Futurist > Government foresight programs
Government Foresight Programs Around the World
Last updated: September 2026
Effective government requires foresight. Over time that recognition has led to the establishment of futures and foresight bodies in many nations around the world.
This update is a substantial expansion from our previous version, now covering 79 bodies across 52 countries, demonstrating the growth of foresight as an established and critically important discipline.
Five models of government foresight
Governments place foresight capability in one of five ways. The distinguishing factor between them is the proximity of the body to those making decisions, and the degree of permanence of the institution.
| Model | Where it is placed | Strengths | Limits | On this page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit in the executive | Presidency, prime minister’s office, cabinet office or planning ministry | Reaches the ministers and officials deciding now | Closed by administrative decision, without legislation | 39 bodies in 36 countries. 18 created since 2020 |
| Parliamentary body | The legislature | Examines the executive’s long-term choices independently of it | Recommends only; the executive decides | 6 bodies, all created between 1987 and 2018 |
| Commissioner for future generations | A statutory commissioner, guardian or ombudsman | Speaks publicly for interests that have no voters behind them | Advises only; departments decide | 5 offices, all created between 1986 and 2016 |
| Funded institute | Outside the core executive, with its own governance and money | Continues across changes of government, in some cases for decades | Outside the decision itself | 16 bodies. 6 predate 2000 |
| Intergovernmental body | Across governments | Supplies method, standards and training to national units | No authority over any government | 13 bodies |
Foresight units inside government
Thirty-nine of the bodies here are teams inside the executive, in 36 countries. Twenty-one report into a presidency, prime minister’s office, chancellery or cabinet. The other eighteen are inside a line ministry or agency, among them treasuries, defense departments and planning ministries. Eighteen of the thirty-nine were created since 2020.
| Body | Country | Est. | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intergenerational Report function Australian Treasury |
Australia | 1998 | Periodic (roughly every 3-5 years) statutory 40-year projection of the Australian economy and Commonwealth budget, examining the impact of population aging, technological change, climate/net-zero transition, care demand and geopolitical risk on long-term fiscal sustainability. |
| Long-term Insights Briefings (LTIB) program Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, coordinating across Australian Public Service agencies |
Australia | 2023 | Independent, non-partisan briefings on medium/long-term policy trends and options, intended to build long-term-thinking capacity in the APS separate from day-to-day government policy. |
| Policy Projects and Taskforce Office (PPTO) Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) |
Australia | 2008 | PM&C’s in-house strategic-policy project unit. Since roughly 2022 it has led the whole-of-APS ‘Futures’ (strategic foresight) capability program: authored the Australian Government Futures Primer, ran horizon-scanning and scenario-planning exercises with senior APS leaders, and continues to run ‘Policy Fit for the Future’ capability-building work, partly funded through the APS Capability Reinvestment Fund and delivered with the ANU National Security College Futures Hub. |
| Strategic Science and Technology Outlook (S+T Outlook), Defence Science and Technology Group Department of Defence |
Australia | 2018 | Technology foresight for Defence: horizon scanning of emerging science and technology over 5-20 year (and out to 2045) horizons, assessing threats/opportunities/impacts to inform Defence capability and strategic decisions. Described internally as one of the most comprehensive ongoing government futures functions in Australia (cited approvingly in PM&C’s own Futures Primer). |
| Shaping Futures (Strategic Foresight and Data Insights), The Cabinet Office NSW The Cabinet Office, NSW Government (Energy, Environment and Evidence Policy group) |
Australia (New South Wales) | 2020 | NSW’s dedicated, whole-of-government foresight team. Builds and runs the NSW Trend Atlas (a self-service horizon-scanning/trend-monitoring digital platform used across NSW agencies, designated a NSW ‘State Digital Asset’), delivers scenario-planning work (e.g. NSW2060), and builds foresight capability across the NSW public sector. |
| Queensland Government Digital Futures and Foresight team Queensland Government (Customer and Digital Group) |
Australia (Queensland) | 2024 | Builds strategic foresight capability specifically for digital and ICT policy; publishes regular ‘Insights Weekly’ and ‘Signals’ horizon-scanning products for Queensland Government staff to inform digital policy development. |
| Digital Innovation and Future Foresight Committee Government of Bahrain (specific ministerial home not confirmed in sources reviewed) |
