The future needs to be looked at as something we want to guide, not control, futurist and author David Zach told Hamilton Rotary Club members at their most recent meeting.

He asked them what they thought this age would be known for and most Rotarians present agreed information and technology topped the bill.

"By the year 2006, 93 percent of all information will have been discovered since 1997,'' he said.

"Everything that we know will be insignificant.'' Mr. Zach said information was not the key resource of this age, it was understanding the information that was important.

With a degree in Studies of the Future from the University of Houston, Mr.

Zach has worked with over 1,000 businesses, associates and schools to help them explore the opportunities before them.

His company, Future Innovations, has consulted with IBM, Harley Davidson, AT&T and many others in a bid to help them see their future.

He said people needed to learn how to think outside their own box.

"We've all heard the saying think outside the box,'' he said.

"The box is not the problem, it's that we all have different perspectives.'' He added that people also needed to reinvigorate the art of conversation.

Mr. Zach said: "In the US, smokers talk to people outside of their own rank and they know more about what's going on in that company than anyone else.

"Now, I'm not encouraging you to take up smoking, but take up conversation.'' He said the future could be looked at in two ways -- as a process that could be engineered, or as an outcome that people could try to control.

He made the comparison of good parenting to good business practices.

He pointed out that if a parent controlled a child, the child would rebel and said the same thing happened in business.

"We need to apply the skills of good parenting to the future.

"Think of it as something to be proud of, to be loved and guided.

"And remember the next time you see a child, it's your future you're looking at.'' Mr. Zach also spoke at the week-long International Captives Congress 2000 event at the Fairmont Southampton Princess.