Foresight Methods for Strategic Intelligence
United States military and intelligence organizations have recently issued several Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant solicitations that signal the need for futurist methodology and systems that accomplish the following objectives:
Develop contextual awareness and weak-signal detection to assist decision makers with the correlation of a variety of socio-cultural, environmental, and geospatial data.
Forecast likely future outcome possibilities.
Develop a combination of human and computer processing techniques and visual representations that enhance a person’s cognitive ability to fuse and assimilate multiple sources and types of information for new insights.
Participants will experience an interactive presentation with experiential exercises supported by graphic visualization software that addresses these futurist intelligence objectives of “connecting the dots.” They will apply these techniques to a real-world intelligence case study using tools and techniques from the Institute for Innovation’s Strategic Foresight methodology, including a live demonstration of their recently developed mobile application called TrendSearch.
Participants will leave this session with and understanding of:
- The needs of today’s leaders for practical, skill-specific training to meet the growing demand for effective contingency planning that mitigate military and security risks.
- How to develop practical skills, learn replicable systems, and experience state-of-the-art technology for developing more effective strategic foresight methodology that can also be applied to business intelligence for profit and economic growth.
Howard Rasheed is the managing director of Institute for Innovation, which specializes in strategic foresight and innovation consulting. He is the inventor of the Idea Accelerator Software. He is an associate professor of management at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and author of Innovation Renaissance: 7 Strategies for Winning the Future, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Richard Pfohl is president, Navigos--The Global Institute for Leadership Development, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
