eScanning 2.0--Environmental Scanning in the digital age | Foresight Culture. Environmental scanning is a process for monitoring an organization’s internal and external environments for clues to change that could mean new threats and opportunities. It is a different process than it was 10 or 20 years ago. The old approaches were often troublesome, narrow, weak, and too complex. They did little to foster a culture of foresight in the organization. They were usually limited to a small group of people and a periodic process—the strategic planning team and its every-few-year cycle. We are lucky now to have a broad set of tools we can use to enable, enliven, and energize scanning. With Web 2.0, we can have Environmental Scanning 2.0. I’ve put a NASCAR picture here (Image: PocketWiley, via Flickr) because it is a great example for me of reaching beyond my usual experience and interest.
So my advice in sum: go somewhere new, do something new, talk to someone new. That’s the spirit of good environmental scanning and it’s a habit you need for successful foresight. Rafaelpopper.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/popper_global-foresight-practices-and-trends-20101.pdf. Ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/pdf/appraisalof-alternative-methods_en.pdf. Technology Scouting – from insight to action | Organizational Future Orientation. Organizational future orientation is build through identifying and interpreting change in the environment and systematically taking action to build a competitive advantage. One tool which we want to discuss today is Technology Scouting. The general idea of technology scouting is simple: Use a network of experts to scan the technological environment, monitor key technologies and channel the information into the company. On the basis of the information companies might react in different ways: assessing the risk from a new and disruptive technologyplanning own research and development (R&D) activities in the new technological fieldpreparing the acquisition of the emerging technology by for example licensing, acquiring the Intellectual Property Right (IPR) or buying the company In all cases the company will have to get additional information, reach out the the source of the initial information and start interacting with the respective organization.