This Just In: Soon Everything There is to Know Will Double Daily

Here’s something to keep in mind today, courtesy of Charles Harrington, CEO of Pasadena-based Parsons Corporation, one of the world’s largest multi-national engineering and technology firms: Scientists have predicted that in the not-too-distant future, all of the world’s information will double at the end of a work day.

You read that right. Everything there is to know will double later on that day. That’s how fast technology is moving.

And the world’s cities will add 65 million inhabitants a year between now and 2025. So there’s that.

It took television and radio decades to come close to having the same reach as the Internet has achieved in less than one decade. It took Instagram a little over a year. It took the “Angry Birds” app 36 days to do the same thing. See what we mean?

Harrington made the observations at Tuesday evening’s Pasadena Educational Foundation (PEF) “Celebrating Our Schools: Envision 2017” fundraising gala in the courtyard at Pasadena City Hall, where he was the keynote speaker.

Harrington tied the need to keep pace with innovation and technology to the advantages of a career at Parsons, noting that the company has “200 to 300 job openings every day needing to be filled.”

“At Parsons,” he continued, “we employ writers, artists and performers in the physical arts to help us bring our products and services to market, to envision greater products, and to communicate these advances to the world.”

“Diversity of thought is important to innovation,” Harrington added, noting the presence of so many accomplished PUSD students at the event, “and it’s innovation that pushes the envelope that drives progress. It’s innovation that led to the emergence of smart cities and cities of the future.

“We’ll need innovation to keep our cities resilient and sustainable,” he continued, a point not lost on the student engineers, scientists, videographers and musicians in attendance.

In his remarks Pasadena Educational Foundation Executive Director Patrick Conyers also noted the passing of former Los Angeles District Attorney, Muir High alumnus, and Pasadena stalwart John Van De Kamp, and announced the awarding of the first-ever John Van De Kamp Leadership Award to outgoing Muir High School Principal Tim Sipple.

The event also showcased the work of PUSD students in its “Kaleidoscope” interactive fair, which demonstrated a solar-powered boat, EKG technologies, and live drawings from PUSD art students.

The Pasadena Educational Foundation has been supporting public schools in Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Altadena for more than 45 years,