The Federal Foresight Community of Interest (FFCOI) is a forum based on the discipline and application of foresight. It provides an opportunity for federal employees, think tanks, and industry to network, learn, analyze, develop, and communicate foresight methods and best practices to decision-makers and strategic planners. The FFCOI is a centralized connection point for agencies to share best practices, foster cross-agency support, and develop new and innovative ways to apply and improve the use of Strategic Foresight within the Federal Government. The FFCOI does not attempt to predict the future but seeks to understand the implications of various scenarios their agencies might reasonably face in a longer time frame.
Mission: FFCoI is an interagency group of foresight and strategy practitioners that provides expertise and information sharing in order to educate and enable better decision-making across the Federal Government.
Vision: FFCoI makes foresight an essential element of leadership to drive change in the US Government.
WEBINARS: Quarterly meetings are being postponed until further notice. However, FFCOI will be featuring monthly webinars on topics relevant to the community. RSVPs are required for each webinar. Thanks for your patience.
News and Events
May Webinar - Generative Artificial Intelligence:
Join us on May 9 at 11:30am (EST), for our monthly May webinar as we hear from Dr. Kevin Schieman from the US Military Academy – West Point, who will discuss with us Generative Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities. RSVP by 5/5/2023!
TO RSVP click the black box above - the "RSVP" text is a hyperlink.
U.S Government Foresight Symposium RECAP:
We are delighted to announce that our inaugural Foresight Symposium in partnership with the US Air Forces, was a huge success. The 2-day event was filled with captivating speakers and panels that brought together our FFCOI community after almost 3 years of virtual only events. We want to take a moment to thank all of our speakers, all the participants, and especially we want to thank the team over at the USAF for partnering with us on a fantastic event. Without the support of offices like the USAF, these events would not be made possible. Thank you everyone for the support and attendance to the event!
CALL FOR FFCOI CO-CHAIR:
POC: Sharaelle Grzesiak
Please join us in celebrating our co-chair’s anticipated retirement. Robin Champ will be retiring after 33 of federal service. She has been an invaluable member of the FFCOI leadership team and will be missed. FFCOI is looking for a committed member to fill her vacant seat. If you are interested, please submit your name and a short paragraph (less than 300 words) describing why you would like to be a FFCOI co-chair, along with your resume showcasing your foresight roles. You must be a federal employee to apply and have prior management approval to participate in this role. This is a non-paid volunteer position with a minimum one-year commitment. We look forward to hearing from interested applicants. Application deadline is May 30, 2023. Applications should be emailed to the co-chairs.
GW UNIVERSITY’s MASTERING FORESIGHT: SCENARIO-BASED PLANNING CERTIFICATION COURSE:
POC: Mary Cummings
LBL Strategies' Mastering Foresight: Scenario-Based Planning course is associated with the Baldridge Foundation and is also a certification course from the George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. Mastering Foresight runs from June 26-30 via Zoom; register by May 20th to receive a 5% early bird discount.
POC: Mary Cummings
LBL Strategies' Mastering Foresight: Scenario Based Planning course is associated with the Baldridge Foundation and is also a certification course from the George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. Mastering Foresight runs from Sep 18-22 via Zoom; register by Aug 18th to receive a 5% early bird discount.
IFTF FORESIGHT ESSENTIALS
POC: Cindy Baskin
Institute for the Future added a NEW in-person, 3-day Foresight Essentials training in the Bay Area — June 6, 7, 8, 2023. Past government attendees have come from departments of defense, intelligence, customs, trade, strategy, and more. Government discounts available (40% off).
POC: Suesan Danesh
On May 16 – 18, join the free virtual event for the global policy community and beyond. This year’s theme is “Navigating the storm”. Come discover emerging issues, the opportunities and challenges to come, and how foresight can drive transformation. Futures Week will feature a variety of national and international speakers including, Peter Schwartz, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Salesforce. Visit the website to find out more about the program and all of Futures Week speakers.
IFTF USAF GLOBAL FUTURES REPORT
The Air Force Futures team is proud to disseminate the Air Force Global Futures Report: Joint Functions in 2040, published on AF.mil on 12 Apr 2023. The AFGFR assesses four potential operating environments that the world and the USAF may face in over the next several decades. These future operating environments are seen through the lens of the seven joint functions found in US doctrine – Fires, Protection, Movement and Maneuver, Information, Intelligence, C2, and Sustainment. For a copy visit the USAF website
INTERVIEW: FEDNEWS WITH ERIC POPIEL:
POC: Tom Temin
Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with OPM’s strategic foresight program analyst, Eric Popiel and the Commerce Department’s deputy chief financial officer, Steve Kunze to discuss their award-winning program. The effort, led by the Office of Personnel Management, leveraged foresight tools to determine futures skills needed for the financial profession.
