New and Noteworthy

• Ubiquitous Computing Conference
  On 28 April 2009, Nick Evans, vice president of SRIC-BI and director of Explorer, will be one of the keynote speakers at the UBI Summit 2009 in Helsinki, Finland. The meeting, whose theme is "UBI around the World," is UBI's second conference and mini expo on ubiquitous computing. Evans's speech will highlight recent trends in ubiquitous technologies and business.
• Global Trends 2025
  SRIC-BI vice presidents Bill Ralston and Nick Evans headed an SRIC-BI team that provided science and technology guidance for the U.S. National Intelligence Council's just-released report Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. The team characterized the conditions for development and implications of application of a number of technologies that could disrupt U.S. interests between now and 2025. Among the potentially disruptive technologies are ubiquitous computing, energy-storage technologies, biogerontechnology, clean coal technologies, technologies for augmenting human strength and cognitive functioning, biofuels, and service robotics. The report is available for free download at http://www.dni.gov/nic/NIC_2025_project.html . For additional information about SRIC-BI's role in the project, contact Nick Evans at nevans@sric-bi.com.
• CFD Director on Opportunities for Financial Advisors
  Larry Cohen, vice president of SRIC-BI and director of the Consumer Financial Decisions (CFD) group, recently coauthored an online article for Life & Health Advisor about growing opportunities for financial advisors to serve Boomers. Cohen and his coauthor, Elvin Turner of Turner Consulting, note that Boomers are the first group to reach retirement age since the convergence of the financial industry, which has opened the door for all types of financial institutions to offer a range of services. A large percentage of households would prefer to use one institution if it could meet the majority of their financial needs. Moreover, more than 1 million U.S. affluent and wealthy households already use financial planners. Thus, though many financial consumers now perceive financial advisors to be on the outskirts of their financial affairs, the current uncertain environment presents an opportunity for advisors to broaden their services beyond asset accumulation—for example, by playing to strengths such as income protection and long-term planning—and move to the core of their clients' financial lives. The article draws on a series of reports that the authors wrote for the Retirement Income Industry Association.
  Read the full article on the Life & Health Advisor Web site  >>

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