William E. Halal (born June 29,1933) is an American aerospace engineer,air force officer,academic,author,consultant,and speaker. He is Professor Emeritus of Management,Technology &Innovation at George Washington University,Washington,DC[1] as well as the Founder and President of TechCast,a web-based system that uses knowledge to forecast breakthroughs on emerging technologies and social trends.[2]
He is known for his work in the areas of emerging technology,strategic planning,and innovation,with a particular focus on strategic foresight,social evolution,knowledge,intelligence,consciousness,and institutional change. His research has been featured in newspapers,including Newsweek,The Washington Post and New York Times to newsletters.[3][4] He is the author of seven books including The New Capitalism,Internal Markets,The Infinite Resource,Technology's Promise,Beyond Knowledge and 21st Century Economics.[5] His latest book is One World:The Digital Revolution and the Rise of Global Consciousness.[6]
Halal began his academic career by joining San Francisco State University in 1970 while completing his Ph.D. This was followed by an appointment at the American University,Washington,DC in 1971. In 1979,he joined George Washington University. He co-founded the Institute for Knowledge &Innovation as a joint effort between the GW School of Engineering and the School of Business. In 2010,he was appointed as Professor Emeritus of Management,Technology &Innovation at George Washington University.[1]
Halal is an Air Force veteran who served as an Aerospace Engineer on Apollo's Lunar Module and held the rank of Major during his time in the US Air Force. He is also the Founder and President of TechCast,a virtual think-tank that provides forecast and strategy reports related to critical global trends.[1]
Research
Halal's research on innovation,organization design,and knowledge management has won him the 1977 Mitchell Prize and a medal from the Freedom Foundation. He has authored numerous publications spanning the areas of institutional change,strategic planning,and forecasting emerging technologies including articles in peer-reviewed journals and books.[6] Halal has been rated among the top .5% of scholars worldwide in publications and citations.[8]
Halal is the founder of TechCast,a web-based system that pools the knowledge of experts to forecast the entire tech revolution and its profound social impacts,including breakthroughs in roughly 50 emerging technologies,30 social trends,and 25 wild cards. The TechCast Project has won awards,been cited by the National Academies,[4] featured in the Washington Post[9] and published in Newsweek and The Futurist.[10]Halal's publications in this field include his book,Technologies Promise,[11] and several research articles,such as Forecasting the Technology Revolution.[12]
His book,The New Capitalism,outlined how the Information Age is transforming business and society by extending Western ideals of free enterprise and democracy into corporations and other social institutions.[13] His book also questioned current beliefs about the economy,society,and politics by discussing how certain unstoppable forces are influencing modern-day nations and institutions.[14] In his book review,Lawrence J. Lad,stated that The book is a rich and easy treatment of what's wrong with old capitalism and what's right about new capitalism in its flexible,client-centered symbiotic,network organized approach to business.[15][16]
Halal examined the impact of the information technology revolution on remote work and dynamic business units,market mechanisms replacing bureaucratic hierarchies within corporations,allowing employees to function as partially autonomous entrepreneurs.[17] This idea is part of his broader TeleLiving vision,encompassing telework,telemedicine,e-commerce,and distance learning all conducted online.[18] In his further research on knowledge management,he proposed the utilization of online learning and research systems,citing their resourcefulness for organizations in making well-informed forecasts,evaluating strategies,and reaching decisive conclusions.[19][20][21][22]
His investigation into the Global MegaCrisis revealed that a significant deterioration could occur,leading to disaster or gradual worsening of severe problems. To address this,he proposed sustainable practices,renewable energy,and global collaboration as viable measures.[23][24]His further research found that factors like climate change and financial instability posed a high risk of significant global disasters or even civilization collapse in several regions across the globe. The findings of the study also suggested that green business,e-commerce,alternative energy,climate control,and AI could play a significant role in promoting a sustainable future.[25] His article “Through the MegaCrisis”that was awarded Outstanding Paper of the Year by Emerald.[1]
His book Internal Markets described the evolution of organizational systems operating under principles of free enterprise rather than hierarchy and central planning.[26] A seminal article,The Collaborative Enterprise,presented survey data showing the emergence of a stakeholder model of the firm uniting principles of profitability with responsibility and how they form a competitive advantage.[27] Coauthored with Kenneth Taylor,21st Century Economics was published as an anthology containing essays by scholars anticipating political economy on this side of the Millennium.[5] He conducted a study,“Strategic Planning In the Fortune 500,”[28] sponsored by General Motors,and plotted the stages of technological development making up the Life Cycle of Evolution.[29]
Halal's article The ‘democratic enterprise’will redefine our society in Fortune argues that the traditional shareholder-focused capitalism is outdated and contributes to economic inequality and reduced productivity,he also advocates for a shift toward a "democratic enterprise," where businesses prioritize all stakeholders including workers,customers,and the public promoting collaboration and shared value creation.[30]
Halal's book,Beyond Knowledge,was published in 2022.[19] Drawing on a model of social evolution using historic data,the book shows how digital technology,smartphones,and AI are automating knowledge,thereby driving attention beyond knowledge into an Age of Consciousness.[31]
His book One World? offers a vision of global convergence being forged in the crucible of digital revolution. [5]Grounded in scientific model of social evolution and compelling evidence,civilization is seen as a superorganism evolving through its own life cycle,now unfolding toward a mature,interconnected world.[2]
Awards and honors
1977 –Mitchell Prize ($10,000 honorarium) Mitchell Corporation,the Society for International Development,the University of Houston,and the Club of Rome
1985 –George Washington Honor Medal,Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for excellence in the study of enterprise
2003 –First Prize,AOL Competition,the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology
Listed in Macmillan's Encyclopedia as one of the World's 100 Most Influential Futurists.
1 2 3 "Twenty-first century economics: perspectives of socioeconomics for a changing world". Choice Reviews Online. 37 (2): 37–1050–37-1050. October 1999. doi:10.5860/choice.37-1050 (inactive 1 July 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
↑ "Session 4: Future Key C4I Technologies". C5I Center - Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications, Computing, Cyber, and Intelligence. 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
↑ Halal, William E. (October 2013). "Forecasting the Technology Revolution: Results and learnings from the TechCast Project". Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 80 (8): 1635–1643. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2013.02.008.[non-primary source needed]
Halal, William Emitt; Garretson, Jess; Davies, Owen (14 February 2022). "Updating strategy for a high-tech world: constant change from the bottom up and the outside in". Foresight. 24 (1): 37–54. doi:10.1108/fs-02-2021-0051.
Halal, William (2021). "The Coming Space Age". Technological Breakthroughs and Future Business Opportunities in Education, Health, and Outer Space. Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology. pp.270–280. doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-6772-2.ch018. ISBN978-1-7998-6772-2.
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