Along with tourism and the events industry, retail has been one of the most heavily affected sectors by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, despite the sudden hit, we anticipate that the retail sector will bounce back with a renewed focus on experience design and human connection.

By analysing data from various sources, foresight methods help make sense of today's world, make assessments about the world of tomorrow, and proactively answer to the opportunities and challenges that will define the future. In this introduction, we will discuss why foresight is necessary and how it helps you keep up with continuous change.

A new wave of sustainable urbanism focuses on bringing nature into the heart of the cities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every sector, but the scope and nature of these effects differ significantly across industries. By understanding the future direction of these shifts, organisations can take advantage of these changes and set themselves up for success in the post-pandemic world.

Thanks to rapid technological advances, it may one day be possible to track, measure and even modify our emotions. While the technology is still in its nascent phase, brain-computer interfaces may be a game-changer in mental health, entertainment, and advertisement industries.

Although it is no news anymore that AI is better than us humans at spotting patterns across large data sets, machine intelligence is still not advanced enough to understand correlation and causality, which are among humans’ strong suits. Joining these two forces can help organisations streamline foresight processes and save time.

Digital technology today mainly uses two senses - sight and sound. But it may not be long before we can feel, taste and smell digital objects in a way that is indistinguishable from physical experiences.

With over one million people moving to cities every week globally, the world is currently undergoing the biggest wave of urbanisation in human history . As urban populations increase, future cities will also face an array of new challenges.

The accelerating competition over dominance between China and the US is starting to impact the technology industry. If the intensifying race for technology dominance between the world's two superpowers leads to a tech decoupling, it would have far-reaching implications for the future of global trade, tech companies and market regulations.

A new wave of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services, which allow consumers to buy an item and pay later in interest-free instalments, have lately been shaking up the traditional credit card business. As a low-commitment, user-friendly and budget-focused alternative to credit cards, BNPLs are particularly favoured by tech-savvy Millennials and Generation Z, who are wary of credit cards.

How can the results of foresight work be communicated to management and stakeholders in an impactful way? What forms can foresight deliverables take, and how often should they be delivered? In the first Futures Clinic session of the year, Futures Platform’s Foresight Strategist Ira Stening and a team of senior advisors from the Norwegian Tax Administration discuss how to bring foresight into action through foresight deliverables.

As we spend more and more time in the virtual realm, the notions of luxury and status symbols begin to manifest themselves in novel ways.