DR JAMES BELLINI
FUTURIST
James Bellini
Dr James Bellini is a leading business analyst and futurologist with considerable experience as a thought-provoking speaker and moderator at management conferences and business schools around the world. James has more than twenty five years' experience in futures analysis, broadcasting and journalism with a strong focus on the future evolution of economic, financial and technology topics.
After an early academic career James joined the US-headquartered futurology 'think tank', the Hudson Institute, as its first British member. He subsequently joined the BBC to present The Money Programme, Newsnight and Panorama before moving to independent television in 1980. Over the years he has worked on a number of award-winning documentary series and current affairs programmes as well as writing a number of books on social, business and political topics. For seven years until 1997 he presented programmes for Sky News. He has also held senior executive positions in advertising and corporate communications and is a director of two specialist consultancies, Media Counsellors and Corporate Catalysts. He sits on the European Advisory Board of the global future forum.
He has a Masters from Cambridge in law and history and a PhD from the London School of Economics.
James describes himself as 'an historian of the future' with a close interest in key strategic challenges facing current and future management up to Horizon 2025:
> The 500-year Delta; timing and culture in business strategy
> implications of emerging technologies & the wireless world
> future challenges for senior managers
> new business 'eco-systems'
> the shape and style of tomorrow's company
> corporate psychology
> the changing marketplace including the demographic revolution and its radical impact on the future marketplace:
rise of the aspirational consumer
post-family households
financial services, pensions, savings products, insurance
government and public services
issues of work/life balance
the 'connected' society
the new 'engagement space'
His conference speaking and moderating engagements have taken him to many venues in Britain, across Europe and the Middle East and to the US, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
He has a long track record in advising companies, regional authorities and government departments on strategic directions. Recent engagements have included the Department of Health, the Home Office, the Office of National Statistics, the NHS and the Office of Fair Trading. He has worked regularly with regional development agencies including the North West of England Regional Development Agency, Suffolk TEC and Thames Valley TEC. He was employed by the Cabinet Office on aspects of the launch of its e-government programme. He is an honorary adviser to the National Playing Fields Association.
He has also worked with a wide range of business organisations, small and large, on envisioning and planning for strategic change. He is a founding director of Corporate Catalysts www.corpcats.co.uk.
Corporate Communications and Media Relations
James also has long experience in corporate communications and media relations. He has worked with a number of leading UK advertising agencies, including the Lowe Group and Collett, Dickensen & Pearce [CDP]. He subsequently became Chairman of CDP's specialist corporate communications agency, The Fine White Line.
His many years working as a studio presenter with various media organisations, including the BBC, ITV, Financial Times Television and Sky News have given him considerable insight into the workings of the media machine. He is founder-director of Media Counsellors, set up in 1992 in association with Financial Times Television to train and advise senior executives, public sector officials and charities in handling media encounters. www.mediacounsellors.co.uk
Over the years he has advised and trained senior people on media relations in Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, South Africa and Latin America.
Environmental Broadcasting
Dr Bellini has a considerable involvement in environmental broadcasting. For several years he fronted 'Eco', a weekly programme for ITV, followed by 'Go for Green' for British Satellite Broadcasting. His book 'High Tech Holocaust', which deals with threats to health from environmental challenges, has been published in Britain, the United States, Australasia and in a Japanese-language version. He is script consultant and occasional Executive Producer for TVE, which produces Earth Report and the Hands On series for global transmission by cable and satellite.
He regularly advises major companies on the media aspects of their environmental and health-related policies.
Documentary Broadcasting
James has many credits as writer, presenter and narrator of award-winning TV documentaries on political, social and environmental issues. They include the six-part series Rule Britannia; the three-part series The Road Ahead, on the social/environmental impact of the M40 motorway; The Nuclear Age, a twelve-part history of atomic diplomacy; multi-part Animal Detectives, which exposed the illegal animal trade; The Other Americas, on the history of Latin American nations. He recently co-wrote and narrated The Real Stonehenge, a 90-minute archaeological mystery for National Geographic and other satellite channels.
Conference Moderator
James is a regular choice as moderator/facilitator for a wide spectrum of events for business and governments around the world. They range from small in-company strategy workshops for board-level directors to international conferences involving thousands of delegates. Here is a sample of recent moderating engagements:
Dutch Meat Board -The Belfry, Warwickshire
Eli Lilly -new product seminar -Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland
PriceWaterhouseCoopers - Insurance event at Lloyd's of London
Security technology event -World Trade Organisation, London
PWC Solvent Schemes seminar, Lloyds of London; Norwich
Global Future Forum -St Paul de Vence, France
Marketing Forum/Forum Europe 2003 -aboard Aurora
Retail Forum 2003 -aboard Oriana
GSM Mobile International Congress, Cannes
Office of Fair Trading -Staff Conference November 2003; November 2004
FileNet Breakfast Briefing
Strategic Planning Society -at RIBA
e-ID Summit -Unisys International Management Centre -St Paul de Vence
National Patient Safety Agency -Birmingham
Budget Briefing -PriceWaterhouseCoopers - several years
Siebel Top Management Forum, Cannes,
EDF Energy, 14-location staff conference, London
Ernst & Young -major staff event, Edinburgh
Government Leaders Forum Dubai, UAE
Netstore client briefing -London; Manchester
Alcatel Telecoms -8-hour six-nation satellite hook-up, Paris
Books and Writing:
Apart from his regularly published work on future issues James has written many books, special reports and articles on a range of social, political and defence topics. Among them:
L'Envol de la France: Hachette 1973
The United Kingdom in 1980: ABP 1974
French Defence Policy: Royal United Services Institute 1974
A New World Role for the Medium Power: RUSI 1977
2002: Britain Plus 25: Henley Centre for Forecasting 1977
Regeneration of British Industry: Henley Centre
Rule Britanni: Jonathan Cape
Europe's Changing Markets: Business International / Economist Intelligence Unit
High Tech Holocaust: David & Charles; Greenhouse; Sierra Books
Britain 2020: The Future of Family Mealtimes. Commissioned by the British poultry industry; April 2005
Articles published in Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The Times, International Herald Tribune, Survival, The Listener, Business Life, HR Magazine and many other leading publications.
'The Bullshit Factor' analyses the corporate psyche as a key factor in business success or failure. Its case studies include many of the world's leading companies.
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