Bahrain | n/a | Organizes national/regional digital-innovation and future-foresight programming; convened Bahrain’s first ‘Roots: Artificial Intelligence and the Next Generation’ summit, intended as an annual platform for Arab dialogue on AI and digital transformation, including recognition of outstanding AI initiatives across government, private, academic and research sectors. |
| National Planning Commission (NPC) Office of the President of Botswana |
Botswana | 2022 | Coordinates national strategy development, planning, implementation and monitoring toward Botswana’s Vision 2036 and the National Transformation Strategy; a July 2025 continental (APRM) assessment specifically found that in Botswana ‘foresight remains a novel concept’. |
| National Planning Secretariat, Ministry of Planning and Budget Ministério do Planejamento e Orçamento |
Brazil | 2023 | Leads Brazil’s long-term national planning, including the participatory long-range ‘Estratégia Brasil 2050’ (megatrends, scenarios, national vision to 2050) and the medium-term Plano Plurianual (PPA); for 2026 it is standing up a National Observatory to monitor implementation. |
| Policy Horizons Canada Government of Canada federal public service (reports across departments; historically housed administratively under Employment and Social Development Canada / Privy Council Office coordination) |
Canada | 1996 | Government of Canada’s center of excellence in strategic foresight; produces foresight reports (e.g. on AI, social mobility, biodigital convergence) intended to help federal departments develop more future-oriented, resilient policy over 10-15 year horizons. |
| Deputy Directorate-General for Foresight and National Development Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP) |
Colombia | n/a | Per DNP’s own description, this unit coordinates the formulation of sectoral policies, plans and programs and provides technical assistance across the public-policy cycle, i.e. it is DNP’s general sectoral-planning arm that was relabeled with ‘Prospectiva’ in its name, not a unit whose core function is foresight methodology. |
| Unit for Prospective Analysis and Public Policy Ministerio de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica (MIDEPLAN) |
Costa Rica | n/a | Builds Costa Rica’s long-term national vision using Strategic Prospective Planning methodology (scenarios, horizon >10 years); serves as Costa Rica’s node for the Millennium Project and the Red Iberoamericana de Prospectiva, and formally requires (per 2024 lineamientos) that institutional strategic plans incorporate prospectiva with a horizon of at least 10 years. |
| National Bureau for Foresight and Strategic Monitoring (BNPVS) Cabinet of the Ministère du Plan et du Développement (rank of Direction Générale) |
Côte d’Ivoire | 2012 | Conducts Côte d’Ivoire’s National Prospective Studies (Études Nationales Prospectives, a tradition dating to 1973) and operates the country’s institutional strategic-monitoring mechanism (Mécanisme Institutionnel de Veille Stratégique); produced ‘Côte d’Ivoire 2040’ (adopted 2015) and continues to run territorial-foresight capacity-building for regional planners and sectoral early-warning indicators. |
| Future Studies Department, Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) Egyptian Cabinet (Council of Ministers) |
Egypt | 1985 | IDSC’s think-tank foresight arm for the Egyptian Cabinet: strategic foresight, future studies and long-term policy thinking, including scenario planning on topics such as AI, future cities, governance, labor markets and food systems; produces a large volume of foresight publication series (reports, guides, bulletins, videos). |
| EU Policy Lab European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit JRC.S.1 ‘Foresight, Design & Behavioural Insights’ |
European Union | 2014 | Cross-disciplinary unit within the JRC combining strategic foresight, design for policy, and behavioral insights to help European Commission services develop forward-looking, evidence-based policy (e.g. the EU Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness, Future-Oriented Policymaking capacity-building for member states). |
| Government Foresight Group Prime Minister’s Office of Finland (Government Strategy Department) |
Finland | 2015 | Coordinates the ministries’ joint foresight work, disseminates foresight information within government, and supports preparation of the biennial Government Report on the Future submitted to Parliament. |
| Special Secretariat of Foresight (also styled ‘Special Secretariat for Strategic Foresight’ / ‘Ειδική Γραμματεία Μακροπρόθεσμου Σχεδιασμού’) Presidency of the Government of the Hellenic Republic |
Greece | 2022 | Coordinates foresight across Greek ministries, producing studies (e.g. on AI, innovation) and supporting long-term national planning; recently began exporting its model internationally via a memorandum with Cyprus. |
| Secretariat for Planning and Programming of the Presidency Presidencia de la República de Guatemala |
Guatemala | 2025 | SEGEPLAN is Guatemala’s core national-development-planning body (Prioridades Nacionales de Desarrollo, K’atun Nuestra Guatemala 2032). Since its 2025 planning guidelines, it now explicitly requires ‘planificación prospectiva’ with sector plans of at least 10 years, and its Dirección de Planificación Sectorial ran a December 2025 event promoting prospective/futures thinking across government planners. |
