Complexity of Retail
From Santa Fe Institute Events Wiki
SFI ACtioN Topical Meeting
September 12, 2019
San Francisco, CA
The disruptive effects of internet-based technologies have already been visited on the retail sector — 25 years ago most observers would have scoffed at the notion that in 2018 Toys-R-Us would disappear and Sears would file for bankruptcy. Although the internet’s impact on retail is not yet complete, additional trends will also affect the evolution of this sector. For example, the rapid global increase in urbanization will undoubtably impact the nature of retail. Emerging technologies, such as wearables, big data, machine learning, and additive manufacturing will also impact the sector. This meeting will explore these issues by drawing on SFI’s unique expertise in urban growth and scaling, inference and big social data, and technological invention and innovation.