About Swedish Technology Foresight
Summary

"The only thing that is certain about the future is its uncertainty."
Although there is some truth to this statement, companies, organizations and nations must nevertheless seek to envisage what the future might bring - in six months, a year, or even ten years. While the immediate future is often already well mapped out, the long-range perspective offers greater freedom of choice. Effective processes and methods for the continuous assessment of long-term technological development and technical applications are crucial, both for the formulation of Sweden's growth policies and the future prospects of Swedish companies and organizations.

Swedish Technology Foresight is a national project that seeks to bring together a large number of players from the knowledge community to discuss the best way of promoting long-term interplay between technical, economic and social processes. The project has been run by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development (NUTEK), the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research and the Federation of Swedish Industries. It was conducted in close cooperation with the government, companies, public agencies and other interested parties.

Swedish Technology Foresight - aims and objectives
The Technology Foresight project aimed to create insights and visions about technological development in the long term (10 to 20 years) in order to identify worthwhile strategies in education, research and development to promote the development of Swedish society.

Objectives:

  • To strengthen a futures-oriented approach in companies and organizations

  • To identify areas of expertise with potential for growth and renewal in Sweden

  • To compile information and design processes for identifying high-priority areas in which Sweden should build expertise

Interest groups support the organization
Swedish Technology Foresight was headed by a Steering Committee. Eight panels, each comprising up to 15 experts with different perspectives, formed the core of the Technology Foresight project. An Advisory Committee composed of representatives of different organizations ensureed that vital aspects of Swedish community life were integrated into the work of the Technology Foresight project.

Technology Foresight areas

  1. Health, medicine and care
    Biosciences, biotechnology, medical technology, nursing

  2. Biological natural resources Forestry and agriculture, water use, food processing, pulp and paper, wood products, biofuels

  3. Society's infrastructure
    Buildings and other facilities, city planning, transportation systems, logistics, distribution, regional development

  4. Production systems
    Applied manufacturing technology, industrial manufacturing systems and vehicular engineering

  5. Information and communications systems
    Hardware and software development, tele- and radio communications, computer networks, databases

  6. Materials and materials flows in the community
    Functional materials, structural materials, extraction and process engineering, recycling processes, chemical engineering

  7. Service industries
    Media, leisure, distributive trades, insurance and financial services

  8. Education and learning
    Lifelong learning, childhood and youth education, higher education, advanced and continuing education

A multidisciplinary, lateral approach
In addition to discussing aspects of common interest to all project areas, each panel has also focused on area-specific issues. Ecology and environmental issues will lead to environmental impact assessments in each area. Both customer and market demands and costs have a decisive influence on developments. Globalization and employment issues was also discussed. Values and attitudes affect the development, diffusion and use of new technology, and needed to be analyzed.

A process without end
Naturally, Technology Foresight cannot predict the future, but it can improve preparedness for future developments and influence investments in production and the dissemination of knowledge. However, the process of creating and conducting a futures-oriented project of this type is in itself as important as the final assessment of technological developments. A successful project is in fact a process that has no end, providing as it does a way of keeping up with events in the world at large.