| NITI Frontier Tech Hub NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) |
India | 2024 | Anticipates ‘mega technology shifts’ (AI, quantum, biotechnology) and India’s readiness to exploit them for inclusive growth, supply-chain resilience and national security under the ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’ program; convenes government/industry/academic experts and produces a quarterly ‘Future Front’ insights series and a ‘Frontier Tech Repository’. |
| Department of Future, Government of Haryana Government of Haryana |
India (Haryana) | 2025 | Described by the state as Haryana’s strategic think-tank: analyzing global trends, forecasting risks and formulating policies focused on climate-change preparedness, AI/automation, robotics and economic resilience, coordinating with other departments to integrate future-oriented thinking into governance. |
| Ministry of National Development Planning / National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), foresight-based long-term planning function Government of Indonesia (cabinet-level ministry) |
Indonesia | 1963 | Indonesia’s central development-planning ministry, responsible for the 20-year National Long-Term Development Plan (RPJPN 2025-2045) underpinning ‘Visi Indonesia Emas 2045’. Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs explicitly described the ministry’s approach as using ‘foresight methods… not projection… we shape Indonesia’s future ourselves’ rather than forecasting. |
| National Council for Future Technology (NCFT) Government of Jordan, under the supervision of Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II |
Jordan | 2025 | Chaired by the Prime Minister and supervised by the Crown Prince, tasked with strengthening Jordan’s standing as a technologically advanced nation via a roadmap with measurable performance indicators, covering AI, digital economy, and human-capital development in tech sectors; convened Jordan’s first ‘FutrForum’ with the World Economic Forum, which ran dedicated foresight workshops. |
| Government Strategic Analysis Center (STRATA) Government of Lithuania |
Lithuania | n/a | Independent, research-based policy analysis for government and ministries; key institutional counterpart for building strategic foresight and anticipatory-governance capacity (e.g. under the EU-funded LIMinal project) and for the LT2050 national foresight/development strategy. |
| Long-term Fiscal Statement function (He Tirohanga Mokopuna) The Treasury (Te Tai Ōhanga) |
New Zealand | 2004 | Statutory 40-year outlook on New Zealand’s fiscal position, produced at least every 4 years, examining sustainability given population aging, climate change, health costs and other long-term structural trends. |
| Anticipatory Governance and Foresight Capacity (AGFC) Programme, Office for Strategic Preparedness and Resilience (OSPRE) Office of the Vice President of Nigeria |
Nigeria | 2025 | Institutionalizes long-term/anticipatory-governance thinking across Nigerian government via three pillars (stakeholder engagement, capacity development, and institutionalizing long-term thinking through a Community of Practice); has run foresight capacity-building (a Futures Literacy Laboratory) and sector-specific horizon-scanning workshops, including with UNICEF on child-focused foresight to 2050. |
| National Foresight Office (also reported as National Office for Future Foresight) Ministry of Economy, Oman (with the Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit involved in its establishment) |
Oman | 2024 | Monitors global/regional trends and develops adaptive national and sector-specific future scenarios and strategic alternatives to strengthen Oman’s sustainable-development framework; runs foresight studies, national capacity-building in foresight methods, and reference materials to standardize foresight activity across government entities. |
| National Center for Strategic Planning Presidencia del Consejo de Ministros (Prime Minister’s Office) |
Peru | 2008 | Constitutionally-grounded specialized technical body that acts as the governing/rector body of Peru’s National Strategic Planning System (SINAPLAN); runs the Observatorio Nacional de Prospectiva, produces long-range scenario and trend analysis (T21-CEPLAN model), and stewards the Plan Estratégico de Desarrollo Nacional (PEDN) al 2050 and the Visión del Perú al 2050. |
| Centre for Public Policy Planning and Evaluation, supporting the Public Administration Planning and Foresight Services Network Presidência do Conselho de Ministros (Prime Minister’s Office), Government of Portugal |
Portugal | 2022 | Coordinates prospective/foresight work across the Portuguese public administration; publishes megatrend and long-term scenario studies (horizon 2050) and planning-instrument taxonomies/glossaries to support strategic decision-making. |
| Bureau of Economic Intelligence and Foresight (BIPE) Primature (Prime Minister’s Office) |
Senegal | 2025 | Analyzes national and international economic trends, builds prospective scenarios to anticipate market and sector developments, supports economic-reform recommendations, and monitors public-policy performance, explicitly framed as a strategic anticipation/planning tool under the Prime Minister’s authority. |
