Rod Beckstrom Speaking Topics

• From Hummingbird Drones to Smartphone Cars: How Will New Internet Technologies Affect Your Bottom Line?

  Internet innovation is rushing forward. Incredible new technologies like smart dust microsystems, [ambient intelligence], hummingbird-sized drones, cars driven via smartphone, and wireless implants that speak to your doctor from within your body are profoundly reshaping our future. The Internet of Things – the Internet of Everything – is turning everyday life into the ultimate online experience as more and more aspects of daily existence are coming online. An exciting – perhaps unsettling • new world is coming. As Vice Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on the Future of the Internet, former CEO of ICANN and a successful entrepreneur, Rod Beckstrom is at the intersection of innovation, technology and business, with a deep and unique understanding of the coming tech trends that will de?ne tomorrow’s Internet. In a lively and interactive presentation, he challenges the audience’s thinking with provocative questions that today’s rapidly evolving technology presents to the business world. How will it drive change in your organization? And what should you be doing now to prepare for the change, protect yourself from its risks and leverage its bene?ts?

• Starfish and Spiders, Conservatives and Terrorists: How Leaderless Organizations Are Changing the World

  What do the Tea Party, the Occupy movement and Al Qaida have in common? They all depend on The Starfish and the Spider: the Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations as a primary source of thought leadership ideas. How do these concepts affect your success as an organization? Cut off the leg of a spider and you have a sevenlegged creature; cut off its head and you have a dead spider. But cut off the arm of a starfish and it will grow a new one, because unlike spiders, starfish are decentralized. While spider organizations rely on a rigid hierarchy, starfish organizations tend to organize around a shared ideology or a simple platform for communication. Rod Beckstrom draws on a rich collection of lessons and anecdotes from today’s news to illustrate his groundbreaking model of organizational structure and leadership, and applies it to influential social movements, such as the Arab spring, that are producing historic shifts in modern politics and culture.

  Starfish organizations are changing the rules of competitive strategy and leaders should take note. How can your business benefit from understanding this new dynamic? Can these principles be applied to traditional organizations? What can they teach that could affect your profitability? What is your organization: starfish or spider? And what are you going to do about it?

Preparing for Cyber Armageddon: What are the Threats and How Can Your Company Protect Itself?

Cyber security is no longer a niche technical issue; it’s a core strategic concern for every business and government leader worldwide. Rod Beckstrom is at the forefront, leading the call to action to proactively protect the nerve center of every organization or business in the world. Rod will engage the audience in understanding the character and extent of the cyber threat and in considering solutions to one of the most serious challenges to your organization’s future. The presentation asks tough questions that every leader will have to face. If you are leading a business, government body or non-pro?t, you need to hear what Rod Beckstrom has to say.