Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab)

Gong Szeto is principal of Fury, Inc., a strategic design consultancy whose charter is to engage in the complex interrelated problem spaces of politics, economy, technology and science. Formerly Chief Creative Officer of Rare Medium, and principal at NY-based i/o 360 digital design, Gong has lectured world-wide, and is a recipient of numerous awards from The Art Director’s Club, American Center of Design, Net Tech, CASIE, and I.D. Magazine. He has work in the permanent collections of SFMoMA and Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Gong holds a BArch, and has studied business, finance, economics, and IP law at NYU and Harvard. Gong lives in Santa Fe, NM, blogging at gongszeto.com.

A public policy entrepreneur, open government activist and collaboration expert David advises the Mayor of Vancouver on open government, works with two spin-offs of the Harvard Negotiation Project and is a fellow of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University. David writes on politics, foreign policy, public service sector renewal, as well as open source and network systems. He posts four times a week on his blog, publishes regularly in newspapers and has a chapter in the upcoming O'Reilly Media book on Open Government.

Riel Miller is a specialist in long-term strategic thinking and founder of Xperidox Futures Consulting. His work covers topics such as the future of: money, public services, education, the Internet, identity, information technology, and the knowledge society. He is one of the world's leading practitioners of scenario methods and has developed "hybrid strategic scenarios" for clients around the world. For over two decades Riel's work has concentrated on how to assess and direct the potential for socio-economic transformation in the private and public sectors. Riel works closely with clients to design and implement scenario processes that reveal the assumptions underlying current policies and the potential, often hidden, in the world around us today. Using an approach that Riel calls "rigorous imagining" he helps build new decision making capabilities and ratchet-up the innovative output of an organization. From sector specific challenges, such as the future of cash for financial institutions, to more societal challenges, such as the future of globalization in a learning intensive society, Riel brings a wealth of experience, an extensive international network and a solid reputation for creativity. For more information visit http://www.rielmiller.com

Scott Thomas (aka SimpleScott) is constantly seeking the simplest answer to complex problems. In 2006 he began a design collective entitled The Post Family. The group is devoted to supporting each other’s design habits, from silk screen to letterpress, from illustration to blogging, in an effort to “get back to the hand.” In 2007 Scott’s career took a dramatic leap when he was invited to join the New Media team at Obama for America. The chance encounter led him to becoming the Design Director of the historic Obama Presidential campaign. Scott plans to continue designing for social causes that might just someday change the world.

Rahaf Harfoush specializes in creating authentic conversations in the social media landscape. Her clients include British Telecom, Unilever, InnoSpa, and Duke University. She is an avid blogger, writer, information junkie, web evangelist and social network ninja. Rahaf was the Research Coordinator on Don Tapscott’s Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything and contributed to Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World. She recently completed a three-month assignment as part of Barack Obama’s New Media Team at his headquarters in Chicago. Rahaf blogs at TheFoush.com