Developing AND APPLYING STRATEGIC FORESIGHT FOR BETTER HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT (OPM):
POC: Eric Popiel
OPM has recently, released its guidebook designed to provide Federal agencies with a systematic approach to applying foresight to their unique challenges and missions. Agencies may apply the process and methods presented in this guide to a diverse set of internal and external challenges. The Framework Foresight process is a method to systematically apply foresight.
UNCERTAINTY AND FORESIGHT GUIDE:
POC: Maria Bothwell
As practitioners, we recognize that greater uncertainty means an increased need for foresight as it offers a structured approach to analyze and prepare for uncertainty. While we have seen an increased interest, the list of potential disruptors is fairly daunting—long-term impacts of the pandemic, economic cycles and inflation, climate issues, policy-making, consumer attitudes, societal shifts, supply chain restructuring, and geopolitics. Unfortunately, we have not seen associated changes in planning behavior. This guide may help you communicate to leaders the value of Foresight.
POC: Jeannette Bruno
GSA’s Center of Excellence (CoE) Innovation Adoption (IA) practice created this resource to help orient you to strategic foresight and design futures methods to better anticipate risk and prepare for the future. In this guide you will find useful examples of methods and their feasibility.
BLOG: DISILLUSIONED YOUTH: A DANGER TO DEMOCRACY:
POC: Steve Gale and Mat Burrows
This blog examines the evidence that youth disillusionment is a growing and serious threat to democracy. Challenges today play out in a landscape of immense political instability. Leaving youth wanting to “opt out.” Youth disengagement will ultimately have negative impacts beyond democratic engagement with potential shockwaves on social stability, and more.
POC: Melissa Smallwood
A white paper by the Solve Long Covid Initiative estimates Long Covid may affect 22-43 million Americans, with 7-14 million of these cases causing new or worsening disability. This paper explores the economic impact of Long Covid on
Center for Strategic Foresight Trends Report 2022:
POC: Sharaelle Grzesiak
In 2022, GAO staff worked with experts including the Center’s Fellows to identify 12 trends affecting government and society. Read the report here, check out our press release, or watch the video . These trends explore what will likely affect government and society in the next 5 to 15 years—including science and technology in an innovation economy, global supply chains, racial and ethnic disparities, and national security threats.
ARTICLE: STRATEGIC FORESIGHT IN U.S. AGENCIES:
POC: J. Peter Scoblic
U.S. public policy has often been myopic, sacrificing long-term needs to short-term interests. This short-termism not only reduces economic performance, threatens the environment, and undermines national security—to name but a few consequences—it also leaves the United States vulnerable to surprise and limits its ability to manage crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The question is, what to do about it? This report argues that it is, in part, a mechanism for coping with the uncertainty of the future and that reducing myopia requires providing policymakers tools for managing that uncertainty. Specifically, it maintains that the practice of strategic foresight—the rigorous examination of imagined alternative futures to better sense, shape, and adapt to the emerging future—can put boundaries around future uncertainty while enabling better strategy in the present.
ARTICLE: A FUTURIST'S GUIDE TO PREPARING YOUR COMPANY FOR CONSTANT CHANGE:
POC: April Rinne
While finding “the right time” to prepare for change can be difficult, there are myriad ways to get started. A recent article by the Harvard Business Review, “A Futurist’s Guide to Preparing Your Company for Constant Change” looks back at 2020 and 2021 as wake up calls for how quickly things can change. It is important to consider past experiences as warning for what’s ahead – not necessarily a pandemic but more disruptions.
SOIF CASE STUDY - GOVERNMENT OFFICE FOR SCIENCE:
POC: Ruth Beveridge
The School of International Futures (SOIF) recently published its Government Office for the Science case study report. The report discusses building effective foresight governance systems, and contains a blog summarizing the work. The report explores how governments in eight countries use foresight and futures techniques – with examples from FFCOI, VA, USCG, GAO, and more.
FUTURE OF GOVERNMENT IN 2030:
POC: Maria Bothwell
ViWhat will the Future of Government in 2030 look like 24 futurists were interviewed about how the world might look in 2030. To get a sense of what the coming decade might mean for state and local governments, they asked futurists, including thought leaders, public officials, academics, and tech experts for their ideas on the trends that will have the greatest impact on the public sector over the next 10 years. Their responses, condensed and in this article, provide a glimpse into what may happen in the years ahead.
ARTICLE - THE FUTURE OF WORK POST-PANDEMIC: WE'RE NOT GOING BACK:
POC: John Kamensky
It is estimated that many private sector companies jumped three to four years ahead into the future workplace in the space of a few weeks due to the pandemic. Government areas also adapted to the new normal by transitioning services online that had been traditionally reluctant to redesign. While many kinks need to be worked out, government will have to adapt to many challenges, and look ahead to a new normal.
COVID SCENARIOS - MILLENNIUM PROJECT:
POC: Jerome Glenn
The Millennium Project and the American Red Cross present scenarios integrating medical, health, socio-economic, and psychological factors of the possible future courses of the COVID pandemic.