Loading...

    sorted by publishing date

    Last Edited: a day ago

    Olga Shaeva1

    Cofounder, Algorithm trend intelligence, PhD in Sociology

    Posted on: 14/05/2025

    Last Edited: a day ago

    UNIDO EGM on Technology Foresight for Circular Economy18 June - 15 May 2025

    Expert Group Meeting on Technology Foresight for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development - Application to Circular Economy

    The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is organizing a one-day Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on Strategic Technology Foresight for policy making on 18 June, 2025 in Vienna, Austria.

    The EGM will be oriented towards drawing lessons from experience of, and identifying future trends in, the use of technology foresight for strategic decision making. It will focus on sustainable development, and particularly on transitions towards a Circular Economy (which features as an example of the most recent experience).

    Posted on: 14/05/2025

    Last Edited: a day ago

    Tatiana Chernyavskaya1

    Posted on: 14/05/2025

    Last Edited: 3 days ago

    Foresight Cube1

    Posted on: 12/05/2025

    Last Edited: 3 days ago

    Sebastian Wagner1

    Posted on: 12/05/2025

    Last Edited: 6 days ago

    Agustín ALEMÁN GONZÁLEZ1

    Think exponentially, act incrementally.

    Posted on: 09/05/2025

    Last Edited: 6 days ago

    Elena Aminova1

    I will know how

    Posted on: 09/05/2025

    Last Edited: a month ago

    Securing the Future

    Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of digital and network security

    This science for policy brief documents the process and findings of a horizon scanning exercise, part of a series under the FUTURINNOV (FUTURe-oriented detection and assessment of emerging technologies and break-through INNOVation) project, a collaboration between the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), aiming to bolster the EIC's strategic intelligence through foresight and anticipatory methodologies.
    The workshop, held on 13 November 2024, had as its primary goal the evaluation and prioritisation of trends and signals on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovation, across all technology readiness levels (TRLs), within the digital and network security domain. Signals for the workshop were gathered from experts, literature review, and text/data mining of patents, publications, and EU-funded projects.
    These signals were then scrutinised for their significance to the field's future by a diverse group of sector experts which led to the identification of eight key topics: deepfake detection, quantum-resistant algorithms, interoperability for end-to-end encrypted messaging systems, privacy and security in virtual reality, false data injection attack detection, inter-satellite communication, privacy-preserving machine learning, and tiny solar-powered drones capable of near-perpetual flight.
    Participants also highlighted various factors that could influence the development, adoption, and promotion of these emerging technologies including: tensions between privacy and security, emerging geopolitical threats, technological and regulatory enablers, trust and transparency, and the economic barriers that shape technological development and adoption.

    Posted on: 16/04/2025

    Last Edited: a month ago

    Kleitia Zeqo1

    Posted on: 14/04/2025

    Post Image

    Last Edited: 2 months ago

    Making the Future More Tangible for Citizens Through ‘Fridays of Knowledge’

    In the small seaside township of Diano Marina, Liguria Region, Italy, the local community has been organising frequent meetings to help people overcome growing fears of an increasingly uncertain future. This initiative, called ‘Fridays of Knowledge’, aims to equip the local community with scientific tools and knowledge to understand the risks and implications of new technologies in a dialogue together with students, academics, and journalists. Communication Manager for Fridays of Knowledge, Damiana Biga, tells Futures4Europe how this initiative sparks debates across different generations and backgrounds, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and curiosity.

    Posted on: 27/03/2025

    Last Edited: 2 months ago

    The Applied Research and Communications Fund1

    Building bridges between science and business

    Supports the economic growth in South-East Europe by promoting innovative solutions and facilitating the transfer of technologies and know-how. 

    The first organization in the South- East region to implement foresight methods to shape public policy.

