Foresight - between science and fiction

3rd annual iFQ conference 2008 on 11./12. December
at "caesar" – center of advanced european studies and research, Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2, 53175 Bonn, Germany

Global warming, questions of national security, genetic engineering, medical innovations and efficient use of energy resources are today only the most apparent examples of how research systems around the world face the challenge of growing public and political concerns.
A maelstrom of instruments have been established to deal with such uncertainties in the future: Science and Technology Roadmapping, Technology Foresight, Technology Assessment and related measures are generally concerned with helping a research system identify possible future trends and developments in the national and international social context.
With the conference we would like to address this diversity of foresight activities by concentrating on the multitude of players and areas of application involved. Attention will focus on the question of how the complex set of relationships between players in the innovation process is interconnected and eventually yield innovation.
In the first part, we will discuss the process of innovation by borrowing from science fiction: Whether or not modern societies are ever able to arrive at the technological level of Star Trek Universe innovations and futures will nevertheless often have been inspired by visions and utopia.
In the second part we would like to focus on recent trends in foresight activities. We will critically reflect on the question how science conducts foresight as a policy-guiding instrument and how at the same time it helps to explore and predict ‘white spots’ of heterogenic datasets.
The third part deals with the science taking place within governance programmes. Under the paradigm of new governance, foresight instruments help research institutions set research priorities. We would like to highlight the question of how different countries cope with the matter of directing science and where the borders lie between planning and controlling science. We will mainly focus on how national innovation systems differ in identifying promising fields of science and how foresight activities eventually translate into policy.
The two final parts of the workshop will center on theoretical dimensions and methodological aspects of foresight. Starting with a brief overview of the state of the art in theoretical and methodological approaches to innovation research and analysis, attention will also be given to the question of what lessons we can learn from studies in the past? What are the implications of different approaches and how do they affect outcomes?
Closing with a critical reflection on the prediction constructed by foresight and observed technological and social developments; we would like to contribute here by discussing how instruments of foresight should continue to be developed, how evaluations should be carried out, and how the process of innovation might best be fine tuned.

Conference languages are English and German. Translation from German into English will be provided.

Special event
We are pleased to present the exhibition Places & Spaces: Mapping Science at the time of the conference. Exhibition will be opened until December 19th 2008.
Places & Spaces: Mapping Science is meant to inspire cross-disciplinary discussion on how to best track and communicate human activity and scientific progress on a global scale. It has two components: the physical part supports the close inspection of high quality reproductions of maps for display at conferences and education centers; the online counterpart (http://scimaps.org) provides links to a selected series of maps and their makers along with detailed explanations of how these maps work. The exhibit is a 10-year effort. Each year, 10 new maps are added resulting in 100 maps total in 2014.

Important dates
11th-12th December 2008: Conference
11th-19th December 2008: Exhibition “Science Mapping”

For contributors:
31st October 2008: Deadline for abstracts, short CV
15th January 2009: Deadline for full papers (max. 20 pages)

Organising / Advisory Committee:
Kalle Hauss, Saskia Heise
Tel.: +49 (0)228/97273-16/14
Fax: +49 (0)228/97273-49