by Mayuree Vathanakuljarus
Abstract
Increasingly, more people and institutes, both national and international, are interested to learn more about technology foresight. This article uses the terms “Technology Foresight” and “Foresight” interchangeably to represent all types of foresight process designed to cover any project topics and scales. Moreover, we recognize foresight as a different type of activity with different emphasis on the importance of technology. To elucidate the above statements, multi-economy foresight projects are likely to be concerned with the interactions among physical science, social science, technology, economics, environment, and politics as noted in the adopted foresight definition (3rd paragraph on the Introduction).
Technology foresight explores how and why certain technologies should be developed to serve the needs of our future societies, starting from a vision to a reality. It could be claimed that the APEC Center for Technology Foresight (APEC CTF) was the first multi-economy foresight organization. This article covers experience derived from APEC CTF’s activities and foresight practices, which is hoped to be a contribution to the global community.