Futurist wins global award

A University of the Sunshine Coast adjunct professor who works to educate business, not-for-profit and government organisations on what the future holds has received a global award. Professor Sohail Inayatullah received one of four 2010 Laurel Awards for all-time best futurists, after a vote by almost 3000 of his colleagues in the global Foresight Network. The network’s members include futurists, strategists, change agents and policy makers from commercial, not-for-profit and governmental organisations. The awards started in 2009. “I’m delighted and surprised to see my name alongside the likes of Alvin Toffler, whose theories influenced me at high school in Malaysia decades ago,” Inayatullah said. Toffler is one of the founders of futures studies and the author of Future Shock and The Third Wave. He predicted trends such as corporate outsourcing and restructuring and has advised world leaders on change issues. Inayatullah has lived at Mooloolaba for the past decade but spends several months a year working internationally. This year he will work with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; the Asia-Europe Interregional Forum; the Victorian court system; insurer BUPA; the Organisation of Islamic Conference standing committee on science and technology; Europol/Australian Federal Police; Tamkang University, Taiwan; and the Pakistan Ministry of Commerce, among others.