Skip to content
NCBNational Capability Benchmark
Navigate with ↑ ↓Enter to openEsc to close

Challenge the benchmark

Choose a score and give the benchmark a specific reason to reconsider it.

When you submit, the form attaches the current score and confidence for the country and capability you chose.

Submissions are public and start as awaiting review. A maintainer can add a response and signature after review.

All capabilities

Anticipation

How capable is the country of identifying and preparing for emerging change?

The country comparison, the indicators and the documented cases below show how much of this capability the current data can capture.

125 countries in the frame4 indicators in the registry2 indicators with data124 countries with a score

Compare every country on one scale

The table starts in alphabetical order. Sort by score, confidence, coverage, or trend. A score needs two observed indicators; a trend uses indicators observed at both ends.

Scores use one 0 to 100 scale for all countries. Each flag is a country, and the ring around it shows how strong the evidence behind that score is. Point at a flag to read the country, click it to open the profile.

  • Solid ring: usable or good evidence
  • Broken ring: thin evidence, opening further as confidence falls
  • The shaded band is the middle half of the field and the line inside it is the median.
  • Denmark: 98.1
  • Norway: 97.2
  • Switzerland: 93.4
  • Sweden: 87.3
  • Finland: 84.9
  • Australia: 83.4
  • Singapore: 82.2
  • Slovenia: 79.5
  • Portugal: 79.4
  • Canada: 77.8
  • New Zealand: 77.1
  • Netherlands: 76.1
  • Ireland: 75.3
  • Austria: 74.6
  • South Korea: 74.4
  • Italy: 74.1
  • Israel: 72.8
  • United Kingdom: 71.8
  • Germany: 71.4
  • Spain: 71.4
  • Belgium: 70.9
  • United States: 70.6
  • Estonia: 69.9
  • Croatia: 69.1
  • Greece: 68.2
  • Czechia: 67.3
  • Cyprus: 66.6
  • Poland: 63.7
  • Lithuania: 63.5
  • Latvia: 62.6
  • France: 62.2
  • Japan: 62.2
  • Hungary: 61.0
  • Slovakia: 59.1
  • Romania: 58.0
  • Bulgaria: 55.4
  • Malaysia: 54.4
  • Chile: 54.0
  • Serbia: 52.9
  • Russia: 50.1
  • Mexico: 49.9
  • Costa Rica: 49.6
  • North Macedonia: 49.0
  • United Arab Emirates: 48.3
  • Turkey: 47.9
  • Georgia: 47.4
  • Thailand: 46.2
  • Jordan: 45.2
  • Kazakhstan: 45.2
  • Moldova: 45.1
  • Brazil: 44.6
  • Armenia: 44.2
  • Colombia: 43.6
  • Uruguay: 43.4
  • Albania: 43.1
  • South Africa: 42.8
  • Mongolia: 42.1
  • Indonesia: 42.0
  • Peru: 41.9
  • Tunisia: 41.7
  • Philippines: 41.5
  • Ukraine: 41.3
  • Argentina: 41.2
  • Uzbekistan: 41.0
  • Ecuador: 40.8
  • Mauritius: 40.8
  • Egypt: 39.2
  • Belarus: 37.7
  • Kyrgyzstan: 37.3
  • Guatemala: 36.7
  • Panama: 36.4
  • Morocco: 35.8
  • India: 34.5
  • Sri Lanka: 34.4
  • Burkina Faso: 34.3
  • Iran: 33.8
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina: 33.5
  • Dominican Republic: 33.1
  • Paraguay: 32.7
  • Jamaica: 32.4
  • Kenya: 31.9
  • El Salvador: 31.8
  • Rwanda: 31.1
  • Azerbaijan: 30.6
  • Bangladesh: 30.6
  • China: 30.1
  • Bolivia: 28.7
  • Côte d'Ivoire: 28.6
  • Nigeria: 28.2
  • Pakistan: 28.0
  • Vietnam: 27.7
  • Uganda: 27.5
  • Tanzania: 27.0
  • Ghana: 26.1
  • Gambia: 26.0
  • Zimbabwe: 25.9
  • Botswana: 25.8
  • Mozambique: 25.4
  • Mali: 25.1
  • Honduras: 24.5
  • Lebanon: 24.0
  • Malawi: 23.4
  • Myanmar: 23.3
  • Zambia: 23.2
  • Tajikistan: 22.9
  • Trinidad and Tobago: 22.1
  • Ethiopia: 21.7
  • Iraq: 20.6
  • Nepal: 20.5
  • Laos: 20.1
  • Lesotho: 18.1
  • Angola: 17.5
  • Madagascar: 17.0
  • Namibia: 16.7
  • Nicaragua: 15.5
  • Guinea: 10.1
  • Guinea-Bissau: 8.0
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo: 6.8
  • Burundi: 5.9
  • Papua New Guinea: 4.5
  • Sudan: 3.2
  • Venezuela: 0.9
  • Republic of the Congo: 0.4
  • Haiti: 0.0
Anticipation scores by country
Albania43.10.462 of 4+18.4(2)
Angola17.50.462 of 4+9.7(2)
Argentina41.20.462 of 4+13.5(2)