| Centre for Strategic Futures (CSF) Strategy Group, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore |
Singapore | 2009 | Futures think tank within the Singapore government that develops insight into trends and discontinuities with strategic impact on Singapore, builds foresight capability across the public service, and facilitates the Strategic Futures Network. |
| Republic of Korea 2045 Strategy Establishment Committee (formerly announced as the National Future Strategy Committee) Prime Minister’s Office, Government of the Republic of Korea |
South Korea | 2025 | Tasked with producing the Republic of Korea’s first national mid-to-long-term development strategy since the 2006 ‘Vision 2030’, targeting 2045 (the centenary of national liberation). Chaired by the Prime Minister, with the Minister of Planning and Budget as government vice-chair and the President’s special policy advisor as civilian vice-chair; addresses AI transformation, polarization, regional decline, demographic shift and climate/security risk, and is meant to become the ‘highest-level policy guideline’ shaping ministry planning. |
| National Office of Foresight and Strategy Office of the Prime Minister (Gabinete de la Presidencia del Gobierno), Government of Spain |
Spain | 2020 | Long-term foresight studies to inform government strategy, including the España 2050 long-term national strategy and thematic studies applying foresight to specific technologies/challenges. |
| Federal Chancellery Situation and Environment Analysis / ‘Perspektiven Schweiz 2040’ Bundeskanzlei (Federal Chancellery), reporting to the Federal Council (Bundesrat) |
Switzerland | n/a | Transversal, cross-sectoral strategic foresight complementing sectoral long-term planning instruments across the federal administration; produced a three-scenario space to 2040 as a basis for the Federal Council’s 2027-2031 legislature planning. |
| Foresight and Systems Research, Office of National Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO) Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), Government of Thailand |
Thailand | 2019 | Statutory government office serving as secretariat to Thailand’s national STI Policy Council; runs strategic foresight (horizon scanning, scenario building) and systems research to set agendas and priorities for higher education, science, research and innovation policy; hosts the APEC Center for Technology Foresight (APEC CTF). |
| Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future UAE federal government (Cabinet) |
United Arab Emirates | 2006 | Runs the UAE Future Foresight Strategy: builds government capacity for long-term planning and scenario work, publishes future-of-sector studies, coordinates federal foresight efforts, and runs foresight training (including with the University of Oxford) plus supports the World Government Summit and Global Future Councils. |
| Government Office for Science (GO-Science) UK Cabinet Office / reports to the Prime Minister and Cabinet via the Government Chief Scientific Adviser |
United Kingdom | 1993 | Provides scientific advice to the Prime Minister and Cabinet; its Technology Insights, Futures and Foresight (TIFF) team runs the Foresight Programme, embedding strategic long-term thinking, horizon scanning, and futures capability across UK government departments. |
| Scottish Government Foresight Programme / Horizon Scanning (Strategy Division) Strategy Division, Scottish Government |
United Kingdom (Scotland) | 2023 | Regular horizon-scanning to anticipate long-term (10-20 year) trends, risks and opportunities for Scotland, to embed foresight into strategic government decision-making. |
| National Intelligence Council (NIC) Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) |
United States | 1979 | Produces the US Intelligence Community’s medium- and long-term strategic analysis, most notably the quadrennial ‘Global Trends’ report used to inform incoming administrations’ national security strategy; also produces National Intelligence Estimates. |
| Agency for Strategic Development and Reforms under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Office of the President of Uzbekistan |
Uzbekistan | 2021 | The authorized state body regulating Uzbekistan’s newly unified national strategic-planning-and-development system (established Nov 2025), coordinating strategy/concept/program documents across ministries, agencies and regional administrations under a ‘goal-action-result’ framework, with new project offices on industrial, regional and international-cooperation development. |
Parliamentary futures bodies
Six legislatures run their own foresight capacity, separate from the executive they scrutinize. Three have a standing research institute: Estonia’s Foresight Centre, South Korea’s National Assembly Futures Institute and the US Government Accountability Office’s Center for Strategic Foresight. The other three are bodies of parliamentarians themselves, the European Parliament’s STOA panel, Finland’s 17-member Committee for the Future and the French Senate’s foresight delegation. They span 1987 to 2018.
