In conjunction with Georgia Tech's Strategic Planning Process, global futurist James Canton will speak to the campus community next week.

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Ferst Center for the Arts, Canton will address "Higher Education, Technology, Innovation, and a Look into the Future," followed by a discussion with questions from the audience. There is no cost and all are welcome to attend.

Recognized as a leading authority on future trends, Canton advises the Global Fortune 1000 on innovation, financial services, health care, population, energy, security, and globalization. A renowned author and keynote presenter, his latest book is "The Extreme Future: The Top Trends that Will Reshape the World in the 21st Century."

In his book, Canton outlines the 10 major trends of the "extreme future" — nanotechnology, alternative energy, innovation and technology and climate change — many of which are the same disciplines Tech is examining as the Institute charts a course for its next 25 years.

Canton is CEO and chairman for the Institute for Global Futures, a think tank he founded in 1990. Clients include IBM, British Petroleum, Intel, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, and FedEx. In addition to advising three presidential administrations, he also works with the National Science Foundation and MIT's Media Lab Europe.