RRI Tools

Danish Board of Technology  (DBT)

Doing Foresight is a web-based support instrument for future-oriented policy analysis activities and projects. It is designed to contribute and provide feedback to foresight projects before, during and after implementation. It also helps foresight practitioners couple initial problem analysis with choice of methodology and helps them examine their performance compared to their goals.

As an evaluation tool, Doing Foresight aims at creating a common evaluation scheme for self-evaluation, promoting self-reflection and open-mindedness among project managers. It also aims at developing an evaluation scheme that can contribute to European cooperation and an exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of foresight.

Doing Foresight is based on an impact typology, consisting of roles that can be performed when executing a foresight project. Though the web-based program is recommended as the most up-to-date version of the tool, the evaluation program can be downloaded and installed as an independent piece of software.

The web-based tool is very closed: online users must register, sharing potentially sensitive information before learning more about the tool. It would be advisable to have a better entry point, where more information on the aim and value of the tool is available without registering. Some aspects of the tool are straightforward, but others are not. For example, clicking on ‘Reset’ can either save or clear one’s choices, and it is not always obvious which will occur. This could result in user frustration as it takes some time to use the tool online.