Armenia44.20.462 of 4+3.9(2)
Australia83.40.462 of 4-0.3(2)
Austria74.60.462 of 4+3.5(2)
Azerbaijan30.60.462 of 4+15.6(2)
Bangladesh30.60.462 of 4+13.7(2)
Belarus37.70.462 of 4+10.7(2)
Belgium70.90.462 of 4+10.1(2)
Bolivia28.70.462 of 4+11.1(2)
Bosnia and Herzegovina33.50.462 of 4+15.3(2)
Botswana25.80.462 of 4+13.1(2)
Brazil44.60.462 of 4+7.6(2)
Bulgaria55.40.462 of 4+15.9(2)
Burkina Faso34.30.462 of 4+24.4(2)
Burundi5.90.462 of 4-4.7(2)
Canada77.80.462 of 4+2.7(2)
Chile54.00.462 of 4+10.4(2)
China30.10.462 of 4+10.7(2)
Colombia43.60.462 of 4+11.5(2)
Costa Rica49.60.462 of 4+12.2(2)
Côte d'Ivoire28.60.462 of 4+21.1(2)
Croatia69.10.462 of 4+25.3(2)
Cubanot measured. No score. One indicator is observed here; this model needs two before it can average a dimension score.0.221 of 4. Below the coverage floor: this model needs 2 observed rows before it publishes a score.no trend
Cyprus66.60.462 of 4+25.1(2)
Czechia67.30.462 of 4+0.9(2)
Democratic Republic of the Congo6.80.462 of 4no trend
Denmark98.10.462 of 4+13.3(2)
Dominican Republic33.10.462 of 4+11.0(2)
Ecuador40.80.462 of 4+11.0(2)
Egypt39.20.462 of 4+3.3(2)
El Salvador31.80.462 of 4+5.9(2)
Estonia69.90.462 of 4+9.4(2)
Ethiopia21.70.462 of 4+10.2(2)
Finland84.90.462 of 4+1.8(2)
France62.20.462 of 4+0.3(2)
Gambia26.00.462 of 4+18.6(2)
Georgia47.40.462 of 4+9.9(2)
Germany71.40.462 of 4+4.3(2)
Ghana26.10.462 of 4+6.9(2)
Greece68.20.462 of 4+9.0(2)
Guatemala36.70.462 of 4+18.5(2)
Guinea10.10.462 of 4+6.5(2)
Guinea-Bissau8.00.462 of 4+7.9(2)
Haiti0.00.462 of 40.0(2)
Honduras24.50.462 of 4+6.0(2)
Hungary61.00.462 of 4+7.9(2)
India34.50.462 of 4+8.7(2)
Indonesia42.00.462 of 4+14.7(2)
Iran33.80.462 of 4+14.7(2)
Iraq20.60.462 of 4+20.0(2)
Ireland75.30.462 of 4+5.8(2)
Israel72.80.462 of 4+10.1(2)
Italy74.10.462 of 4+6.9(2)
Jamaica32.40.462 of 4+20.2(2)
Japan62.20.462 of 4+13.2(2)
Jordan45.20.462 of 4+26.4(2)
Kazakhstan45.20.462 of 4+14.0(2)
Kenya31.90.462 of 4+16.0(2)
Kyrgyzstan37.30.462 of 4-1.2(2)
Laos20.10.462 of 4+17.4(2)
Latvia62.60.462 of 4+8.8(2)
Lebanon24.00.462 of 4+19.6(2)
Lesotho18.10.462 of 4+8.6(2)
Lithuania63.50.462 of 4+12.8(2)
Madagascar17.00.462 of 4+15.6(2)
Malawi23.40.462 of 4+8.1(2)
Malaysia54.40.462 of 4+23.2(2)
Mali25.10.462 of 4+15.2(2)
Mauritius40.80.462 of 4+6.0(2)
Mexico49.90.462 of 4+10.7(2)
Moldova45.10.462 of 4+13.0(2)
Mongolia42.10.462 of 4+14.8(2)
Morocco35.80.462 of 4+14.7(2)
Mozambique25.40.462 of 4+12.8(2)
Myanmar23.30.462 of 4+18.5(2)
Namibia16.70.462 of 4+5.9(2)
Nepal20.50.462 of 4+11.6(2)
Netherlands76.10.462 of 4+9.0(2)
New Zealand77.10.462 of 4+7.7(2)
Nicaragua15.50.462 of 4+6.9(2)
Nigeria28.20.462 of 4+11.3(2)
North Macedonia49.00.462 of 4+23.2(2)
Norway97.20.462 of 4+19.5(2)
Pakistan28.00.462 of 4+10.8(2)
Panama36.40.462 of 4+21.1(2)
Papua New Guinea4.50.462 of 4+4.4(2)
Paraguay32.70.462 of 4+19.5(2)
Peru41.90.462 of 4+19.5(2)
Philippines41.50.462 of 4+10.1(2)
Poland63.70.462 of 4+8.1(2)
Portugal79.40.462 of 4+10.9(2)
Republic of the Congo0.40.462 of 4-3.4(2)
Romania58.00.462 of 4no trend
Russia50.10.462 of 4+14.5(2)
Rwanda31.10.462 of 4+16.4(2)
Serbia52.90.462 of 4+12.5(2)
Singapore82.20.462 of 4+17.0(2)
Slovakia59.10.462 of 4+1.1(2)
Slovenia79.50.462 of 4+4.7(2)
South Africa42.80.462 of 4+5.0(2)
South Korea74.40.462 of 4+17.4(2)
Spain71.40.462 of 4+6.3(2)
Sri Lanka34.40.462 of 4+2.3(2)
Sudan3.20.462 of 4+3.1(2)
Sweden87.30.462 of 4+2.2(2)
Switzerland93.40.462 of 4+2.2(2)
Tajikistan22.90.462 of 4+11.9(2)
Tanzania27.00.462 of 4+6.5(2)
Thailand46.20.462 of 4+8.6(2)
Trinidad and Tobago22.10.462 of 4+19.0(2)
Tunisia41.70.462 of 4+11.5(2)
Turkey47.90.462 of 4+9.1(2)
Uganda27.50.462 of 4+4.5(2)
Ukraine41.30.462 of 4+12.4(2)
United Arab Emirates48.30.462 of 4+35.7(2)
United Kingdom71.80.462 of 4+3.3(2)
United States70.60.462 of 4+0.5(2)
Uruguay43.40.462 of 4+14.5(2)
Uzbekistan41.00.462 of 4+40.8(2)
Venezuela0.90.462 of 4-5.4(2)
Vietnam27.70.462 of 4+13.6(2)
Zambia23.20.462 of 4+7.2(2)
Zimbabwe25.90.462 of 4+23.2(2)