| Body | Country | Est. | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foresight Centre Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) |
Estonia | 2015 | Parliamentary think tank analyzing socio-economic trends and building long-term future scenarios to inform legislative policymaking; also convenes the Riigikogu’s Competitiveness Expert Council. |
| Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) European Parliament, Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, DG EPRS (European Parliamentary Research Service), under the STOA Panel of MEPs |
European Union | 1987 | Conducts foresight and science/technology options-assessment studies for Members of the European Parliament, covering topics such as water scarcity, fusion energy, and research-program design, to inform EU legislative and policy work. |
| Committee for the Future Parliament of Finland (Eduskunta) |
Finland | 1993 | Standing parliamentary committee (17 MPs) acting as Parliament’s think tank on futures, science and technology policy; prepares Parliament’s response to the Government’s Report on the Future and examines long-term societal and technological issues. |
| Delegation senatoriale a la prospective French Senate (Senat) |
France | 2009 | Senate body that conducts foresight studies (horizon 2050) on themes such as social values, democracy, and AI in territories, to inform Senate deliberation and public debate; distinct from OPECST (the joint parliamentary office for scientific/technological options). |
| National Assembly Futures Institute (NAFI) National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (established by the National Assembly Futures Institute Act) |
South Korea | 2018 | Legislative-branch research institute mandated to forecast changes in the future environment, derive mid-to-long-term national development strategies, and strengthen the National Assembly’s policy capacity, via divisions covering population studies, future industries, foreign policy/security strategy and planning research. |
| Center for Strategic Foresight (CSF), U.S. Government Accountability Office U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Office of Strategic Planning and External Liaison (SPEL), a legislative-branch agency serving Congress |
United States | 2018 | GAO’s hub for identifying, monitoring and analyzing emerging issues and trends (5-15 year horizon) to inform Congress; runs a non-resident Fellows program, produces periodic ‘Trends Affecting Government and Society’ and ‘On the Horizon’ science-and-technology-trends reports. |
Commissioners and guardians for future generations
Five offices exist to represent people who cannot yet vote, from New Zealand’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, created in 1986, to the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales in 2016. Most are created in statute and most can advise rather than direct. Hungary’s is the exception: its ombudsman for future generations has a constitutional basis in Article 30(3) of the Fundamental Law. The office cannot petition the Constitutional Court itself, but it can propose that the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights do so. In 2020 the Court struck down provisions of Hungary’s forest and nature conservation laws on a petition prepared on that basis. Wales has the best known statute, the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015. The Senedd’s ten-year post-legislative scrutiny in 2026 found repeated criticism of the Act’s lack of teeth, and recommended amending it so the Commissioner can initiate legal challenges against public bodies.
| Body | Country | Est. | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Office of the Auditor General of Canada |
Canada | 1995 | Audits federal departments’ progress against sustainable development strategies and environmental/climate commitments on behalf of the Auditor General; not a dedicated future-generations body but the closest formal Canadian analog. |
| Ombudsman for Future Generations (Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental Rights responsible for future generations) Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights (AJBH) |
Hungary | 2008 | Monitor enforcement of future generations’ interests; examine and comment on legislation for severe/irreversible environmental threat; promote sustainable development strategy implementation. |
| Guardian of Future Generations Established under Article 8, Sustainable Development Act, Cap. 521; office under the Ministry for the Environment |
Malta | 2012 | Advocate sustainable development across national policymaking and law; make proposals for how Maltese society can become more sustainable; encourage NGO contribution to policy. |
| Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (Te Kaitiaki Taiao a Te Whare Pāremata) Officer of Parliament, reports to Parliament (Environment Act 1986, s.23) |
New Zealand | 1986 | Independent environmental advice and investigations for Parliament; a general environmental watchdog, not a purpose-built future-generations body (NIFG lists it as an ‘inactive member’ of the future-generations network specifically). |
| Future Generations Commissioner for Wales Independent statutory office established under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, accountable to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) |
United Kingdom (Wales) | 2016 | Statutory duty to act as guardian of future generations’ interests; supports public bodies to apply long-term/foresight thinking to well-being planning; a core member of the Hwb Dyfodol foresight-capacity network alongside Welsh Government. |
Government-funded foresight institutes
Sixteen publicly funded bodies work outside the core executive, each with its own governance and, in the strongest cases, its own money. Six are hosted inside a science or technology organization: CSIRO Futures in Australia, NISTEP in Japan, KISTEP in South Korea, myForesight in Malaysia, the National Academy of Sciences in Kazakhstan and the science and innovation council in Chile. Four report directly to a head of state or government, in Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and China. This group holds the oldest bodies on the page, among them Finland’s Sitra from 1967 and the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy from 1972.
