News | 12 Feb 2020

Kevin McCloud believes tech can ‘fix the future’. So do we.

Kevin McCloud’s Rough Guide to the Future (Wednesday 12 February, 9pm, Channel 4) explores how new technologies like 5G could help meet the challenges facing our world.

Kevin McCloud, of Grand Designs self-building fame, is an optimist of the first order who believes that human endeavour, technological advancement, and the connectivity of things will make all our lives much, much better.

And we agree. But not everyone else does.

In his new Rough Guide to the Future series, which Vodafone UK is proud to have sponsored, Kevin sends three sceptical pals on voyages of discovery to countries at the forefront of tech innovation: USA, China and Japan.

Broadcaster Alice Levine and comics Jon Richardson and Phil Wang each encounter the latest technologies that could fundamentally change our world, from avatar robots to holograms, blockchain technology for fresh food to autonomous cars, haptic gloves to waste management systems.

Comic Jon Richardson wearing the HaptX gloves.

Scott Petty, Vodafone UK’s Chief Technology Officer, is on hand during the episodes to explain how all the tech works and what its impact might be – especially when it comes to the power and potential of superfast 5G connectivity.

In a trailer for the series, Kevin says: “No-one can predict the future. But we are, right now, at a crossroads. We drive too much, fly far too much, eat too much and shop insatiably….Humanity is facing some monumental challenges.”

While science and technology have “aided and abetted us in getting into this mess”, he argues, it will also be fundamental in helping us get out of it.

Because there’s no doubt that these are very exciting times for technology. A holy alliance of artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, robotics, automation, internet of things, and superfast 5G mobile connectivity, could help us connect and understand the world like never before. At Vodafone, we believe, like Kevin, that tech can provide many of the answers we need to tackle the challenges we face.

Kevin McCloud and Vodafone welcome you to the future!

  • Watch the first episode of Kevin McCloud’s Rough Guide to the Future, Channel 4, Wednesday 12 February, 9pm .