An ex-UK diplomat, Dr. Derek Woodgate is a consulting futurist, educator, author, speaker, and curator. He is President and Chief Futurist of The Futures Lab, Inc., a futures consultancy, founded in 1996. The company specializes in creating future potential for corporations and institutions and has consulted for over 170 corporate clients, governments, associations, city, regional management and universities. (https://futures-lab.com)

A British citizen, Derek is a resident of Croatia, USA, and UAE, having gained his BA (Hons) at UCL, his MS in Political Economics from the University of Zagreb, and a Doctor Philosophiae (Dr. Philos.) from the University of Agder, Norway, in Engineering and Science.

Derek has spent the past 15 years teaching futures studies at universities in Norway, USA and Saudi Arabia and is currently an Adjunct Professor at The University of Houston, USA and an Executive Board member at the Center for Futures Studies at the University of Dubai, and a Consultant at PMU, in Saudi Arabia. Derek is part of a Norwegian team for educational cooperation and programs in Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia.

Derek is a frequent conference keynote and commentator on futures-related topics, such as the impact of progressive culture and future technologies on transformative societies, decentralized thinking and knowledge systems, transdisciplinary education and intelligent environments. Derek is a founding member of the APF, a long-time member of the World Futures Studies Federation (previous conference Chair) and has been involved in numerous UNESCO projects.

His books include Future Frequencies (2004) and Future Flow (2012) and Calling the Toads – The Burroughs Compendium, together with Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth, Beat legend Allen Ginsburg and Presidential Historian, Douglas Brinkley. He is currently writing a new book titled Future Rhythms due for publication in 2024.