| Body | Country | Est. | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSIRO Futures CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australian Federal Government |
Australia | 2014 | Strategic and economic advisory arm of CSIRO; produces roadmaps, technology scans, and scenario/foresight-informed reports (e.g. energy transition, carbon removal) for government and industry clients. The unit’s public framing has shifted noticeably toward paid strategic/economic consulting for ASX-listed firms and government, alongside its foresight and megatrends work. |
| National Council for Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation (successor to the National Innovation Council for Development, CNID) Autonomous advisory council to the Presidency, established under Ley 21.105 (national CTCI institutional framework) |
Chile | 2005 | Conducts long-term prospective analysis of global and national development trends, and drafts/periodically updates Chile’s Estrategia Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología, Conocimiento e Innovación, explicitly built around an ‘Anticipación estratégica’ axis (Iniciativa 1.1: national capacities for strategic foresight and futures thinking). |
| Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) State Council of the People’s Republic of China |
China | 1981 | Comprehensive policy research and consulting institution directly under the State Council covering macroeconomic policy, development strategy and regional economic policy, industrial policy, rural economy, technical economy and foreign economic relations. Produces long-range national and global development analysis (China Development Report, Global Development Report) rather than classic scenario/horizon-scanning foresight products. |
| African Futures and Innovation (AFI) programme, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Institute for Security Studies (ISS), an independent, donor-funded Pan-African think tank, NOT a government body |
Continental (Pan-African, headquartered South Africa) | 2012 | Produces long-range, sector-by-sector development forecasts for every African country and regional economic community, aligned to AU Agenda 2063’s timeframe, using the International Futures (IFs) modeling platform hosted at the University of Denver’s Pardee Center. Operates under a Memorandum of Understanding with AUDA-NEPAD (the custodian of Agenda 2063) to present its forecasts to African governments for validation and national planning use, and provides policy research/training directly to governments (e.g. co-hosting Nigeria’s AGFC webinar). |
| Sitra (Finnish Innovation Fund) Independent public fund operating under the supervision of the Finnish Parliament |
Finland | 1967 | Independent, parliament-supervised innovation fund; its Foresight and Training team produces the flagship ‘Megatrends’ review and other foresight tools used to inform Finnish decision-making. |
| EKKE Strategic Foresight Unit (Monada Prooptikis Diereunisis kai Stratigikou Schediasmou) National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation, Ministry of Development and Investments |
Greece | 2025 | New research unit at Greece’s national social-research institute conducting interdisciplinary foresight and futures-studies research (e.g. on Gen AI, society), aiming to bring futures research out of universities/research centers and into wider society; distinct from, and has previously collaborated with, the government’s Special Secretariat of Foresight. |
| National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) |
Japan | 1988 | Conducts large-scale Science & Technology Foresight studies (roughly every 5 years since 1971, administered by NISTEP since 1992), Delphi surveys, and quantitative S&T indicators to inform Japanese science and innovation policy. |
| Foresight research program, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NAS RK) National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan (state science academy) |
Kazakhstan | n/a | Systematic identification of key technological, economic and social trends shaping Kazakhstan’s future, using the Delphi method, scenario modeling and cross-industry analysis, feeding national strategic-planning processes. |
| Malaysian Foresight Institute (myForesight), housed within the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) MIGHT, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, government-linked (established with Prime Minister’s Department backing) |
Malaysia | 2011 | National-level foresight platform intended to guide Malaysian government and industry in systematically planning for the future, using horizon scanning, Delphi and scenario methods; publishes sector foresight studies and convenes national foresight events. |
| Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES) Reports to the King (royal institution) |
Morocco | 2007 | Morocco’s strategic-studies and foresight institute; produces an annual/biennial strategic report (‘Panorama du Maroc dans le monde’, series since 2015), thematic reports on Morocco’s geopolitical and developmental positioning, and prospective workshops (e.g. on oasis management, MED 2050 pathways) using an explicit ‘Comprendre, Anticiper, Proposer’ foresight methodology. |
| Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy Independent statutory advisory council, funded by and reporting to the Dutch government (formally attached to the Prime Minister’s Office) |
Netherlands | 1972 | Long-term, forward-looking policy analysis and scenario/trend advice to the Dutch government and parliament on major societal, economic and geopolitical developments. |
| National Planning Commission (NPC) Presidency of South Africa, via the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) |
South Africa | 2010 | Independent advisory body/think tank of appointed experts, custodian of South Africa’s National Development Plan: Vision 2030; explicitly mandated to ‘provide evidence-based advice on futuristic national planning and foresight scenario planning’ and to build a long-term evidence base for national development. |
| Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) Government-funded research institute under South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT |
South Korea | 1999 | Performs national technology foresight (Delphi-based Science & Technology Foresight surveys roughly every five years), technology-level evaluation, technology-impact assessment, and supports Korea’s national S&T strategy and R&D planning, via its Center for Technology Foresight. |
| Tunisian Institute of Strategic Studies (ITES) Presidency of the Republic of Tunisia (public establishment under presidential oversight) |
Tunisia | 1993 | Public research/foresight institute with a statutory mission of ‘recherche, étude, analyse et prospective à court et long termes’ on questions bearing on Tunisia’s political, economic, social and cultural development, formulating scenarios and hypotheses to anticipate developments. |
| Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) Wholly-owned Government of Dubai entity, chaired by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai (per 2025 board restructuring decree) |
United Arab Emirates | 2015 | Government foresight and innovation body tasked with envisioning Dubai/UAE’s future and helping implement future-oriented strategy; publishes the flagship annual ‘Global 50’ foresight report and runs the Dubai Future Forum, Museum of the Future, and related futures programs. |
| National Institute for Economics and Finance (NIEF), strategic foresight function Ministry of Finance |
Vietnam | 2023 | Government economic-research institute that, in partnership with UNESCAP and the UN in Vietnam, has undertaken strategic-foresight work to inform the ‘Viet Nam 2045’ national long-term development plan, aiming to institutionalize anticipatory governance and long-term thinking in Vietnamese economic planning. |
Intergovernmental foresight
Thirteen bodies build foresight capability across governments rather than inside one. Most national units learned their method through one of these networks, which makes joining one the practical first step for a country starting out.
| Body | Scope | Est. | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), Strategic Planning and Foresight Toolkit initiative African Union organ |
Continental (African Union) | 2003 | Developed a ‘Strategic Planning and Foresight Toolkit for African Governance’, in collaboration with the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (UN CEPA), to help AU member states institutionalize foresight functions within national planning bodies; assessed the state of foresight practice across 14 African countries. |
| European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) Inter-institutional network of the European Parliament, European Commission, Council General Secretariat and European External Action Service |
European Union | 2010 | Inter-institutional EU foresight network that produces the quadrennial ‘Global Trends’ report and feeds long-term strategic analysis (megatrends, scenarios) into EU institutional planning ahead of each political cycle. |
| Network of Institutions and Leaders for Future Generations (NIFG) Independent, non-formal network (not a UN body) |
International (multi-country) | 2016 | Worldwide, informal network connecting national commissioners, ombudspersons, parliamentary committees and advisory councils working on future generations, to share knowledge and best practice. |
| Future Design (‘imaginary future generations’ deliberation method) Decentralized: adopted voluntarily by individual municipal governments; academically led by Tatsuyoshi Saijo (Kyoto University of Advanced Science / formerly Kochi University of Technology) |
Japan | 2012 | Deliberative method in which citizen groups role-play ‘imaginary future generations’ in municipal policy planning (e.g. water utility pricing, town development plans), demonstrated to shift real decisions toward longer-term thinking. |
| 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat foresight work Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat |
