Successful foresight activities must answer: What are the alternative futures the organization faces? How likely are the different futures to unfold? And, given the options, what actions can the organization take to achieve its goals? Foresight analysis, when correctly done, has many proven benefits for businesses and organisations across all industries.

The big cities of the 2020s are a fascinating market for innovations across all walks of life. Let's look at 22 trends that will likely make impacts on the future of cities. In this study, we use a comprehensive foresight tool to set up a process of anticipating changes.

Soile Ollila is the Foresight Manager at Business Finland, which focuses on offering a service path for customers in Finland and abroad in innovation funding, internationalisation, and investments.

Jussi Leskinen, Director of Customer Experience Management and Operations at Lindström, and Mika Raulas, Business Designer at Roger Studio, took the stage to discuss using strategic foresight to design future customer experiences.

We've already covered here what Strategic Foresight is and why it matters. But below, we take it a step further. Why it is actually critical for organizations, especially today, and what outcomes you can expect from systematic foresight activity.

Scenario planning can be used for engagement, which means building bridges and forming collaborations. The focus is on influencing and communicating. “During a big merger between companies, they disagreed on everything but then did a scenario exercise to start working together and exploring the future,” Drenth cites an example.

We like to say that artificial intelligence, for all its advantages, cannot do all that we can. And that's true. But if debating with other human was one of those things, IBM's Project Debater shows that it keeps sneaking into human territory.

Foresight is becoming a more disciplined activity in organizations as changes are happening on a faster pace and with a broader and deeper impact than ever before. “To ensure continued growth and success, organizations need to adapt to the future or at best, be a part of shaping it,” Vaarnas says.

Physical retail shops still have the edge over their online competitors with regard to the overall experience. But with virtual reality technology finally taking off, a big part of this experience will be transferrable.

The days of shoplifting may have started to see their end. Not that they should be recalled fondly, of course. But a new AI security camera, made by Japanese telecom NTT East and Japanese startup Earth Eyes Corp. shows what's in store for security systems in shops.

Who Will Dominate Outer Space? According to the administration, the new "Space Force" will be separate from the Air Force but equal. The proposal would have to go through US Congress, which won't be an easy task. It is, therefore, unlikely to come about anytime soon.

A better understanding of possible future territorial balances or imbalances can support policy-making processes to better adapt to future developments and needs. Territorial Foresight supports gaining better insights on territorial consequences of policy choices with broad ownership among different stakeholders.