Name:Paul Saffo.
Age:Mid-50s.
Family:Married.
Background:Born in Los Angeles, Saffo grew up in California and has degrees from Stanford, Cambridge and Harvard. A technology forecaster for over two decades, he joined the Institute of the Future in Silicon Valley in 1985 but is on sabbatical from his role there. He is a widely published essayist and author and advises governments and organisations.
Why he is in the news:Saffo will be a keynote speaker at Ibec's Meeting of Minds: Convergent Technologies conference in Dublin next week.
Hobbies:collects scientific antiques and obsolete technologies.
Something you might expect:He is a board member of the Long Now Foundation (longnow.org) , which aims to promote thinking responsibly and creatively about the next 10,000 years.
