David Wood has spent 22 years designing, developing, and avidly using embedded software for mobile devices -- helping to create PDAs at Psion and then smartphones at Symbian. He is presently working on a major project in the Technology Office at Accenture Embedded Software Services. He has been Meetings Secretary of Humanity+ UK since March 2008. He has a BA in Mathematics from Cambridge University and an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Westminster. In September 2009 he was included in T3 magazine's list of "100 most influential people in technology".

This talk will set the scene for the conference by proposing five key questions which all serious futurists should aspire to answer, and by suggesting answers to these questions:

Setting aside hype, what are the realistic scenarios for progress with emerging technologies that have the potential to make us all smarter, stronger, healthier, longer-lived, kinder, more fulfilled, and more sociable?
What are the most serious risks ("existential risks") facing humanity over the next few decades, and what is the role of technology in addressing these risks?
What are the implications of rapidly changing technology for what it means to be human?
What are the pros and cons of aspiring to a "Humanity+" phase of evolution, with powers and experiences as far above those of present humans as human experience exceeds that of pre-human apes?
If people want to become involved in activism supporting Humanity+, what are the best steps they can take?