On Thursday next week, I will travel up to Townsville to speak at a Business Professionals Networking Event at James Cook University, along with other professional association representatives, on the topic:

The impact of technological disruption and how it will change the future game plan for business in the North Queensland region

Technological disruption can be a blessing and a curse for regional economies. On the one hand, it can reduce the tyranny of distance and allow regional businesses to participate in a much larger market. But, on the other hand, it can reinforce the existing advantages of cities, which contain greater concentrations of technologically savvy and creative professionals who can take advantage of new technologies. One set of forces lead us to believe “the world is flat”, as Thomas Friedman suggests, while another set of forces lead us to believe “the world is spiky”, as Richard Florida argued in his 2008 book Who’s Your City.

Whether a region thrives in a world of technological disruption will depend a lot on its openness to the rest of the world and to new technologies, and on the skills and capabilities of its population. In this regard, I am very interested in seeing how Uber is operating in Townsville, as it only started in the city in March, and initial reports were that it was not making much of an impact on the local taxi industry.

If you live in the Townsville region, please consider attending the event. You can register at this link.