2016-03-16

March 16 is the thirty-fourth meeting for Systems Thinking Ontario. The registration will be on Eventbrite.

Bitcoin Currency and Blockchain Technology as a Media System

In this month's Systems Thinking Ontario session, Kim Peter and Mike Schaus share with us their research into the people and communities involved in Bitcoin cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology. Applying McLuhan’s Laws of Media and Holling and Gunderson's Panarchy, as an integrated foresight model, they explore the future of economic exchange and of our financial systems in co-evolution with these revolutionary innovations.

 Kim and Mike will present their visual integration of field research and model development to reveal the impact of cryptocurrency media on; the real economy, financial services, and traditional Sovereign currency. They engaged subject matter experts from Toronto's Bitcoin community to understand key concepts and have developed an integrated model for mapping scenarios and charting system-level impact over time.

 Following their presentation, we will discuss their results as well as their application of an integrated system model as a basis for understanding phenomenon, developing scenarios, anticipating adaptive change, and for guiding future social change and innovation

Kimberley Peter is an experience designer, researcher and strategist at IBM. She helps teams clarify their intent using methods to understand where they are going, how they can get there and how they can adapt to change along the way. She helps organizations work effectively across disciplines and geographies, and builds design talent and teams that are oriented toward collaborative practices, design thinking, and openness to experimentation. Kimberley has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from the University of Lethbridge and a Master of Science in Biomedical Communications from the University of Toronto.   

Michael Schaus is a digital media producer, creator, and consultant based in Toronto. He is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Interactive Media Lab and has extensive experience and applicable hard skills in managing creative teams, stakeholders, and the business affairs of screen based media projects. Michael is passionate about story, with a working knowledge of how to apply the powerful elements of a great story to both the media product and the collaborative process itself.

Kim and Mike are candidates in the Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCAD University.

Venue: 

Suggested Preparatory Readings: 

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/why-money-isn-t-everything-1.3069430

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrad_of_media_effects

Regulating Digital Currencies Bringing Bitcoin within Reach

Participants should not feel limited to this suggested pre-reading, but should recognize that other attendees may have not read, or are reading differently, that content.

Agenda

Post-meeting artifacts

Bloggers are encouraged to write about their learning and experiences at the meeting. Links will be added to this page.