Futures Group

A quick update on the Innovation Conference in Helsinki. Day 1 was an Innovation Framework 101 session where many countries shared their experiences on research councils, incentives, org charts etc. Day 2 (where I presented) was about turning knowledge into strategy.

TEM (Finn Ministry of Employment & The Economy) and TEKES (Finn Funding Agency for Technology & Innovation) opened the conference with an update of key innovation issues in Europe. In Finland, one new focus was on demand-pull innovation. Then Brazil, USA, and the European Commission shared their views on innovation policy and research.

Next was a panel session about evaluating national innovation systems – Finnish, Flemish and Austrian. The panel was interesting, in particular the on-going project by the ETLA (Research Institute of Finnish Economy). It worked with a team of foreign and local experts to review the Finnish National Innovation System.

An unintended message that came across was how to innovate for the growing mass of 4bil consumers out there. Four speakers (incl myself) alluded to the idea of No-Frills or BOP innovation. Innovation policies have thus far been looking at high-end consumers. Is it time to think about the other half of the world, and innovating for them – for their needs or to help move them out of poverty?

The presentation on FG’s work was well-received by the audience, especially the video Rise of the Rest

PheiSunn just sent this around from her Finland trip, a set of scenarios of the world post-crisis from the Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA. Interesting overlaps with what we’ve also designed for the future of global demand post crisis.

From McKinsey, an analysis on the impact of US savings and the fall in world consumption. Clincher takeaway is each percentage point increase in savings leads to a fall of US$100bil in spending, making recovery much more difficult. The entire article is here.

Following the European Futurist Conference, I had meetings in Helsinki which were helpfully arranged by Leena Imola, a partner at Fountain Park. She had an on-going project with us in Singapore and helped to set up various meetings within the Finn futuring community – public administration and academics. It was unfortunate that we did not manage to secure meetings with the private companies – many were too coy and humble about their futuring/ foresights efforts. I met with SITRA, TEKES, TEM (Finnish Ministry of Employment and Economy (equivalent of my unit)), Finland Futures Research Centre, and a senior advisor to the Parliamentary Committee for the Future, and some research work done by Fountain Park.

In essence, Finland has a well-entrenched and structure futuring model. It was started by a few champions, who introduced the concept to the government, which was later endorsed into a permanent structure within the Finn Parliamentary system. Their public administration has many trained and qualified futurists, examining and churning out reports on various aspects of society, as directed by the government. Finland also has a growing community of private sector futuring companies/ consultants, and company-based activities supported by various industry associations. The academia and volumes of research work bridges the two sectors, and there is a thriving network of foresights practitioners interacting with one another.

Much of the Finn foresights work focuses on innovation, science and technology. As Leena observed, the Finns’ output was largely positive, highlighting opportunities, unlike say UK, which focuses more on risk assessments. Singapore was in some ways similar, looking ahead to the future in search of new opportunities rather than focusing on threats. However, the Finns’ futuring perspective was typically more inward-looking (tackling societal issues, integration of S&T with culture, youth values etc), rather than casting a global view.