Interview with Vinnie Mirchandani:

1. What implications does your book have for venture capitalists,policy makers, and futurists?

The book is about the next generation convergence of technology where infotech meets cleantech means healthtech meets nanotech. So it has clear implications for business executives as their products and markets morph in many exciting and scary ways. It will also lead to interesting partnerships. In the book I describe how GE is collaborating with Eli Lilly on cancer diagnostics and therapies, Schlumberger on carbon sequestering, Chevron on subsea electrification and Konica Minolta on organic LEDs.

The talent pools I describe around the world, and emerging communities and crowds will make them rethink talent strategies. In turn that will have significant impact on what we traditionally considered a "job". That in turn will influence government policy in terms of investment, job prospects etc. So, the book talks about significant German investment in what is called Solar Valley which has rejuvenated parts of decrepit East Germany. They have also had subsidies for "negative energy" where homes and farms actually sell back to the grid the surplus they are creating with their solar panels and wind turbines. We can argue whether the quantitative benefits justify the huge investment, but you cannot deny the pride many Germans feel about the new "clean" jobs the investment has created and the self-sufficiency many Germans now savor..

: Continue reading the interview at zdnet.com :