The world of work has changed. One could argue that farming in 10,000 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia – the cradle of civilization - or the domestication of animals, the Renaissance, the printing press, the Industrial Revolution, the assembly line, the internet, and mobile devices all changed how humanity operates.
Ross.Smith
Bio:
Ross Smith, FRSA Modern Workplace Engineering - Supportability Ross is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and blogger. Author of The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention and holds seven patents. He is currently a Ph.D. Scholar, part of University College Dublin's SmartLab program, researching the impact of AI, robotics, and automation on worker displacement. He has worked at Microsoft for over 28 years and is a member of the Leadership Council for the Anita Borg Institute, co-chair for Grace Hopper Organizational Transformation track. He is a co-leader of ABI Local in Seattle, and part of the gender partner LT and ”male ally” panel discussions at the IEEE Women in Technology and National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) Summit and TechCrunch. Work with iUrbanTeen and Native Americans at Microsoft. He is a member of the board of Spreeha, working to break the cycle of poverty. Developed 42projects to promote cultural change, develop organizational trust and improve the lives of the managed. To help develop the next generation’s interest in STEAM (STEM+Arts), he works with Skype in the Classroom program and events like iUrbanTeen day at Microsoft. He was invited to the White House for discussion on women in STEM. Keynote speaker for the ARTBA’s Transovation 2014-2016. The work of his teams has been mentioned in Forbes, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, PSFK, the American Journal of Play, Harvard Business Review, and the London School of Business. He has presented at SXSW, MIT Solve, Grace Hopper, Serious Play, Games for Change, and several other large conferences. His academic research papers are published on ResearchGate. He is a blogger for SHRM has worked on Skype Translator. He is an avid reader and loves to travel.
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Ross Smith, FRSA
History
- Member for
- 12 years 3 months
Articles by Ross Smith, FRSA
My name is Sophia, and I am so glad to be a newborn in 2021. These are some challenging times for all of us. Thoreau said, “Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?”
January 26, 2021
We are clearly entering a new era. Coronavirus and infection are changing the way we live. Most of us are working from home, often alongside our children, who are remote learning from home. This new situation has no endpoint – we don’t know how long this will exist – and we are finding new ways to work productively,
March 26, 2020
Quick! Take 30 seconds to name your top five Renaissance painters.
How about the top three most famous paintings in the world?
Chances are good that you would name Leonardo da Vinci as a Master - and his Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous painting in the world.
Did you know that one of the greatest master painters spent more time on his rough draft than any of us do today?
January 6, 2020
Thomas Newcomen invented the steam engine in 1712. From an early age, Watt was good at engineering and math. He studied instruments in London before returning to Scotland to set up his own business, which did not go so well.
December 30, 2019
The legend of Santa Claus dates back to the 4th Century St Nicholas – Nicholas of Bari or Nicholas of Myra. The elves have been talked about since Pagan times – in Scandinavia as house gnomes – some of whom were helpful, and trolls, who were not.
December 11, 2019
According to most sources, Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer was written in 1938 by a copywriter for Montgomery Ward. His name was Bob May and he wrote it for his 4-year-old daughter during the time of his wife’s struggle with cancer. There are multiple versions of the story that have differing timelines, but what’s important is Bob May’s focus on a characteristic that would (literally) out-shine all others – and how that had an impact on everyone involved.
December 5, 2019
We live in an amazing time of technological change. The pace of advancement is greater than at any time in human history. Yet there are things we can learn from the history of technology and human productivity that can serve us well. Brookings Institute just did a great piece on looking at the history of technology to inform the regulation of AI. There is far more than regulation – how do these technological advances impact our workforce?
November 11, 2019