Dear Future-Oriented Thinker:

ACC2003 will be the first conference in the world to focus on the multidisciplinary implications of accelerating change, including the possibility and consequences of a technological singularity (the ever-faster self-development of technological intelligence).

This groundbreaking event is a must for individuals interested in staying abreast of the most important issues of our time. With its high caliber of speakers, numerous opportunities for attendee interaction, and the broad relevance of its carefully chosen dialogs, ACC2003 has the potential to be a landmark experience for participants.

ACC2003 offers three main benefits: a community of selectively invited attendees, foresight into coming developments, and guidance to navigating the future. The conference will network top change-aware, future-oriented individuals with diverse backgrounds, who seek increasingly balanced, global, and inclusive ways of understanding the changes that affect their lives. ACC2003 will provide guidance for discriminating between evolutionary and developmental change, for understanding the unprecedented changes now occurring and soon to occur in computation-driven technologies, and for choosing intelligent paths through the thicket of information, options, and technological innovation.

Why Should You Attend? Today, every technology-dependent executive and organizational leader is a de facto futurist. Certain types of change are now so rapid, and occasionally so disruptive, that only the most vigilant and foresighted are ready for what comes. Seeing one's way in the modern world requires a change-aware attitude, a philosophy of lifelong learning, and a desire to network with a multidisciplinary community of insightful thinkers. (For more on the nonprofit behind ACC2003, see How ASF Benefits You).

Intelligent, long-range thinking begins with a commitment to support communities like ACC2003. I cordially invite you to join us at Stanford this September.

Respectfully,

John Smart
President, ASF

 

•	What is accelerating change?
•	Why is accelerating change important?
•	Why do we see accelerating change on both a universal scale (e.g., Carl Sagan's "Cosmic Calendar") and human-historical scale?
•	Why have new computing paradigms continually allowed us to avoid limits to the increasing speed of change?
•	Where do leading thinkers expect technological change will take us in the 21st century?
•	What are our greatest economic benefits, risks, and control options in regard to accelerating change?