A score from 0 to 100 is a position inside the frame that all the benchmark countries set: zero is the weakest on a dimension and 100 is the strongest. A score of 10 puts a country near the floor of that frame and does not mean 10 percent of a capability.

Anticipation indicators

4 indicators define this capability. Gaps and retired rows remain because they lower confidence. Rows marked condition are published beside the score and are not part of it. Click a heading to sort.

  • direct capability measuredirect capability measure Measures the thing itself.
  • capability inputcapability input Measures something that supports the capability.
  • downstream outcomedownstream outcome Measures a result that usually follows from the capability.
  • perception proxyperception proxy Records what people or experts say, not what they did.

Anticipation

Anticipation indicators
Note
Government foresight capacityno datasetdirect capability measureindex 0-100higher is betternone0.20No comparable international dataset. OECD and UN work is descriptive, not scored. Envisioning would have to build this.
Long-horizon research commitmentsno datasetdirect capability measure% of new grantshigher is betternone0.30Redefined 2026-10-02 (D152). The row asked for the share of R&D spending classed as basic research, which is the make-up of a spending stock, the construct D142 retired business R&D share for. OECD MSTI publishes that share for its members only, and UNESCO UIS no longer serves R&D by type of research (construct audit, 2026-10-02). The behaviour behind it is a funder committing to a horizon: a grant awarded for five years or more is a decision to wait for a result. Untried: no memo has triaged a grant register. National funders publish award lists one by one with their own durations, and commercial grant aggregators fail the inspectability rule. Wireable on a grant-level register with award and end dates, on one definition of a competitive public grant, for half the frame or more.
R&D expenditureconditioncapability input% of GDPhigher is betterWorld Bank0.50A condition, not scored: money committed to research is what a country spends, and spending it does not show the country reads the future well (D122).
Researchers in R&Dconditioncapability inputper million peoplehigher is betterWorld Bank0.50A condition, not scored: a standing stock of people who could investigate is what a country has, not a record of what they found (D122). Correlates with income but survives size normalization.
Scientific articlesdownstream outcomearticles per million peoplehigher is betterWorld Bank0.40Volume, not quality. Citation impact would be the better measure and is a declared gap.
Secure internet serversconditioncapability inputper million peoplehigher is betterWorld Bank0.60A condition, not scored: a diffusion stock of digital adoption that money buys, not an act of anticipation (D122). Spans four orders of magnitude, so its rank is read on the published value and its correlations on the logged one.
Statistical performancedirect capability measureindex 0-100higher is betterWorld Bank0.25A country that cannot see itself cannot anticipate. Closest available direct measure of national sensing capacity.