Pacific Islands Forum member states (regional) | 2022 | A regional long-term strategy (not a standing foresight unit) intended to make the Pacific region ‘future-ready’, explicitly built on ‘comprehensive futures and foresight work’ including the Pacific Community’s ‘Pacific Pathfinder’ foresight toolkit; implemented via a 2025-2030 Secretariat Strategic Plan and instruments like the Pacific Resilience Facility. |
| Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), within the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL/ECLAC) |
Regional (Latin America and the Caribbean) | n/a | CEPAL’s standing institute for planning, foresight and public-sector-management capacity building across Latin American and Caribbean governments; publishes on ‘planificación y prospectiva’ and runs training, technical assistance and research aimed at institutionalizing foresight (‘gobernanza anticipatoria’) in the region’s public administrations. |
| UN Futures Lab Executive Office of the Secretary-General, United Nations |
United Nations | 2023 | Global Hub (staffed in New York, Geneva, Nairobi and Helsinki) that builds futures-thinking and strategic-foresight capacity across the UN system, as part of the ‘UN 2.0’ Quintet of Change (foresight, data, digital, innovation, behavioral science). |
| UN Strategic Foresight Community of Practice UN Futures Lab / Global Hub, with UNESCO support |
United Nations | 2023 | Cross-system knowledge-sharing network for UN staff practicing foresight; runs bi-weekly webinars, 40+ UN organizations engaged. |
| Competence Centre on Foresight (CCFOR) Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission; part of the EU Policy Lab |
European Union | 2018 | Provides strategic and future-oriented input to EU policymaking; develops an anticipatory culture within the Commission; leads the participative foresight process underpinning the Commission’s annual Strategic Foresight Report; three thematic focus areas: Future Risks, Technology Foresight, Sustainability Transitions. |
| Futures Literacy & Foresight (Management of Social Transformations Programme) UNESCO, Social and Human Sciences Sector |
United Nations | 2012 | Runs Futures Literacy Laboratories worldwide; coordinates a network of 35+ UNESCO Chairs in Futures Studies; organizes annual World Futures Day; launching a ‘Global Anticipatory Policy Coalition’ for governments and foresight experts. |
| Global Foresight Network (Strategic Foresight team) World Economic Forum |
Global | n/a | Community of practice across public and private sectors to accelerate the practice of foresight and ‘future-preparedness’; the Forum’s Strategic Foresight team convenes the network. |
| Strategic Foresight Analysis / Allied Command Transformation Strategic Foresight Work NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT), Strategic Foresight Branch, under the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) |
NATO | 2013 | Produces the biennial Strategic Foresight Analysis (SFA) and Future Operating Environment (FOE) studies assessing the Alliance’s evolving security environment; convenes the annual Allied Foresight Conference; builds a NATO/Allied foresight community of practice. |
| Strategic Foresight Unit and OECD Government Foresight Community (GFC) Office of the Secretary-General, OECD |
OECD | 2013 | Mainstreams foresight across OECD policy areas; supports member and partner governments’ foresight capacity via the Government Foresight Community network; publishes toolkits and country capacity assessments (e.g. the LIMinal project covering Lithuania, Italy and Malta). |
Law and funding determine which of these bodies survive
Israel’s Knesset Commission for Future Generations, created in 2001 with power to review bills and attach opinions to them, stopped work in 2006 when the commissioner’s term ended and no successor was appointed. The Knesset voted to dissolve it in December 2010. Brazil’s Special Secretariat for Strategic Affairs was wound up at the start of Lula’s third term in January 2023, with responsibility for long-term development planning moving to the Ministry of Planning and Budget. France’s CGET was folded into the new Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires on 1 January 2020. Germany moved cross-government strategic foresight out of the Chancellery into the new Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization in May 2025.
Requirements written into law outlast the offices created to meet them. New Zealand’s Long-term Insights Briefing duty, under the Public Service Act 2020, requires the chief executive of every government department to publish a briefing at least once every three years. A second round appeared through 2025. Peru’s CEPLAN is grounded in law as the governing body of the national planning system, and has continued through repeated changes of government.
The longest-running bodies are the ones funded from outside the annual budget. Six of the sixteen funded institutes predate 2000, against six of the thirty-nine executive units. Finland’s Sitra is endowed rather than appropriated, and has outlasted every Finnish government since 1967.
Nine countries hold the capability in more than one body. Australia has five, Finland and South Korea three each.
