Joining Ged Davis, Thomas Heatherwick and Emily Pilloton as keynote speakers at the Icsid World Design Congress 2009 is William E. Halal, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology & Innovation at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
These four thought leaders will open the second and third days of the Congress, which will take place from 23-25 November.
William Halal is an authority on emerging technologies, strategy, knowledge, and institutional change.
He has worked with General Motors, AT&T, SAIC, MCI, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, International Data Corporation, the U.S. Federal Government, the Asian Development Bank, and many other organisations.
Prof. Halal is the founder of TechCast, a web-based system that pools the knowledge of experts to forecast breakthroughs in all scientific fields and co-founder of the Institute for Knowledge & Innovation as a collaborative effort between the GW School of Business and the School of Engineering.
Previously, he was a U.S. Air Force major, an aerospace engineer on the Apollo Program, and a Silicon Valley business manager.
Macmillan's Encyclopedia of the Future ranked Prof. Halal among "The World's 100 Most Influential Futurists", which includes H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Alvin Toffler, and Daniel Bell.
He has published 6 books and hundreds of articles.