What countries have to work with here

Conditions record what a country has, such as infrastructure, access, money, people or enrolment. They are not part of this score, its confidence or its trend. Country pages show each value with its rank.

  • R&D expenditureWorld Bank (GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS), 118 of 125 countries, latest 2024

    Gross domestic expenditure on research and development as a share of GDP.

    Across countries it goes with income at r = 0.62 (n 116) and with this capability's score at r = 0.73 (n 117).

    A condition, not scored: money committed to research is what a country spends, and spending it does not show the country reads the future well (D122).

  • Researchers in R&DWorld Bank (SP.POP.SCIE.RD.P6), 114 of 125 countries, latest 2024

    Full-time-equivalent researchers per million people.

    Across countries it goes with income at r = 0.74 (n 112) and with this capability's score at r = 0.87 (n 113).

    A condition, not scored: a standing stock of people who could investigate is what a country has, not a record of what they found (D122). Correlates with income but survives size normalization.

  • Secure internet serversWorld Bank (IT.NET.SECR.P6), 125 of 125 countries, latest 2024

    Servers using encryption in internet transactions, per million people.

    Across countries it goes with income at r = 0.91 (n 123) and with this capability's score at r = 0.89 (n 124).

    A condition, not scored: a diffusion stock of digital adoption that money buys, not an act of anticipation (D122). Spans four orders of magnitude, so its rank is read on the published value and its correlations on the logged one.

Documented examples

These records describe something a country has done that this capability should capture. They stay outside the score because one case is not a comparable series.

Evidence for missing indicators

Each record describes a case the indicators above cannot see. It does not affect the score or confidence because one case is not comparable across countries. A gap can become an indicator when a comparable series covers at least two countries.

  • Brazillinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1973still operating

    Embrapa, a fifty-year bet on tropical agriculture

    Brazil created a public agricultural research corporation in 1973 to make acidic tropical soils productive, kept it funded across every change of government since, and cereal production rose from 46.5 million tonnes in 2000 to 155.9 million in 2023.

    155,877,082 tonnes, cereal production, 2023. World Bank, from FAO, retrieved 2026-08-26.

    How it worked: A public research corporation with its own budget line, staffed by researchers sent abroad to train and then brought back, mandated against one specific national constraint rather than research in general.

    Limits: Production is an outcome and the credit is shared with land expansion, subsidised credit and private plant breeding, so this number cannot separate the research from the rest. It also cannot see the cost: much of the expansion came from converting cerrado and forest. What the record actually evidences is fifty years of continuity in a public research mandate, which is the part no dataset measures.

  • Netherlandslinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2010still operating

    The Delta Programme and its fund

    The Netherlands legislated a standing programme against flooding and fresh-water shortage, run by an independent Delta Commissioner and paid from a dedicated Delta Fund that expects 27.4 billion euros to be available through 2050.

    27,400,000,000 euros, delta fund resources available to 2050, 2025. Delta Programme Commissioner, Delta Fund, retrieved 2026-08-27.

    How it worked: Parliament wrote the Delta Act: a permanent commissioner proposes a rolling programme each year, statutory safety standards make the work non-optional, and a ring-fenced fund keeps the money out of annual budget fights.

    Limits: A budget is an input: the number shows money committed, not risk reduced, and the same page says 30.8 billion is needed, so the fund is currently short of its own task. Spending on water at this scale is also ordinary for the Netherlands, which has run such works for a century. What the record evidences is the institutional form, a legally required programme, commissioner and fund that outlive governments, not the size of the number.

  • Brazillinked to Long-horizon research commitmentsstarted 1991still operating

    Lei de Informática, a sectoral industrial policy

    Law 8.248/1991 tied information-technology incentives to annual research, development and innovation investment of at least 5 percent of eligible domestic gross revenue, creating a predictable regime for sectoral capability.