    Posted on: 19/03/2025

    Last Edited: 2 months ago

    Mobilising the future

    Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of mobility

    This report documents the process and findings of a horizon scanning exercise, part of a series under the FUTURINNOV (FUTURe-oriented detection and assessment of emerging technologies and breakthrough INNOVation) project, a collaboration between the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), aiming to bolster the EIC's strategic intelligence through foresight and anticipatory methodologies.
    The workshop, held on 16 October 2024, had as its primary goal the evaluation and prioritisation of trends and signals on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovation, across all tech7-nology readiness levels (TRLs), within the broad Mobility domain, broken-down into four key areas: transport systems, networks and multimodality; automotive and roads; rail/freight and logistics and aviation and airports.
    Signals for the workshop were gathered from experts, literature review, and text/data mining of patents, publications, and EU-funded projects. These signals were then scrutinised for their significance to the field's future by a diverse group of sector experts which led to the identification of 22 different key topics across the key areas above. These signals can be seen as hotspots of innovation that deserve the EIC’s attention for possible future support.
    Participants also highlighted various factors that could influence the development, adoption, and promotion of these emerging technologies, which are presented in the report as drivers, enablers and barriers, and analysed specifically in each of the 4 key areas.

    Posted on: 11/03/2025

    Last Edited: 2 months ago

    Kai Kaasalainen1

    CEO | Leadership | Strategy | Futurist | Foresight & Insight author | Researcher | Speaker | Ai | Health & Pharma |

    Posted on: 16/03/2025

    Last Edited: 4 months ago

    Ricardo Seidl da Fonseca 1

    Posted on: 29/01/2025

    Last Edited: 4 months ago

    Wenzel Mehnert1

    The future ain't what it used to be.

    Posted on: 29/01/2025

    Last Edited: 4 months ago

    Iuliana Adina Apostol1

    What you seek is seeking you (Rumi)

    Posted on: 26/01/2025

    Last Edited: 4 months ago

    Marlène de Saussure1

    Posted on: 14/01/2025

    Last Edited: 5 months ago

    EU Policy Lab1

    The EU Policy Lab is a space for cross-disciplinary exploration and innovation in policymaking. We apply collaborative, systemic and forward-looking approaches to help bringing the scientific knowledge of the Joint Research Centre into EU policymaking.

    We experiment with the new, the unprecedented and the unknown. We seek to augment our understanding of the present, challenge and reinvent the way we think about the future.

    The EU Policy Lab is also a mindset and a way of working together that combines stories and data, anticipation and analysis, imagination and action. We bring new practical and radical perspectives to tackle complex problems in a collaborative way. Together, we explore, connect and ideate to create better policies.

    The Competence Centre on Foresight is part of the EU Policy Lab and supports EU policy making by providing strategic and future-oriented input, developing an anticipatory culture inside the European Commission, and continuously experimenting and developing different methods and tools to make foresight useful for decision making processes. 

    Posted on: 16/12/2024

    Last Edited: 6 months ago

    FUTURINNOV1December 2023 - January 2025

    The FUTURINNOV project run by European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) supports the European Innovation Council (EIC) in building strategic intelligence capacity through foresight and other anticipatory approaches. This is done through activities to identify funding priorities, inform programme design, contribute to policy feedback, and develop institutional governance. 

    The main objectives are to:
    • Provide short and medium-term future-oriented evidence-based advice on signals and trends of emerging technologies, breakthrough innovation, and investment patterns;
    • Support the development of long-term EIC strategic intelligence, grounded in anticipatory, collective, and hybrid methods, towards knowledge transfer and capacity building; and
    • Explore innovative anticipatory thinking and future-oriented methodologies to support EIC in its mission as a funding body and a knowledge- provider for policy design and implementation.
    The project started in the beginning of the 2024 and will run until February 2025. Outputs of the FUTURINNOV project will include three literature reviews identifying and analysing signals of emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations as well as findings from horizon scanning workshops.

