Futures, Foresight and Emerging Technology unit
In 1993, the then-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, William Waldegrave, released a white paper, Realising our Potential - A Strategy for Science, Engineering and Technology, which made clear the importance of science, engineering and innovation in the public sector, and the establishment of a future planning service to anticipate threats and opportunities. [9] [10] The first "phase" of Foresight began in 1994, with its first report in 1995. [9] [11]
The unit looks to the future, as envisaged by the original white paper, focusing on what science can tell us about how the world could develop and what effects potential interventions might have. This enables civil servants and the public sector to plan for the long term by providing a view of potential futures under a variety of scenarios. [12]
Foresight projects address broad policy areas and issues to enable long-term resillence and policy planning, whereas Emerging Technologies (previously Horizon Scanning) conducts smaller projects across the full policy spectrum and increases the Government's capability to think about the future systematically. [13]
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Futures studies, futures research, futurism, or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social/technological advancement, and other environmental trends; often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and work in the future. Predictive techniques, such as forecasting, can be applied, but contemporary futures studies scholars emphasize the importance of systematically exploring alternatives. In general, it can be considered as a branch of the social sciences and an extension to the field of history. Futures studies seeks to understand what is likely to continue and what could plausibly change. Part of the discipline thus seeks a systematic and pattern-based understanding of past and present, and to explore the possibility of future events and trends.
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Horizon scanning (HS) or horizon scan is a method from futures studies, sometimes regarded as a part of foresight. It is the early detection and assessment of emerging technologies or threats for mainly policy makers in a domain of choice. Such domains include agriculture, environmental studies, health care, biosecurity, and food safety.
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