Futurist Nikolas Badminton told a University of the Virgin Islands audience Wednesday that the territory is “on the edge” of rising global risks and new opportunities as it grapples with climate change, fragile infrastructure and rapid technological change.
Speaking at the annual Business Leadership Lecture hosted by the 13D Research and Strategy Innovation Center, Badminton said the territory’s ongoing struggles with infrastructure and limited resources reflect broader pressures expected to intensify worldwide in the coming decades.
UVI President Safiya George tied the lecture to what she described as the university’s “brand momentum” strategy, a push to connect academic work to real-world challenges in the Virgin Islands.
“At UVI we’re building what we call brand momentum … a bold and intentional push to advance student success, expand innovation, and deepen workforce and business partnerships,” George said. “Through hands-on learning, internships, research experiences and entrepreneurial projects, our students are not simply studying change. They’re learning how to lead.”
In his lecture, Badminton moved from historical examples of technological opportunities to circular economies and social media’s impact on society. Threaded through those themes was a warning that basic systems, especially for water, energy and food, will determine which communities can withstand future shocks.
Badminton urged Virgin Islanders to see themselves not only as navigating global disruptions, but as “hope engineers” capable of shaping better outcomes.
“Hope theory is about setting goals, identifying pathways forward and giving agency to yourself and others — and building networks of people who can deliver on the futures we promise,” he said. “That’s what being a ‘hope engineer’ is all about.”
He argued that the Virgin Islands’ position makes it both vulnerable and strategically important.
“Being here at UVI and being in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it sort of reminds me that we’re on the edge here,” Badminton said. “We’re surviving and we’re thriving and we’re smart and we’re punching above our weight, but we’re also on that edge of innovation — and new ideas can come from anywhere.”
He returned repeatedly to what he described as the water, energy and food nexus, saying the same pressures affecting the Virgin Islands today will increasingly define global stability.
During a question-and-answer session, attendees asked how global conflict, oil markets and artificial intelligence could reshape energy access in the coming years.
“When you put a chokehold on resources, you find another way forward because you don’t have a choice,” Badminton said. “You’re going to see people turning away from failing energy systems and pushing for independence. That will drive greater adoption of solar, influence policy changes and ultimately strengthen resilience, because you can’t wait.”
Badminton also warned that the rise of artificial intelligence and large-scale data centers could place additional strain on fragile island systems if communities do not maintain control over their own resources. He said powerful technology platforms are increasingly shaping how people see themselves and navigate the world.
For territories like the United States Virgin Islands, he said, that dynamic makes local control over infrastructure even more critical.
Sixth Constitutional Convention Delegate Imani Daniel asked how residents can continue bearing the burden of unreliable infrastructure while also being expected to plan for the future.
“We suffer within a system geographically,” Badminton said. “We’re told to fix it, but we don’t have the resources or the ability to do so. So there’s a gap.”
“Hope is recognizing who needs to be in positions of power to create structural change and giving those people the agency to act,” he added. “And it’s not easy.”
Still, he said long-term thinking remains one of the few tools communities can fully control.
“There’s no risk in thinking about the futures ahead of us,” Badminton said. “Not asking the questions and maintaining the status quo is the real risk.”
