a smart city has already begun, harnessing the city’s best thinkers and smartest investors to ensure the billion-pound vision for the Knowledge Quarter and beyond, enabling the city’s sustainable growth for the long-term. This platform, our leadership in the digital and cultural sectors, the research and innovation capacity of our universities, our City of Culture status and smart city plus many other attributes, give Liverpool a unique place in this innovative new field of 21st century city development.
Smart cities are also about nature, by using technology-based solutions to bring nature back into cities we can enhance health, economic and cultural benefits. Creating resilient cities in the face of global competition and climate change is a core driver of the shift to smart city growth.
Liverpool’s New Frontiers
It’s extremely exciting to be in the City of Liverpool right now. There is a colossal amount of exciting tech-activities happening, which are all part of the new trajectory and momentum. These activities are redefining and remixing the cities culture, as it steps into the inevitable wave of innovation. Below, I have listed just some of the interesting things happening across the Technosphere.
Arts Lab
As Liverpool’s international flagship for cultural and creative research, ART LABS are a collective network of artistic research and technologies laboratories, supported and linked by the ART LABS Centre, directed by Professor John Hyatt. We partner with Liverpool’s art organisations, businesses and communities and collaborate with exemplary international institutions. To get an idea of the type of work we’re involved in, take a look at some of our current projects.
https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/research/centres-and-institutes/art-labs/expertise
Sensor City
Sensor City is a Liverpool-based technical innovation centre and University Enterprise Zone. We foster the creation, development, production and promotion of cutting edge sensor technologies for use in a wide range of sectors. Our purpose-built technical and business support centre has been designed to meet the needs of our emerging and established industry partners. By working collaboratively, and creating a connected sensor community, we aim to make Liverpool a global hub for sensor technologies. Follow the links to learn more about Sensor City, the kind of activities we are involved with, and how you might benefit from our expertise.
Knowledge Quarter Liverpool
Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) brings together the city’s key partners to collaborate in a creative environment and close the economic gap with London. To do this KQ Liverpool sets out to create and promote the dynamic and innovative industries operating within the Knowledge Quarter. KQ Liverpool is already home to some of the world’s most influential players in science, health, technology, culture and education and with over £1bn of new developments in the pipeline. To support the growth of new innovative businesses KQ Liverpool intends to support programmes that invest in the 54,000 students that study in the city and reposition Liverpool at the forefront of global innovation. Knowledge Quarter Liverpool has a plan that focuses on three main areas: Making the place, Improving connectivity and Attracting investment & creating opportunities. A key part of these plans will be Paddington Village, a £1bn flagship expansion site that will house 1.8m square feet of science, technology, education and health space. With Greenwich Village in New York as inspiration, Paddington Village will be a great place to live, work and socialise. In the centre of Paddington Village will be two major educational facilities, The Royal College of Physicians and Liverpool International College, which will host over 45,000 students.
Pop goes Technosphere
Pop goes the Technosphere is an independent tech event programme in collaboration with Arts Lab and Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter, Programme Directed, Dr Vincent Walsh. Pop goes the Technosphere focuses on inviting leading intellects and tech influencers from around the globe to debate and question emerging technologies, neo cultures and urban futures across the science, art and design spectrum. The programme focuses on creating world-class notoriety and momentum for Liverpool’s emerging tech sector, and importantly, a platform which enables new commercial partnerships, multidisciplinary research collaborations and citywide activities within, across and beyond Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter. We aim to increase the city’s profile by enabling a platform which invites intellects and tech influencers see and support the vision for Liverpool Knowledge Quarter. The programme acts as an international public relations exercise, delivered with creative direction, scientific rigour and imagination.
FACTLAB
FACTLab is a pioneering workshop and research space based at FACT, Liverpool. It is a partnership between ART LABS and FACT, the UK’s leading media arts centre. At FACTLab, we have vigorously pursued and perfected a research methodology of co-design. People are invited to explore the possibilities of creative technology through hands-on experimentation, offering a range of exciting activities for participants of all ages interested in getting involved with making and experimenting with electronics. FACTLab is a workshop space designed to reveal the creative processes behind FACT’s exhibitions programme, as well as offering opportunities for FACT visitors to develop skills in a range of creative technologies. In this space, you will also find artists in residence at work, and researchers, artists and technologists are invited to use the space to produce new projects together.
http://www.fact.co.uk/projects/factlab.aspx
Liverpool Futurist
Liverpool Futurist network highlights all the exciting futurist and technology events in the City of Liverpool. It aims to build a network of likeminded intellects, connecting the minds, the driving forces of Liverpool’s connected future. Join at:
UrbanFoodLab – Co-Working, Sustainable Food Platform.
The Urban Food Lab Liverpool is a co-working space supporting the development of ecological urban food systems. Urban Food Lab Liverpool will be based in the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool. Co-workers will develop an innovating culture, that addresses and seeks commercial opportunities within and around ecological urban food systems, engaging in emerging markets, sectors and new economies. More information: urbanfoodlab@icloud.com