    Eyes on the Future - Signals from recent reports on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations to support European Innovation Council strategic intelligence - Volume 1

    The report provides a literature review of publications authored by numerous external organisations. It summarises 34 signals and trends of emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations across the 11 primary categories of a taxonomy defined by the European Innovation Council (EIC). The authors investigate not only what is deemed most novel in multiple application domains but what is worth the attention of European Union (EU) policy audiences involved with priority-setting and decision-making. The literature review

    (1) reviews and evaluates 186 reports and articles on emerging technologies,
    (2) captures 489 signals, of which 86 have been short-listed and 34 selected for this report,
    (3) creates an internal database of signals which is used to digest and analyse the evolution of signals and novel technologies
    (4) connects signals with EIC portfolios and other European Commission (EC) initiatives such as policies surrounding critical technologies and Strategic Technologies for Europe 

    Platform (STEP) investments that, together with the primary and secondary levels of the EIC taxonomy, provide multiple types of analysis and insights(5) draws conclusions that aim to support the EIC’s funding prioritisation and additionally, provide reflections on EIC portfolio setting.  

    Read some insights from the authors on the blog

    Eyes on the Future - Signals from recent reports on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations to support European Innovation Council strategic intelligence - Volume 2

    The second volume of the literature review with 30 selected signals and trends that were considered particularly relevant to the 10 critical technology areas identified by the Commission. Some examples are:
    • Neuromorphic chip optimised for energy efficient AI workloads
    • Laser-equipped satellites for secure quantum communications
    • Possibilities of microgravity bioreactors and 3D bioprinting for regenerative medicine
    • Self-consuming rockets to reduce space debris and improve efficiency
    • Potential to capture wasted 'reflected' energy from PV systems
    • Preparation–free, adhesive skin patches to help people control robotic exoskeletons.

    (Dis)Entangling the Future - Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of quantum technologies

    This report documents the process and findings of a horizon scanning exercise, part of a series under the FUTURINNOV. The workshop, held on 24 April 2024, had as its primary goal the evaluation and prioritisation of trends and signals on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovation, across all technology readiness levels (TRLs) and within the EIC's Quantum technologies portfolio. Signals for the workshop were gathered from experts, literature review, and text/data mining of patents, publications, and EU-funded projects.
    These signals were then scrutinised for their significance to the field's future by a diverse group of sector experts which led to the identification of nine key topics:
    •quantum computers
    •quantum sensing
    •quantum algorithms for lattice-based computational fluid dynamics models
    •materials for quantum
    •Artificial Intelligence for quantum
    •error correction; solid-state scalability
    •quantum for Artificial Intelligence
    •quantum as a service – metacloud


    Furthermore, the workshop identified additional wild cards with high novel-ty and disruptive potential such as quantum sensing AI on edge and molecular spin qubits. Participants also highlighted various factors that could influence the development, adoption, and promotion of these emerging technologies, which can be grouped under the following categories: technical advancements; investment and infrastructure support; cross-sector collaboration; regulatory navigation; talent acquisition; market maturity; and application utility.

    Materialising the Future - Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of advance materials for energy


    This report documents the process and findings of a horizon scanning exercise on emerging technologies in advanced materials for energy. Signals for the workshop were gathered from experts, literature review, and text/data mining of patents, publications, and EU-funded projects. These signals were then scrutinised for their significance to the field's future by a diverse group of sector experts which led to the identification of nine key topics: 

    • accelerated material design/synthesis
    • biomaterials as part of the circular economy
    • advanced materials allowing new applications
    • closed loop battery recycling
    • innovations in catalysis
    • organic batteries for sustainable energy storage
    • design to performance bat-teries
    • design to cost batteries
    • electrochemical water treatment

    Furthermore, the workshop identified additional wild cards with high novelty and disruptive potential such as: circularity of materials (safe and sustainable by design); membranes / separators; process optimisation; 3D printing of electrode materials for energy and environmental engineering applications; and use of AI for the study of materials.
    Participants also highlighted various factors that could influence the development, adoption, and promotion of these emerging technologies, which can be grouped under the following categories: governance and compliance frameworks; funding; collaboration and knowledge exchange; sustainable and efficient development; infrastructure and technological advancement and limita-tions; industry and market dynamics and constraints; innovation and risk management; supply chain and raw materials; and talent development.

