Institute For The Future

Maker Cities Immersions

Makers will make the future of their cities. 

Prepare for a springtime travel adventure into the future with IFTF's Technology Horizons program! We are taking a journey around the world to immerse in global maker culture.

The DIY ethos of making isn’t limited to creating physical objects—stuff. Makers are starting to reimagine the systems that surround them. They are bringing the “maker mindset” to the complex urban challenges of health, education, food, and even citizenship. Makers will make the future of their cities. Join us in three cities—Mexico City, Shenzhen and New York City—where leading-edge local makers will guide us in hands-on intimate field excursions and in-depth discussions to understand the present and future of the region’s capacity for innovation.

Mexico City, Mexico—March 18-20, 2014

A sprawling megapolis of over 21 million people and the largest city in the Western Hemisphere, Mexico City has been building, rebuilding, and evolving since it was founded by the Aztecs in 1325. Now with ample government support for the maker movement and new top-down “maker” policies, Mexico City is a signal for understanding the future evolution of Maker Cities at the intersection of the developed and developing world.

At our hub at the Laboratorio para la Ciudad, the mayor’s office of innovation—itself a signal of the future—we will meet civic officials who are catalyzing the maker movement within the city, artisans and entrepreneurs who are leading a new technology Renaissance, and innovators and makers in the community who will shape the future of this emerging Maker City.

Shenzhen, China—April 5-8, 2014

Design, build, and ship: Shenzhen can do it all. At the heart of China’s massive formal and informal manufacturing sectors, Shenzhen could be called the ultimate Maker City. Shenzhen is home to the world’s largest electronics market, provides an endless source of material supplies for a growing global community of Makers, hackers, designers, and entrepreneurs. Western VCs bring in diverse hardware start-up teams to build their networks and test their prototypes.

We’ll hit the third annual Shenzhen Maker Faire to interact directly with China’s Maker pioneers. We’ll participate in conversations with Chinese Makers and researchers, and we’ll explore sites on the Maker Map of Shenzhen. Please join us for an immersive journey into the heart of Making with Chinese characteristics.

New York City, USA—May 20-21, 2104

New York City has always been a maker city and new technology is only amplifying the Big Apple’s DNA of innovation. Now old and new media intersect on Madison Avenue, gritty urban activism is magnified through network technology, and open source hardware and digital fabrication is emerging from Brooklyn warehouses and hacker spaces.

We’ll meet makers from the realms of engineering, culture, government, and business and understand their unique place in the most populated city in the United States. We’ll visit unique companies, buzzing hacker spaces, open gov activists, avant-garde art collectives, and maker marketplaces. We hope you can join us as we take a fresh look at New York City through the maker mindset.

San Francisco, USA—October 2014

Finally, in October we will culminate our research in a two-day open and collaborative conference in the heart of the city of San Francisco. Here you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the future, identify strategic insights, and get hands-on experience with innovation processes and tools with a network of technology innovators, makers, and disruptive thinkers.

To learn more ...