The only truly predictable thing about the coming year is that it’s sure to be full of surprises. But some innovations will be ways of dealing with just that fact

From Business Week

2008 will be one hairy beast, what with a U.S. Presidential election playing in the background and huge economic and social forces making us lead our lives in constant beta. Predictions are foolhardy in these circumstances, but…fun. I tapped into the wisdom of my crowd for this enterprise, including Doblin’s Larry Keeley, Richard Saul Wurman, Tim Brown of IDEO, David Armano from Critical Mass, Peer Insight’s Jeneanne Rae, writers Jessie Scanlon and Jessi Hempel, Pop!Tech’s Andrew Zolli, Ammunition’s Robert Brunner,consultant John Kao, and a couple more. So—here goes some fun. Fourteen guesses of what may take place in the innovation and design space next year.

Innovation Consolidation

One of the big, established consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain or BCG makes a pass at one of the small design-turned-innovation consultancies—Jump, Continuum, IDEO, or ZIBA—to bolster its innovation practice. Demand from corporate clients for help in executing innovation is surging, and consolidation in the innovation field is on the rise.

B-School Goes D-School

A top American B-school follows the lead of University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and transforms its curriculum to a design model. Business administration focuses on making existing business processes and products better and more efficient. Business design focuses on creating new options for new forms of enterprise.

Creative Growth

A major private equity firm embraces innovation when a deal goes sour thanks to the weakening U.S. economy. As the traditional, cost-cutting workout fails, the private equity firm brings in innovation consultants to shape a growth strategy.

Presidential Policy

A national innovation policy emerges as a key part of the Presidential campaign. With the economy sinking into recession and competitors from China, India, and Europe embracing national innovation plans, Hillary Clinton is the first to propose a program — and rivals respond.

One Laptop Boomerangs

The One Laptop Per Child ”$100 laptop” becomes a Christmas best-seller in the U.S. but fails overseas. OLPC is criticized as “Western high-tech imperialism.” Governments in Asia and Africa reject the beautifully designed children’s computer because of high costs for installation, repair, and electricity as well as limited local educational content.

Our Urban Planet

The 192021 project—a study of 19 cities with 20 million people in the 21st century—gains massive corporate support. For the first time, in 2007, more than half the planet’s people live in cities. 192021 plans to generate uniform data on the rise of these supercities and the role their consumers and creators play in business and civic life.

Fly WiFi

WiFi on U.S. planes changes the travel experience. Forrester (FORR) estimates that 38% of frequent business travelers would use WiFi—even at a cost of $25 a trip. European airline Lufthansa already offers the service, and demand is big.

Unfriend Me

Who you’re friends with becomes more important than how many friends you have. Exclusivity and privacy replace open community in social media. People move to gated networks from Facebook and MySpace (NWS), fleeing the commercialization of their personal information and relationships.

Mobile Explosion

The next big disruptive innovation is—Super Mobility. A flood of new applications for the iPhone (AAPL), the newly opened Verizon (VZ) network, and Google’s (GOOG) Android platform generate an explosion of great cell-phone experiences. Especially watch the apps developed for Facebook on the iPhone.

Kindle Catches Fire

Amazon’s (AMZN) Kindle e-book reader does much better than the tech blogs predicted. Shifting from paper made from trees to electronic paper reduces personal carbon footprints enormously, and this makes Kindle a darling of the Green Movement, propelling sales. Along the way, Kindle’s remarkable direct-to-Web capabilities and cool, anti-iPod design finally get credit.

It’s All About Me

“Identity” replaces “experience” as the next big concept in design and media thinking. People create their own identities interacting with products and services. The notion of a consumer experience is a more passive way of thinking. It’s so 20th century. Identity gets the buzz in ‘08.

Hang On to the Good Stuff

“Longevity” replaces “sustainability” as a core concept for the green thing. Just hanging on to that expensive, fancy car does more to help the planet than recycling stuff again and again. Or so the marketing argument will go.

The Customer Is King

The end of competition for business occurs. Consumers replace competitors as the key reference point for corporate strategy. Reason? Disruptive innovation now often takes places outside the normal competitive environment. Think Google in advertising or Apple in mobile phones/music/retail. Consumers are more knowledgeable and more powerful than competitors.

Shape-Shifting Enterprises

A new set of on-demand, Web-based toolkits for business emerges out of the innovation movement. These kits focus on maximizing new options and possibilities for a fast-changing, uncertain global business environment, not boosting efficiencies for existing processes in a stable marketplace. They manage talent, production, and creativity on a global scale.