Advising the European Commission on future trends
3. Jun. 2024
Led by AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology), the Foresight-on-Demand (FOD) consortium, which also includes ZSI - Centre for Social Innovation, is advising the European Commission and fourteen other EU organisations on science and technology policy programming for a further four years. The Foresight-on-Demand framework contract enables the European Commission to promptly request and obtain relevant future knowledge and build up anticipatory capacities in its own organisations. Knowledge is developed in participatory processes to orientate and underpin Europe's investment plans for science, technology, and innovation.
Fifteen core partners - renowned research and technology organisations as well as specialised foresight partners - will handle future contracts together with five associated partner organisations and a global network of foresight experts. Equipped with sound foresight expertise and experience from four years of cooperation with European clients, the Foresight-on-Demand consortium is ready for new, exciting tasks and projects that will contribute to the resilience and transparency of European policymaking. The Foresight-on-Demand framework contract runs from April 2024 to March 2028.
"I am particularly pleased that the European Commission has placed its trust in the renowned FOD consortium led by AIT to support European policy with forward-looking knowledge and expertise for another four years," emphasises Brigitte Bach, spokesperson for the AIT management.
Customers of Foresight-on-Demand projects in the past have included various Directorates-General of the European Commission (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Justice and Consumers, Research and Innovation), as well as agencies and bodies of the European Union (European Environment Agency, Mission Boards).
The foresight projects carried out as part of Foresight-on-Demand provide science-based, systemic and participatory approaches to forward-looking knowledge generation aimed at guiding and supporting policy-making processes in the present. For example, the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture commissioned a foresight study on the future of school education in the EU, while the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation commissioned scenarios for a post-Covid-19 world for the long-term orientation of European research and innovation activities.
The uptake of specific results and recommendations for action from Foresight-on-Demand projects in the European Commission's policy agendas is particularly pleasing (see, for example, Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027 Analysis). The international attention paid to the geopolitical scenarios from Foresight-on-Demand is also remarkable. This emphasises the potential of foresight processes to make the knowledge base for policy-making robust for the future and to strengthen the anticipatory skills and capacities of political decision-makers.
Contact person at ZSI: Dietmar Lampert
Press contacst:
Mag. Beatrice Fröhlich-Rath, MA Marketing and Communications AIT Austrian Institute of Technology Center for Innovation Systems & Policy T +43 (0)50550-4508 beatrice.froehlich-rath@ait.ac.at I www.ait.ac.at
Daniel Pepl, MAS MBA Corporate and Marketing Communications AIT Austrian Institute of Technology T +43 (0)50550-4040 daniel.pepl@ait.ac.at I www.ait.ac.at
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Related Articles:
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- Project: Foresight-on-Demand: Climate Change Adaptation and Societal Transformation
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- Publication: Futures of Social Confrontations and Effects on European Democracies 2040
- Project: The Future of Social Confrontations
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