    5 % of eligible domestic gross revenue, minimum annual r&d and innovation investment, 1991. Presidência da República, Lei 8.248/1991, retrieved 2026-08-29.

    How it worked: The state exchanges a sector-specific incentive for commitments to domestic research, development, training and innovation, giving firms a reason to make longer-horizon plans within a stable policy frame.

    Limits: The legal investment requirement is an input, not evidence of research quality, exports or firm growth. The regime is narrow, has been amended repeatedly and creates a renewal pressure that makes continuity part of the case rather than a settled result.

  • Brazillinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2001still operating

    CGEE, the strategic studies center

    Created in 2001, the Centro de Gestão e Estudos Estratégicos was designed to produce prospective studies and long-term recommendations for Brazilian science, technology and innovation policy, with 273 researchers and specialists signing its creation record.

    273 researchers and specialists, participants signing the creation record, 2001. Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, CGEE report, retrieved 2026-08-29.

    How it worked: Government creates a distinct organization to turn evidence and expert networks into long-horizon options, giving policymakers a place to ask what future conditions require before a crisis sets the agenda.

    Limits: The creation record and a mandate for prospective studies show institutional intent, not whether foresight changes decisions or survives political pressure. CGEE operates within the science and technology policy system, so its reach does not cover every part of government.

  • Singaporelinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2009still operating

    Centre for Strategic Futures, foresight inside government

    Singapore established the Centre for Strategic Futures in 2009 inside the Prime Minister's Office strategy system to study blind spots, run long-term futures research and develop foresight methods.

    2009 year, year the centre for strategic futures was established, 2009. Centre for Strategic Futures, Who we are, retrieved 2026-08-30.

    How it worked: A central strategy unit gives government a standing place to examine emerging risks and challenge assumptions before those risks become immediate policy demands.

    Limits: Creating a foresight unit shows a formal capability for examining uncertainty, not whether its work changes budgets, policies or decisions. The centre describes its own mandate and does not publish a counterfactual for decisions made without it.

  • United Kingdomlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2008still operating

    Legally binding carbon budgets

    The United Kingdom's 2008 Climate Change Act made five-year emissions budgets a standing legal cycle set twelve years ahead, and by July 2026 seven budgets covered 2008 through 2042 while the first three had been met.

    7 five-year budgets, carbon budgets set in law, 2026-07. 3 five-year budgets, completed carbon budgets met, 2024. UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, carbon budgets guidance, retrieved 2026-08-30.

    How it worked: Parliament requires each government to set a quantified five-year ceiling twelve years in advance, receive independent advice, publish a delivery plan and report the final account, converting a distant target into a recurring decision and scrutiny cycle.

    Limits: A statutory cycle and three budgets met show continuity and compliance with a national accounting framework, not that the framework caused the emissions reductions or that budgets four to seven will be delivered. Territorial accounts omit emissions embodied in imports, and government reports its own compliance even though an independent Climate Change Committee advises and scrutinises it.

  • Japanlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2011still operating

    Fukushima decommissioning roadmap, a 30–40-year risk-reduction horizon

    After the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident, Japan adopted a government-led mid-and-long-term decommissioning roadmap and set completion at roughly 30–40 years after cold shutdown, treating the work as continuous risk reduction rather than a one-off rebuild.

    30 years, lower bound of planned decommissioning horizon, 2011. 40 years, upper bound of planned decommissioning horizon, 2011. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning roadmap, retrieved 2026-08-31.

    How it worked: Japan put the government in front of the operator, broke an unprecedented nuclear clean-up into staged milestones, invited international review and treated each step as risk reduction while preserving a long horizon for work that cannot be rushed safely.

    Limits: A roadmap horizon is a planning commitment, not evidence that decommissioning will finish on time, within cost or with public consent. The technical condition of fuel debris and contaminated water remains uncertain, and the government and operator report progress within their own programme. The case measures willingness to plan across decades and revise stages, not successful completion.

  • Chinalinked to Long-horizon research commitmentsstarted 2023still operating

    National basic-research funding allocation

    China's National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Finance reported 225.91 billion yuan in basic-research expenditure in 2023, equal to 6.77% of national R&D spending.

    6.77 % of total R&D expenditure, basic-research share of national r&d expenditure, 2023. National Bureau of Statistics of China, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Finance, 2023 science-and-technology expenditure communiqué, retrieved 2026-08-31.

