1' Why foresight

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1. Why foresight

• Foresight leads to insight in new innovation
  areas, with potential for innovation based
  economic growth.
• therefore is foresight part of the general
  innovation process and policy    
• Important wide scope and initiative and active
  participation of industry from the start.
• Netherlands good examples of positive results of
  foresight and follow up.

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2. How did we do it?

• a. Start in 1998 with technology radar
• identification of technology
• fields with strategic importance,
• e.g. catalysis and genomics
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• b. Firm organisation of foresight from
• 2001 (formation DG for innovation)

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studies of BoozAllen indicated priority areas
for Innovation policy in the Netherlands
some already in progress (e.g. ICT, renewable
energy, biotech), some new areas (separation
technology, robotics, microsystemstechnology).
- projectgroups formed for study of new
innovation areas. - development of criteria for
a systematic approach of promising areas.  
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• Key feature are 4 questions to be answered 
• importance for sustainable economic growth 
• bottlenecks to be overcome
• solutions for the bottlenecks
• role of government in these solutions.

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3. Further development of the foresight system in
2003/2004

• growing importance of early initiatives
  (bottom up) of the industry
• development of database for insight in promising
  areas use of that shifted from
  selection-instrument to tool for innovation
  studies/programmes usefull if it is based on
  broad information
• Innovation platform (established in 2003) carried
  out study for key areas for innovation in
  the Netherlands (food, high tech, water, creative
  industries and runners up) 
• government policy presented in white paper on
  industry 

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4. Conclusions

• foresight is not forecasting no prediction of
  the future, but insight in processes and options
  and organisation of our own policy-process
  foresight leads to focus in an organised and
  participative way
• essential is cooperation between industry,
  knowledge infrastructure and government lead by
  industry government must not select, but
  emphasis on invitation and facilitation and
  providing the right framework conditions  
• important role of government is taking
  initiatives in early stages industry must take
  over the initiative

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• worldwide insight in options necessary therefore
  cooperation between countries and within EU
  important (with ETP's, other pogrammes)
• not only technologies also non tech innovations
  (e.g. creative industries, social innovation) and
  innovation as a response to issues (environment,
  health ) 
• crossing points between products (sectors) and
  (new applications of)  innovations and between
  technologies are promising
• systematic approach clear definition of
  objectives, of criteria, firm planning and policy
  mix for potential succesfull areas

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• systematic approach turned out to be successfull
  programmes for catalysis, separation technoloy,
  genomics, production automation etc are now
  running with broad participation and initiatives
  from industry. 
• application center production technology started
  last week important for innovation in sme's.
•