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Opportunities and Challenges for Young People in the Digital Age
Guest Speaker Elliot Leung, Founder and CEO, Gaifong App
Oct 16, 2015 Institute of Education, Hong Kong
A little about me
Finding my way
Sa Pa, Vietnam (2015)
One of the first video-conferences in HK! (1994)
One of the first video-conferences in HK! (1994)
• After Form 5, went to “United Nations” school
• 200 students, 90 countries
• “UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future"
• FREE! http://uwc.org
United World College (Italy)
United World College (Italy)• Living out my passion
(piano,travel, art)
• Learned Italian
• Brought choir to UN headquarters
Academia• MA Sociology and
Anthropology, University of Edinburgh
• Learned Latin and Greek
• Research Assistant (Prof. Chan)
• Tutor (HKU)
Last tutorial, Dec 2011
Fung Global Institute
• Learning via Writing
• Circular Economy
• Sustainable Lifestyles
• Low-Carbon Financing
http://www.asiaglobalinstitute.hku.hk/en/publications/books-reports/
Entrepreneur• Learning by doing
• Founded Gaifong Apphttp://gaifongapp.com
• App for resource-sharing with friends and neighbours:
• Together we have everything we need
@HKIRC Digital Marketplace 2015
“If you’ve got 1 year left in your life, is this what you’ll
be doing?”
(Once-upon-a-time an interview question at
AirBnb)
Linking Self and Society
Brian Chesky, AirBnb
YOU are different
Jobs are different
Workplaces are different
Understand:
= a successful, fulfilling life (at least, more likely!)
1. YOU are different
Know this word: MillennialsMille latin. = thousand; annus latin. = years
Your first computerMy first computer
Macintosh Plus iPhone 3GS
Millennials rising• Millennial population
overtook boomer in 2014 (US)
• versus: Gen X (1960s - 80s); Baby Boomers (post-WWII); Silent (1920s-1940s)
• Population dynamics shape consumer markets, politics, work cultures. No more gerontocracy
Digital Natives - Connectedness• 2.5 more Facebook friends
than our parents
• In HK: Average 3.5hrs on mobile devices; 9.7% “cannot bear spending a day without mobile device (HKFYG YRC, 2013)
• 71.3% use mobile devices before they sleep (HKFYG YRC, 2013)
Search for Meaning
Global Perspectives Barometer, 2015
Specifically, products sharing:• 42 percent (ages ~15-34) are likely to rent products from
others in (digital) sharing economy
• vs.17 percent of global Generation X (ages 35 – 49) and 7 percent of global Baby Boomer (ages 50 – 64)
• Electronic devices, power tools, bicycles, clothing, household items, sports equipment, cars, outdoor camping gear, furniture, and homes.
Nielsen, Global Consumers Embrace the Sharing Economy, 2014
World Economic Forum
Young Global Leaders Position Paper 2013
What makes millennials special:
• Not wish to inhabit a world which is depleted of value
• Want to own less, be more connected with others and part of something bigger than their individual selves
In sum:
• Embrace your difference
• Respect others’ differences as well
2. Jobs are different
Economic growth will come from very different
places
Peter Thiel, CS183b, Stanford
“K-waves” - Innovation Cycle
Facebook, 2005
The age of infinite scalability• Jan 2004, launched in Harvard
• After one month, half of undergrads in Harvard signed up
• Two months: Stanford, Columbia, Yale (Uni. email address)
• Ten months: 1 million users
• Ten years: 1,500 million users
Cover photo of Mark Zuckerberg
Map of all FB friends
Look forward to 2025, what do you see?
Driverless Cars
Image: Mercedes-Benz
Delivery Drones
image: shutterstock
Solar Panels on every Roof
Mario Goebbels, CC 2.0
Jobs you’ll be doing probably don’t even exist today
• Sharability Auditors
• Privacy guardians
• Personality engineers
• University designers
• Aging specialists
• Robot trainers
• Cultural architect
• Air tester
Even today, Only 27% work in a related field
That’s not all…
Amazon launches Amazon Flex
Rise of the “gig economy”
• Jobs separated into minutes, rather than years
• “This on-demand, or so-called gig, economy is creating exciting economies and unleashing innovation. But it is also raising hard questions about workplace protections and what a good job will look like in the future.” Hilary Clinton
Taskrabbit - Get someone to pick up your dry-cleaning/wrap gifts
DogVacay - babysit pets!
Guess how much I paid for
this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5HmCcjchX4
Fiverr - Professional services in small units
Fiverr - some examples
Karl Marx
He is a hunter, a fisherman, a herdsman, or a critical critic, and must remain so if he does not want to lose his means of livelihood; while in communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes […] and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. This fixation of social activity […] is one of the chief factors in historical development up till now.
German Ideology, 1845
In sum:
• Broaden your horizons: the jobs you’ll be doing probably don’t even exist yet
• Don’t be caught off-guard and end up in a dying industry
3. Workplaces are Different
1960 - factories
1990 - cubicles
2015 - Gaifong’s office… sort of
Cyberport Hong Kong, Co-working space
CUHK report• Number of co-working spaces in Hong Kong
0
10
20
30
40
50
2010 2015
43
3
Kowejko & Au, 2015, Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragons
A different Work Culture
• Annual Leave? • Free lunch • Free working
hours • Emphasis on
“serious play” and “creative confidence”
Corus Entertainment Offices
Rise of the “Digital Nomad”
Remote workspace in Bali
Stuart McDonald, travelfish.org
“I can run most of the business from my iPhone, though in practice I normally use my laptop. This gives me a tremendous amount of flexibility, so it’s easy to jump on my bicycle, ride down to the beach 10 minutes away and work away to the background thunder of surf.”
“Digital Nomads are individuals that leverage technology in order to work remotely and live an
independent and nomadic lifestyle.”
No wi-fi, no king
Clockwise from left: Zion National Park, Cyberport, Pacific Coffee
Something to think about?
Variation on the 80/20 rule •Define tangible goals •Eliminate distractions •Automate simple tasks •Liberate yourself from traditional baggage
In sum:
•Embrace your millennial identity and difference
•Keep an open mind when planning; things change rapidly
•Look forward to the world out there: it’s great
Recommended Reading.
Dowejko, M. and Au, K., 2015, Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragonshttp://entrepreneurship.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk/sites/default/files/page/research-crouching-tigers-hidden-dragons/dowejkoau2015crouchingtigershiddendragonshkstartupreport.pdf
Graham, P., 2012, How to Get Startup Ideas http://www.paulgraham.com/startupideas.html
Botsman, R., 2010, What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative ConsumptionAvailable on Gaifong or from your school library