    How it worked: China's statistical and science ministries separate basic, applied and experimental R&D in a recurring national account, while public funders protect a basic-research tranche alongside mission-oriented programmes. That makes the long-horizon allocation visible in the same frame as industrial development spending.

    Limits: The share measures spending classification, not research quality, scientific independence, peer-review quality, frontier breakthroughs or the eventual use of results. The communiqué uses national administrative statistics, reports preliminary GDP inputs and excludes Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, so it is not a complete measure of every Chinese research activity.

  • Portugallinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2022still operating

    PLANAPP and REPLAN, a centre-of-government foresight network

    Portugal's PLANAPP operates as a Centre of Government body for evidence-based foresight, planning, monitoring, evaluation and impact analysis; its REPLAN network lists five multisectoral team remits and held its inaugural meeting on 23 November 2022.

    5 team remits, named multisectoral replan team remits, 2022-11-23. PLANAPP, REPLAN presentation, retrieved 2026-09-02.

    How it worked: Portugal placed foresight, planning, monitoring and evaluation in a centre-of-government body, then connected ministry planning units through REPLAN so cross-cutting work could be commissioned and reviewed across departmental boundaries.

    Limits: The five is a count of named remits on PLANAPP's presentation page, not a verified staffing or output measure; the same page describes the teams as four before listing five. The record therefore evidences a formal foresight-and-coordination architecture and its inaugural date, not continuity across governments, the quality of forecasts or whether advice changed decisions.

  • South Africalinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2012still operating

    Labour Market Intelligence Programme and forward skills planning

    South Africa's Department of Higher Education and Training ran a Labour Market Intelligence Programme from 2012, published the fifth iteration of its national occupations-in-high-demand list by April 2024, and identified 138 occupations for the emerging hydrogen-economy value chain.

    5 iterations, national occupations-in-high-demand list iterations, 2024-04-16. 138 occupations, occupations identified for the hydrogen-economy value chain, 2024-04-16. Department of Higher Education and Training, Government of South Africa, retrieved 2026-09-02.

    How it worked: DHET institutionalised a research cycle that combines labour-market data, sector studies and consultations with business, labour and government, then turns the findings into recurring occupations-in-demand lists and skills assessments for education planning.

    Limits: The programme's own ministerial account reports its outputs, and a list of occupations is a planning instrument rather than proof that enrolment, funding or curricula changed. The source describes the second phase and a third phase planned for 2025; the record therefore establishes a recurring foresight function and delivered reports, not the quality or current use of every forecast.

  • Finlandlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1993still operating

    Government Report on the Future and the parliamentary Committee for the Future

    Every Finnish government since 1993 has submitted a Report on the Future to Parliament, answered by a standing Committee for the Future; Part I of the Orpo government's report, a 20-year scenario process prepared jointly by all ministries and informed by 40 dialogues on Finland's future, was submitted on 18 September 2025.

    20 years ahead, scenario horizon of part i of the government report on the future, 2025-09-18. 40 dialogues, dialogues on finland's future organised for the report, 2025. Finnish Government, Prime Minister's Office, Foresight and work on the future, retrieved 2026-10-01.

    How it worked: The Prime Minister's Office coordinates an interministerial foresight working group that drafts a scenario report once per electoral term, and Parliament's Committee for the Future answers it, so foresight is a recurring duty of both branches rather than a project.

    Limits: Both numbers describe the process, not its effect: a 20-year horizon and 40 dialogues show the report was made, not that any decision changed because of it. The construct asks for existence, mandate and continuity, and the strongest evidence of continuity, one report every electoral term since 1993, is stated by the Prime Minister's Office as a practice; the source does not list each report, so the count of reports since 1993 is not given here. The figures are the government describing its own work. The parliament page states that the Committee for the Future is standing and was established in 1993, and it renders by script, so a reader without JavaScript sees an empty page although the text is in the delivered data. Finnish foresight is widely cited abroad, but praise is not evidence and is not used here.

  • Estonialinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2016still operating

    Foresight Centre at the Riigikogu (Arenguseire Keskus)

    Estonia's parliament set up a statutory Foresight Centre within the Chancellery of the Riigikogu under the Foresight Act of 2016. In 2025 the centre published four research-direction reports and 17 short reports, drawing on more than 30 researchers and experts.

    4 reports, research-direction reports published by the foresight centre, 2025. 17 reports, short reports (lühiraportid) published by the foresight centre, 2025. Chancellery of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia), 2025 activity report (2025. aasta tegevusaruanne), chapter VIII Arenguseire keskus, retrieved 2026-10-01.

