Imagine a network of schools trying to prepare for the future of digital technology. Almost every institution knows it needs to change, yet most digital initiatives stall. Why? Because organizations usually fall into a trap called Information Systems Operation Transformation (ISOT). They adopt new digital tools simply to automate existing tasks and boost efficiency, while leaving their underlying mindsets, teaching models, and cultures completely unchanged. 

True Digital Transformation, by contrast, requires a fundamental socio-technical shift in an institution’s core value proposition, culture, and strategy. But in education, no single school board or university can do this alone; they operate in complex, non-hierarchical networks. In these networks, transformation is repeatedly blocked by strategic persistence, an inertia rooted in past success, and by budget-holding managers who favor short-term operational fixes over long-term future exploration. So, how do we bridge this gap between future thinking and real-world action? My research explores a two-part steering engine.

First, we use participatory strategic foresight and scenario planning as a structured learning routine. Rather than trying to predict a single future, scenario building provides a 'safe transitional space' where leaders can combine System 1 intuitive gut feelings with System 2 analytical forecasting. This process surfaces symbolic anchors, shared metaphors and language that make complex digital futures visible and legible across fragmented school systems.

Second, foresight alone doesn't automatically create change. It requires active network management and process facilitation. Because networks lack hierarchical authority, facilitators must deploy specific management strategies, such as connecting key stakeholders and exploring shared content, while engaging unconventional thinkers, or 'remarkable people,' to navigate political budget constraints and power dynamics.

By connecting participatory foresight with deliberate process orchestration, this approach generates cognitive, relational, and structural social capital across autonomous institutions. It enables collective sensemaking, allowing divergent school systems to align around a shared vision for public value.

Over the course of my 5-year, we are co-designing, prototyping, testing, and evaluating a practical Scenario-Based Network Orchestration Framework. This framework will equip network facilitators and educational leaders with a repeatable toolkit to manage power dynamics, dismantle strategic persistence, and turn future-oriented thinking into collective, transformative action.

visit for more details: https://www.surf.nl/en/themes/futuring/tech-trends

see also: https://video.edu.nl/w/5wWDUqoE2XtYgoT1d167hk 

The Future Design Institute helps organizations build a future-proof organization by incorporating the interests of both current and future generations into decision-making. In our programs, we give the future a voice in the present—and your organization a voice in the future.

4Growth will showcase the uptake of digital technologies and data through the “4Growth Visualisation Platform” that will combine powerful storytelling with advanced visualisations of the market.

This 3-year Horizon Europe project, funded by the European Commission, brings together 13 partners with the aim of understanding where, how and to what extent digital technologies and data are being adopted within the agricultural and forestry sectors. The project started in January 2024 and will end in December 2026.