Eric Leuemberger, CEO Flip!, anticipates what is coming in 2023 in terms of innovation and anticipates a future that is increasingly similar to fiction
A few months ago after the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery A rumor circulated on Twitter, which was later denied, that cartoon Network was going to disappear.
A piece of news that for many could go unnoticed gave me a feeling of nostalgia for a childhood watching programs like The Jetsons Y The Flintstones.
Both programs Hanna Barbera fed us the imagination about what it would be like to live in the stone age living with dinosaurs and what life would be like in the middle of the 21st century.
The jetsonics is set in the distant future, in the year 2062, in a futuristic city called OrbitCity and tells the adventures of the Jetson family, a typical middle-class family that lives in a flying house and has to deal with the daily problems and conflicts of modern life.
Surely for many generations, from 1962 to the present day that it continues to be broadcast, it is one of the first experiences of the magical world of science fiction.
Science fiction that anticipated important technological innovations. I remember Rosie, one of the characters and innovation that generated the most curiosity and expectation in me.
rosie He was a humanoid-looking robot powered by artificial intelligence, who served as the Jetson family’s personal assistant.
Rosie was fun and efficient at her tasks, often helping family members with housework, homework, and resolving some very silly labor disputes between George Jetson and his boss Mr. Spacely.
Today Rosie in my home is called Benmy iRobot Roomba, who along with the brand new and amazing ChatGPTthey are helping me write this article and clean my house.
With only two seasons in 1962 and 1963, the list of technological innovations that the program anticipated is impressive considering that it was created more than 60 years ago.
futuristic homes
connected home solutions smart clothing like the connected jacket that Levi’s launched in 2017, later joined by Garmin, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.
The video calls that finally finished working and were adopted in a pandemic. Virtual reality, rechargeable batteries and the list goes on:
- 3D printer
- autonomous vehicles
- drones
What is the next technological innovation that the Jetsons anticipated? Probably the human cloning technology that the show showed us is already applicable, but the moral and religious conflict that it implies makes it difficult to materialize.
We saw new forms of transportation and communication. Instantaneous inter-spatial communication technology still does not exist, but the supersonic tube that connected the entire city is very close to going from prototypes to reality.
The hyperloop is a high-speed, energy-efficient transportation system that uses a magnetic levitation train that travels through a low-pressure tube.
With the possibility of traveling at 1,300 km/h, it is 4 times more than a train and greater than that of an airplane that travels at cruising speed between 900 and 1,000 km/h.
two companies, Virgin Hyperloop One and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, They have been advancing at a steady pace for more than 10 years and already have dozens of agreements with governments and companies around the world to implement this transportation system.
The only certainty I have is that the life they showed us can be a source of inspiration to move towards a more sustainable future hand in hand with technology and science.”Jetsonifying” our way of life and the way of doing business.
In November 2022 we reached the astronomical number of 8,000 million inhabitants on planet Earth. More than twice as much as in 1970 (3.6 billion) which was the approximate maximum population to sustain the current life model, giving the planet’s ecosystems the possibility to regenerate the resources we consume.
My view on the matter is extremely positive, one way of simplifying the problem is that we face this challenge paradoxically thanks to the collective success of the human being.
According to consolidated data in Our World in Data, from the time The Jetsons was created and breaking point a few years later, the following progress was made: Life expectancy increased from 59 to 73 years. Extreme poverty levels dropped from 49% to 10%.
Literacy levels increased from 60% to 86%, great advances of humanity achieved in the last 50 years, progress to be optimistic in facing the injustices and inequalities that still exist and help to solve the situation of more than 700 million people who still live below the poverty line.
Just as we are advancing in terms of quality of life and inclusion, the counterpart is that we are more, with greater consumer power and planet earth remains the same.
a sustainable world
Unfortunately, it does not have magical capacities to regenerate at the same time that we increase the levels of pollution and deforestation, some data from the UN indicate that in the last 50 years we have increased the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases by 2.3 times.
Between 1990 and 2020 alone, around 100,000,000 of hectares, the equivalent to the surface of Peru. Currently we generate per year 1.3 billion of solid waste, of which it is estimated that half are not treated correctly.
Imagine garbage equivalent to 1,300 10-story buildings discarded in the sea, contaminating the soil or burned in the open. Fortunately, we as consumers are already changing our way of consuming and choosing which brands to associate with.
According to the Havas Group study, Meaninfull Brands2021, 73% of the population is very concerned about the current situation and believes that brands must act now (Act Now) for the good of society and the planet.
The Jetsons did not anticipate the role of insurance for a more sustainable future. The least expected industry may be the big driver of change: “Green is the new black”, or blue, for the predominant color in the brands of the insurance industry.
Why is the insurance industry especially the bearer of solutions and tools that contribute to defending the planet, to sustainability and, ultimately, to saving humanity from the consequences of climate change?
The industry understood that the smartest thing was to prevent the millionaire losses due to the consequences of weather-related natural disasters and that mitigating these risks is not only strategic but also an opportunity to transform the purpose of insurance, an industry that has essentially had the same purpose for more than 350 years.
Let’s imagine a “Supersonic” world where all Insurance not only protects the economic impact of a good in the event of an unforeseen event, but also the impact it has on the environment and at the same time provides prizes and benefits to promote responsible consumption, actions for the climate and inclusive economic growth.
From 2012 to the present, there are already 139 policyholders and reinsurers that have taken the first step in committing to these sustainability principles. Now is the time to act, the least expected heroes will be protagonists to ensure a sustainable and inclusive future.
*By Eric Leuemberger, CEO Flip!