    How it worked: The Riigikogu legislated a foresight centre inside its own chancellery and gave it a separate budget line and a duty to report to the Economic Affairs Committee every year. Its five-member council, from which MPs and ministers are barred, is appointed by the Economic Affairs Committee, a business organisation the committee names, the President, the university rectors and the Academy of Sciences (§ 4(2)-(3)), which puts most of the council outside parliament.

    Limits: The two counts measure output, not influence. Nothing in the source shows that a scenario changed a budget, a law or a programme. The publisher is the Riigikogu Chancellery reporting on a unit it houses and services, so this is self-reporting with no external evaluation. The 34% spontaneous awareness figure in the same chapter comes from a Kantar Emor survey reported in the same chapter. Report counts are not comparable across countries or years: research directions vary in scope, and the 17 short reports run from agriculture competitiveness to private tutoring. The centre advises parliament, not the executive, so it says nothing about whether the government runs foresight inside ministries. It is small: in January 2025 the chair of the Economic Affairs Committee, Jaak Aab, said the committee would do its best to keep the centre's budget intact through spending cuts (Riigikogu press release, https://www.riigikogu.ee/pressiteated/majanduskomisjon-kinnitas-arenguseire-keskuse-2025-aasta-tegevuskava/), which shows continuity is not guaranteed. Continuity is real but rests on a redesign. The 2016 Act dissolved the Estonian Development Fund, which had housed the earlier foresight work, and the record does not show whether capacity was lost in that transfer. The Riigi Teataja page that carries the founding dates renders only with JavaScript.

  • United Stateslinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1972dismantled

    Office of Technology Assessment, defunded and closed in 1995

    Congress gave the Office of Technology Assessment, created under the Technology Assessment Act of 1972, the statutory function to provide early indications of the probable impacts of technology; it appropriated $21,970,000 for the office with a cap of 143 staff for fiscal year 1995, then appropriated $3,615,000 for fiscal year 1996 to carry out its orderly closure, with no more than 17 employees paid except for severance.

    3,615,000 US dollars, appropriation for the orderly closure of the office of technology assessment, FY1996. 21,970,000 US dollars, appropriation for office of technology assessment salaries and expenses, the last operating year, FY1995. US Government Publishing Office, Public Law 104-53, Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1996 (109 Stat. 514), retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: Congress built its own analytic office, governed by a bipartisan board of members, to give legislators early warning on technology choices, and later closed it through the appropriations bill rather than by repeal, cutting its funding by roughly five sixths in one year and capping staff for the wind-down.

    Limits: Technology assessment is adjacent to strategic foresight, not the same thing: the office studied technologies on request from congressional committees rather than running whole-of-government scenarios. It is filed here because its statute, 2 U.S.C. 472(c), states an anticipatory function, to provide early indications of the probable beneficial and adverse impacts of the applications of technology (govinfo, US Code 2023 edition, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title2/html/USCODE-2023-title2-chap15-sec472.htm). Both figures are appropriations, not spending or output: they show the money Congress gave, not what the office produced, and the 143 and 17 figures are statutory staff caps, not headcounts. The FY1995 figure comes from a different source, Public Law 103-283 in the Statutes at Large (108 Stat. 1423), inside a PDF on page 11 of the file (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-108/pdf/STATUTE-108-Pg1423.pdf). The authorising statute was not repealed and still appears in the US Code, so the office was ended by withdrawing funds rather than by abolishing its legal basis; it could be refunded without new legislation. The 1996 act also carried $2,500,000 of FY1995 funds forward to September 1996, so the FY1996 closure figure is not the whole of the wind-down money. Started is the year of the authorising Act, not the year the office first reported.

  • Polandlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1996dismantled

    Rządowe Centrum Studiów Strategicznych, liquidated in 2006

    Poland's Government Centre for Strategic Studies, attached to the Prime Minister, with tasks of strategic programming and forecasting of economic and social development set in article 14k of the Act of 8 August 1996 on the Council of Ministers, was liquidated as of 31 March 2006 by the Act of 17 February 2006, in the year its budget had been planned at PLN 10,016 thousand.

    10,016 thousand zloty, planned 2006 expenditure in budget part 47, government centre for strategic studies, 2006 (draft budget). Sejm of the Republic of Poland, government bill on the liquidation of the Government Centre for Strategic Studies (print 172, 5th term), regulatory impact assessment, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: Parliament gave a strategic studies centre attached to the Prime Minister its own statutory tasks and budget part, then a new government folded it into the Prime Minister's Chancellery and a line ministry as part of an administrative savings programme.

