The Observatory
of Futures

The discussions we had were very much structured by the foresight methodology. Workshops were organised to frame the project and to compare our ideas with those of the other participants in order to bring out new ideas. Between each workshop, the teaching researchers carried out research work, which was presented to us in order to provide the information needed to build the scenarios.  I take all this thinking back with me into the company, and we hold internal workshops to prioritise the actions to be implemented; this provides tools for reflection and topics to work on with my managers regarding preparing for the future and transforming businesses. 

The foresight approach proposed by the Observatory of Futures makes it possible to put a large number of elements on the table, which are then handled rationally in order to arrive at credible and workable scenarios. The small-group workshops were an opportunity to identify different hypotheses and to cross-check them against academic work. When tackling subjects as important and as complex as these, it is greatly appreciated to have the support of experts and to apply an academic research method.  The experience allowed me to acquire methodological insights, but also to discover relevant academic work that I will be able to draw on to steer the digitalisation of skills internally.