Community of Tomorrow

Jim Thomas is an entrepreneur, international speaker, and futurist thought leader with over 25 years of private industry, government, nonprofit experience. Jim is currently a partner at the venture capital firm Kirenaga and runs the Central Florida Tech Fund. 

Prior to joining Kirenaga, Jim served as the CEO of the Central Florida Tech Alliance to help foster growth and innovation in the region. Jim also served as the Executive Director of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce. Through the Chamber Jim served the needs of the business and entrepreneurial community throughout the seven county region of Central Florida.

Jim also spent over ten years working in government and politics at the local, state, and federal levels as well as six years in the real estate industry.

Jim sits on numerous Boards and holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

Housing insecurity is one of the most dire challenges facing the planet today. Traditional methods, traditional markets, and government solutions have not come remotely close to addressing this global crisis. Over the next few years automation of industries will displace tens of millions around the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic and economic fallout is only working to accelerate and exacerbate the immediate need for an affordable housing solution.

Through the Community of Tomorrow initiative, we can build a model that addresses affordable housing while incorporating technology within the home that starts to solve the most pressing issues of our day. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printed housing, is on the brink of becoming low cost and globally scalable. In addition to providing shelter, we now have the ability to bring technology into the home to also address human basic needs such as energy, food and water, health monitoring, and continuing education.

The problem is neither free markets nor governments have made meaningful progress as it relates to affordable housing. Our goal is to finally harness technology to scale the ability to build homes quickly, safely, and affordably from locally sourced sustainable materials. Additionally, technological advancements now allow us to bring innovation into the home to also solve our most pressing issues of climate change, adequate food and water, health monitoring, and continuing education.

As of 2019, more than 1 billion people were housing insecure around the planet. That is estimated to be 3 billion within this decade. Billions more currently use the vast majority of their income solely for shelter, energy, food, and water. 

In the United States alone, estimates state that an additional 28 million people could become homeless in the next several months because of the pandemic and loss of jobs and income. Inequitable access to food, water, healthcare, and education adds to unrest and the loss of hope in America and around the world. This stress of constantly trying to just provide human basic needs keeps billions trapped in laboring jobs that stifles their ability to create and pursue passions.

Our mission is to demonetize and democratize housing. Community of Tomorrow will set a framework for how future homes can be designed to be affordable while also incorporating technology to make each home highly self-sustaining. By incorporating high efficiency solar, energy battery storage, energy monitoring, interior vertical farming, rain and moisture capture and storage, health monitoring sensors, and personalized continuing education programs we can truly build the home of the future, today. For the first time in history, technology has advanced to a point that it can start to solve human basic needs through and with a home.

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes that if humanity’s biological, physiological and needs safety needs are not met or are in constant jeopardy, an individual can not become their full selves. The population most in need of affordable housing options are the bottom billion of the economic ladder.

The Community of Tomorrow initiative is designed to serve all humanity by turning human basic needs into human basic rights. 

The demonstration project of the Community of Tomorrow will first begin in Orlando Florida and will start to be distributed around the US. We will also be partnering private and public agencies around the world, focusing on developing nations as a priority. 

I have been tracking exponential technologies for over 20 years. In recent years I began studying how 3D printed housing could cut the cost of new homes by a dramatic percentage. I have also been following the rapid decline in cost of solar energy and battery storage. Additionally advancements in vertical farming, water filtration, and health sensors are now extremely efficient and cost effective. I also believe that the future of education will be personalized, low cost, ongoing, and be on demand from any location with a reliable internet connection. All of this put together has lead me to believe that through technology we can transform human basics needs into human basic rights.

I tell my personal story and inspiration in a talk a gave over two years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMHy53jPhwc&t=9s

I grew up passionate about making the world a better place. As a teen I believed that substantive change only came from government action. I pursued degrees in public policy and then a career in local, state, and federal government. 

However, I came to the realization that the idea of legislating our way to a more perfect planet was highly unlikely. I then saw the promise of technology empowering people to solve the world's biggest challenges and shifted my career and life in that direction.

I know realize don’t lack in natural resources...we lack in our ability to foster their abundance. We have all the natural resources we could ever ask for. 

If we have the ability to bring housing security to the planet while also capturing renewable energy, sustainably growing food, capturing clean water, monitoring our health, and personalizing life long learning, then I believe it is our imperative to do so.

If we can, we should, and we must.

I have had a unique career that has afforded me the opportunity to work in government, politics, private industry, and the nonprofit sector. 

I am a now connected to government leaders, nonprofit leaders, and private sector technology leaders that will enable me to bring this initiative into existence.

From my years working in government and politics I have become acutely aware of the partisanship and cynicism in society today.

I left government because I no longer believed it was the path to a greater society. 

I believe this project will literally transform society and in so doing, lift the hearts and minds of humanity.

I have overcome many personal tragedies and setbacks to get to where I am today. I am happy to go into greater detail at a later time. 

I have been serving in leadership positions for the past 30 years. Through each position I have held I have tried to work for equality above all else. I now believe technology has the ability to change society for the better. I have been on the forefront of this technological revolution and now believe that the world's greatest challenges are within our reach of solving. 

The story I tell in this TEDx talk I believe demonstrates the type of leader I am and will continue to become: https://vimeo.com/290304946