    Imagine the future - Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations
    in the field of medical imaging and AI


    This report documents the process and findings of a horizon scanning exercise, part of a series under
    the FUTURINNOV project. The workshop, held on 17 September 2024, had as its primary goal the evaluation and prioritisation of trends and signals on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovation, across all technology
    readiness levels (TRLs), within the EIC's Medical Imaging and AI portfolio.
    Signals for the workshop were gathered from experts, literature review, and text/data mining of pa-
    tents, publications, and EU-funded projects. These signals were then scrutinised for their significance
    to the field's future by a diverse group of sector experts which led to the identification of eight key
    topics: 

    • generative AI for healthcare
    • digital twins
    • multimodal data analysis
    • explainable AI in medical imaging
    • application of AI to specific diseases/conditions
    • XR - augmented and virtual realities
    • tensor-valued diffusion encoding
    • AI-generated synthetic data for training AI

    Furthermore, the workshop identified additional wild cards with high novelty and disruptive potential such as: blockchain, edge computing and differential privacy for secure, AI-driven medical imaging and collaborative healthcare
    optimisation and quantum medical imaging.
    Participants also highlighted various factors that could influence the development, adoption, and pro-
    motion of these emerging technologies, which can be grouped under the following categories: Tech-
    nological advancements and cross-sector applications; data infrastructure, AI models, and regulatory
    frameworks; workforce, education and societal factors; clinical efficiency and patient outcomes; trust,
    ethics, and AI adoption; financial pressures and industry investment in AI healthcare.

    Mobilising the future - Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of mobility

    This report documents the process and findings of a horizon scanning exercise, part of a series under the FUTURINNOV project. The workshop, held on 16 October 2024, had as its primary goal the evaluation and prioritisation of trends and signals on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovation, across all technology readiness levels (TRLs), within the broad Mobility domain, broken-down into four key areas: 

    • transport systems, networks and multimodality
    • automotive and roads
    • rail/freight and logistics 
    • aviation and airports.

    Signals for the workshop were gathered from experts, literature review, and text/data mining of patents, publications, and EU-funded projects. These signals were then scrutinised for their significance to the field's future by a diverse group of sector experts which led to the identification of 22 different key topics across the key areas above. These signals can be seen as hotspots of innovation that deserve the EIC’s attention for possible future support.
    Participants also highlighted various factors that could influence the development, adoption, and promotion of these emerging technologies, which are presented in the report as drivers, enablers and barriers, and analysed specifically in each of the 4 key areas.

    Securing the Future Horizon scanning for emerging technologies and breakthrough innovations in the field of digital and network security


    This science for policy brief documents the process and findings of a horizon scanning exercise, part of FUTURINNOV project. The workshop, held on 13 November 2024, had as its primary goal the evaluation and prioritisation of trends and signals on emerging technologies and breakthrough innovation, across all technology readiness levels (TRLs), within the digital and network security domain. Signals for the workshop were gathered from experts, literature review, and text/data mining of patents, publications, and EU-funded projects.
    These signals were then scrutinised for their significance to the field's future by a diverse group of sector experts which led to the identification of eight key topics: 

    • deepfake detection
    • quantum-resistant algorithms
    • interoperability for end-to-end encrypted messaging systems
    • privacy and security in virtual reality 
    • false data injection attack detection
    • inter-satellite communication
    • privacy-preserving machine learning
    • tiny solar-powered drones capable of near-perpetual flight


    Participants also highlighted various factors that could influence the development, adoption, and promotion of these emerging technologies including: tensions between privacy and security, emerging geopolitical threats, technological and regulatory enablers, trust and transparency, and the economic barriers that shape technological development and adoption.

    Lead

    Posted on: 08/11/2024