Defra has commissioned SAMI Consulting to undertake horizon scanning, using the Futurescaper platform, for a three year period starting in December 2014.
SAMI Consulting is delivering foresight and insight to help Defra and its Network partners identify potential threats, risks and opportunities – and to act on the findings – in order to achieve strategy, policy and operational goals; and support futures capacity within the Defra Network, helping develop the skills and knowledge required to use horizon scanning and futures techniques and to use the outputs to enhance strategy, policy and delivery.
Futurescaper is providing its enterprise collaboration and foresight platform to enhance the SAMI Consulting and Defra analytical teams’ scanning, analysis, and reporting workflows. The analytical teams are using Futurescaper to enter and store horizon scanning data; analyse, find linkages in, and make sense of scanning data; and facilitate outreach within the Defra Network through crowdsourcing, using Futurescaper Crowd surveys.
Konrad Bishop, Defra head of Horizon Scanning, said: “We are pleased to commission SAMI Consulting, working with Futurescaper, to carry out horizon scanning for Defra and its close partners. The Futurescaper platform stores our horizon scanning data and provides a powerful analytical tool to help us anticipate and interpret future uncertainties and identify wild cards and weak signals to enhance strategy, policy and delivery.”
John Reynolds, Director SAMI Consulting, said: “For this exciting and challenging project with the Defra Partnership, we chose to work with Futurescaper on the scanning database and analysis tools because of its excellent infographics, solid analytical structure, and not least their responsiveness and flexibility”.
Giorgos Georgopoulos, Futurescaper Managing Director, said: “We are excited to provide Futurescaper’s software to SAMI Consulting and Defra for such a long-term and wide-reaching project, which consolidates our offering for public sector foresight tools. In developing Futurescaper, we have been listening to what world-leading foresight experts really need, and are very pleased to see the SAMI Consulting and Defra teams benefiting from this effort”.
Defra is the UK government department responsible for policy and regulations on environmental, food and rural issues. Defra is a ministerial department, supported by 35 agencies and public bodies. For more information, please contact: defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk
SAMI Consulting provides consultancy, research and training to help organisations plan strategy and policy with an eye on the future. For more information, please contact: info@samiconsulting.co.uk
Futurescaper creates online tools for strategic conversations, foresight analysis, and stakeholder engagement. Futurescaper’s cloud-based collective intelligence platform helps organisations crowdsource insights faster, cheaper, and more effectively. For more information, please contact: info@futurescaper.com