SNS: Top Ten Predictions For 2016

SNS Subscriber Edition
Volume 20, Issue 44
Week of December 7, 2015

In This Issue

Feature: Top Ten Predictions For 2016

• General Themes
• The Economic Landscape
• The Technology Landscape
• 2015 Predictions: The Reckoning
• The Top Ten Predictions for 2016

Quotes Of The Week

Takeout Window

• SNS Annual Predictions: 2016 on Video, Grading of 2015 Predictions, & Photo Highlights

Upgrades & Numbers

• The Islam Brand Is Dead
• Snowden Is Irrelevant
• Our Theory: The Secret Behind Donald Trump

Ethermail

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Last Thursday evening we had a chance, for the eleventh year running, to enjoy the company of a rather amazing group of friends and colleagues, at the SNS Annual Predictions Dinner. This year we moved the event from the Waldorf Astoria, where we had held the event for 10 years, to the Lotte New York Palace Hotel. The primary reason for the change was security: China had purchased the Waldorf, and we assumed our conversations would no longer be private. (It was heartening to see President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry follow our decision exactly, about four months later.)

The Palace has turned out to be an excellent venue for us, with great service, more modern facilities, and an incredible staff. I assume we will be there for some time to come.

Who joined us for this event? The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, The Daily Beast, TechnoBuffalo, the BBC, and other media. Colleagues from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the UK, France, and even New York. Venture and angel investors, film producers and directors, CEOs of tech firms, security experts, new-media execs, and one of the best jazz musicians in New York. And others.

After a VIP reception, our attendee cocktail reception, and a delicious dinner, we began the affair with a Centerpiece Conversation interview with Vern Brownell, president and CEO of D-Wave. SNS members may recall first meeting this firm through founder and CTO Geordie Rose, who appeared at FiRe many years ago to describe the company’s plans and achievements – before it had built its first commercial quantum computer.

Well, that was then, as they say. Vern described the company’s new, 1,000-qbit “2k” computer, just recently shipped to Lockheed (another D-Wave customer is a Google and NASA partnership at Ames), and what he and his customers hope this new technology can achieve. By the time we finished a rather deep dive into quantum mechanics, superposition theory, entanglement, and “annealing” and adiabatics, I think everyone in the room felt we’d passed the “what if” test and were now witnessing the “now” in this version of quantum computing.

We were also fortunate to have Evan Anderson, director of Research at INVNT/IP and SNS (and author of a recent white paper on China) in the room – having just arrived in New York from doing volunteer work in Haiti, saving lives under the guidance of Dr. Megan Coffee, director of Ti Kai. Megan was kind enough to join us as well, and Evan gave a moving tribute to her efforts to create a new clinic in Port au Prince, the last temporary tent version having lost its venue rights a year ago.

And then we came to the predictions.