Talk: Climate Change, Migration, War, Collapse— How Might a Decentralized Web Help?

As founder and Director of the Digital Thinking Network (DTN), Daniel uses big data analysis and in-person interviews to help us understand the future. For more than 20 years, the DTN has facilitated more than a 100 leadership, innovation and scenario planning sessions on four continents, leading to groundbreaking strategic initiatives as well as breakthrough innovation.  

DTN—together with Erasmus.io AI/ big data analytics—anticipated the 2014 Oil Price Collapse (in 2012) leading to a $50 billion merger in the Oil Field Sector. Additionally DTN helped to anticipate the global financial crisis in early 2006 for a global bank, well as the rise of solar for large asset holders ($500B+).  DTN's work in information technology includes: for Vodafone, DTN scenarios anticipated the rise of 802.11 in 2000, the significant delay in 3G take up, the dot-com collapse; for Telenor new emerging market business models which led to its expansion in Pakistan, and well as new frameworks for mobile internet provision.

DTN leadership group conceived, planned and led transformational processes for the top 100 leaders in the oil field sector; as well as transforming the Foreign Ministry of the Netherlands; we helped to create the International Advisory Board for the City of Rotterdam, and helpd strategize the Netherlands' groundbreaking China Strategy; Climate Change Initiative; etc. 

As input to these processes, the DTN draws on a unique network of “remarkable people” and has conducted more than 1000 high level multi-hour video interviews with global thought leaders, from inventors of the Internet Vint Cerf & Bob Kahn; entrepreneurial pioneer of mobile payments, Takeshi Natsuno, and founder of Rakuten, Shinnosuke Honjo; to Nobel Laureates George Akerlof and James Mirrlees; to author of Limits to Growth, Jorgen Randers; climate scientist and NASA Goddard Head, Jim Hansen; to CEO of SWIFT, Gottfried Leibbrandt, CEO of TCS, Natarajan Chandrasekaran; to one of the sushi masters of the Emperor of Japan, Eiji Sato-Oyakata and HRH Price Carlos de Bourbon de Parne, etc.

DTN's Director, Daniel Erasmus has written three books.  He is  a visiting Professor at the Ashridge Business School and has been a Fellow of the Rotterdam School of Management, where he taught leadership, innovation and thinking about the future. 

Over the last two decades, the DTN has worked with private and public sector clients including Central Banks, Royal Dutch Shell, Rabobank, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes,  Telenor,  Vodafone, Sanoma, Nokia, Mitsubishi Sumitomo Insurance Group, the City Rotterdam, 2020 Vision for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Information Economy in 2020+ for Ministry of Economic Affairs, Structure of the Netherlands in 2020+ for Ministry of Spatial Planning, and 2030 Global Futures for the Government of France.