Science of future approach : An overview of foresight

Abstract

Foresight based on an understanding and analysis of the external environment including economy and society and relevant methods are being developed. From this background, the methodology of the foresight was investigated and summarized. Today the uncertainty of changes in the external environment is becoming increasingly high. Organizations adopting scenario planning, in which multiple future scenarios are created based on uncertainties rather than prediction, are rising internationally. The utilization of scenario planning enables users to think flexibly about multiple patterns in the future environment without being stuck with simplistic future predictions, which lead to flexible strategy making. The number of cases in which scenario planning is adopted in public policy making is still small, but is expected to increase in the future as interest in its is growing internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]