Article 3 This is the third in a series of four articles providing an introduction to the practice of strategic foresight. This article delves a little deeper into the details of foresight methodology and process design, with the aim of providing the reader with a greater appreciation for how organisational benefits of the nature that I discuss in the first and second articles can be practicall...

Emerging economies in the CEE/NIS region – faced with a number of similar or same challenges when trying to find their new role in the changing international settings, while still characterised by their own distinct level of socio-economic development, set of institutions, culture and norms – can benefit significantly from conducting foresight programmes. Yet, foresight should not be conducted ...

The basis for a broadened scanning framework is described which may also function as a means for understanding how human minds filter their perceptions of the world. The framework is based on the Four-Quadrant Integral model of Ken Wilber and the Spiral Dynamics model of Don Beck and Chris Cowan. An analytical tool (cross-level analysis) is presented for examining views of the world in terms of...

Current tools for exploratory data analysis (EDA) require users to manually select data attributes, statistical computations and visual encodings. This can be daunting for large-scale, complex data. We introduce Foresight, a visualization recommender system that helps the user rapidly explore large high-dimensional datasets through “guideposts.” A guidepost is a visualization corresponding to a...

The paper delivers the main findings of a research project we recently completed on the relationship between the use of foresight and the design of firm business strategy, which is intrinsically linked with a “foresight” analysis about the future of the industry in which the firm competes. Today many companies, in all industries, continuously monitor the emerging technologies and investigate th...

In the framework of a wide foresight process, launched by the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) and aiming to identify possible scenarios for European agriculture in a long-term perspective, the European Commission (DG RTD-E4) established a “3rd Foresight Expert Group” that conducted a scanning and monitoring exercise of recent relevant foresight activities undertaken by nation...

In 2005, the Finnish Government took a Decision in principle on the development of a national strategy. This Decision spurred the two main funding agencies – the Academy of Finland and the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) – to carry out FinnSight 2015, a joint foresight exercise that would provide inputs to this strategy, foster collaboration between these funding ag...

The paper presents recent insights from the ongoing FORLEARN project, which aims to develop Foresight theory and practise by supporting the sharing of experience (“mutual learning”) in Europe. Six functions of Foresight for policy-making are elaborated on: 1. Informing policy: generating insights regarding the dynamics of change, future challenges and options, along with new ideas, and transmit...