Owen Kelly
Following a 20-year career in the civil service and eight years as Chief Executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise, Owen Kelly, OBE, works as Director of Engagement at the Business School. He develops collaborations and relationships between the School and external organisations.
What have been the main changes you've seen since you started your career?
Owen: "When I came into this job three years ago, I was sceptical that people in business were genuinely interested in other questions like social good. I was still in that 1980s mindset of competition and free markets, that business meant a quite specific set of things. I think we are living through a significant change and that people will recognise that the world isn't actually like that after all."
What will be the biggest opportunities in the next 100 years?
Owen: "The decline and possible end of the car economy. It just seems crazy that you have these big capital assets that sit for 95% of their time stationary. This is opening up new kinds of economic activity, whether that's Uber-type activity or changes in public transport."
What business practices do you think will be defunct or obsolete by the year 2120?
Owen: "I think we'll see a reassertion of the work-leisure divide. It's become fashionable for people to view work and leisure as the same thing. I think we will probably see a reassertion of the distinction between the two."
Given unlimited resources, what would you set up now that would last to 2120?
Owen: "I would put in place a group of academics, students, and others to work on the philosophy of business. We need to find different ways of thinking about business."
Professor Sarah Cooper
Sarah is Personal Chair in Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development and Director of Faculty and Deputy Dean at the University of Edinburgh Business School. She joined the School in September 2008 following research and lectureship roles in the higher education sector since 1986.
What have been the main changes you've seen since you started your career?
Sarah: "We have seen sectoral growth and increases in students from different backgrounds and international contexts. This has created a more culturally rich teaching environment, where students are learning a lot about the world from each other."
What will be the biggest opportunities in the next 100 years?
Sarah: "There is increasing recognition of the value of programmes which bring people together from diverse backgrounds to develop a student's knowledge across disciplinary domains. This should help students to be more effective global citizens. I would like to think that the spirit of institutional collaboration and partnerships across international boundaries to enhance student learning will continue to grow."
What will be the biggest threats in the next 100 years?
Sarah: "I hope that technology will not become overly dominant within society and reduce the role of the individual and innovative thinker. At the same time, it is very valuable to have resources for students online and technology which has a tremendous power to bring people together."
Given unlimited resources, what would you set up now that would last to 2120?
Sarah: "My idea would be to create a sustainable space that brought together staff, students, and those from the wider Edinburgh community in a massive allotment garden to work and grow together. Growing vegetables, cultivating understanding, and helping people to appreciate the value of different contributions, skills, and abilities. In allotments, 'background' becomes immaterial. You communicate on a different level."
Dr Ewelina Lacka
For the past five years, Dr Ewelina Lacka has worked as a lecturer in Digital Marketing and Analytics, studying how technologies are used by consumers and businesses and analysing the data generated. She has also been teaching students about technologies, including the opportunities and challenges they present.
What have been the main changes you've seen since you started your career?
Ewelina: "When I started my career, digital technologies were 'new'. Social media, for example, was so new that only the most innovative companies were using it. Now, consumers and businesses embrace digital technologies, and they use it on a daily basis."
What will be the biggest opportunities in the next 100 years?
Ewelina: "With technologies such as Internet-of-Things and Artificial Intelligence, businesses will be able to connect technologies and gather comprehensive data which they will be able to analyse to develop granular insights, to anticipate and aim to fulfil consumer needs before they arise."
What will be the biggest threats in the next 100 years?
Ewelina: Ethical use of digital tools and data they capture are the biggest threats we will face. We have a duty to ensure that digital technologies provide a safe environment for consumers to engage with businesses and for businesses to operate in."
Given unlimited resources, what would you set up now that would last to 2120?
Ewelina: I would introduce advanced digital literacy courses for everyone. The future is digital, there is no fighting it. Inexorably, we are moving towards a business world that is fully digitalised and data-driven.