    Limits: The figure is planned spending in the government's draft 2006 budget, quoted in the bill's regulatory impact assessment, not an outturn, and the same assessment expected savings of about half of it. The bill proposed liquidation on 28 February 2006; the act as passed (Dz.U. 2006 nr 45 poz. 319, ISAP, https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20060450319, PDF) set 31 March 2006, and the claim uses the enacted date. The centre's statutory work was forecasting and long-term strategic programming, which sits closer to development planning than to scenario-based foresight. Its tasks did not vanish: the act moved impact assessment, foreign policy concepts and analyses ordered by the Prime Minister to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, and the bill moved strategy and forecasting to the minister for regional development, so what ended is a dedicated unit with its own budget line, not every forward-looking task. Started is 1996, the year of the Act on the Council of Ministers whose article 14k held the centre's tasks; neither source gives the centre's founding date or first year of operation.

  • Germanylinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1990still operating

    Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB)

    Since 1990 the German Bundestag has kept an Office of Technology Assessment, run under contract by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, whose tasks include horizon scanning of scientific and technological trends at early stages; by 2026 it reported more than 200 projects and over 400 publications.

    200 projects, projects carried out by tab since 1990 (lower bound, as stated), 2026-10-02. 400 publications, publications of tab results since 1990 (lower bound, as stated), 2026-10-02. Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB), About us, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The Bundestag contracts a university technology assessment institute to run a dedicated office for parliament, steered by its research committee, which picks topics and approves reports before publication.

    Limits: Technology assessment is adjacent to strategic foresight: most TAB projects assess specific technologies on request from the Bundestag committee for research and technology assessment. It is filed here because the same page lists horizon scanning, the observation of trends in early stages of development, among its tasks and describes its aim as forward-looking analysis, and the site carries a separate foresight section. Both figures are cumulative lower bounds (more than 200, over 400) with no date stated, so asOf is the retrieval date. TAB reports on itself, and it is operated by a university research institute (ITAS at KIT) under a contract with the Bundestag rather than by parliamentary staff, so continuity depends on contract renewal. The counts show output, not influence on legislation, and they serve parliament, not the federal executive.

  • South Korealinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2018still operating

    National Assembly Futures Institute

    Korea's National Assembly enacted the National Assembly Future Institute Act on 12 December 2017 and opened the institute on 28 May 2018 with a statutory duty to predict and analyse changes in the future environment and derive mid to long term national development strategies; its English-language research report archive listed 203 reports in 2026.

    203 reports, research reports listed in the institute's english-language report archive, 2026-10-02. National Assembly Futures Institute, Archive, Research Reports, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The National Assembly legislated a futures research institute attached to the National Assembly and gave it a statutory mandate for long-range national strategy, so parliament holds its own foresight capacity independent of the government of the day.

    Limits: The institute reports on itself. The count is a running total shown on an archive board ("Total 203"), not a dated annual figure, so asOf is the retrieval date, and it covers the English-language listing only; the Korean site organises reports differently and may hold more. The newest report in the English listing is dated 30 December 2024, so the count shows nothing published in English since then. A report count measures output, not whether any law or budget changed. The institute serves the National Assembly, not the executive, so it says nothing about foresight inside ministries. The founding dates and the Article 1 purpose come from the institute's own History and Vision pages (https://nafi.re.kr/home/eng/contents.do?menuPos=10 and menuPos=11), not from the statute text itself.

  • Switzerlandlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2007still operating

    Federal Chancellery situation and environment analysis (Perspektivstab)

    Switzerland's Federal Chancellery runs a long-term, continuous situation and environment analysis for the Federal Council that looks 10 to 15 years ahead; it produced Herausforderungen in 2007 with expertise from 30 federal offices, Perspektiven 2025 in 2011, Perspektiven 2030 in 2014, the Schweiz 2030 and Schweiz 2035 reports and the scenario report Perspektiven Schweiz 2040, which feed the Federal Council's legislature planning.

    6 reports, reports in the chancellery situation and environment analysis series named on the page, 2026-10-02. 30 federal offices, federal offices whose expertise fed the 2007 report herausforderungen, 2007. Swiss Federal Chancellery, Lage- und Umfeldanalyse, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The Federal Chancellery, as staff office of the Federal Council, pools experts from across the federal offices into a standing interdepartmental staff that writes a futures report timed to each legislature planning cycle.

    Limits: The report count is ours, made from the six titles the page names (Herausforderungen, Perspektiven 2025, Perspektiven 2030, Schweiz 2030, Schweiz 2035, Perspektiven Schweiz 2040). Both numbers describe the process, not its effect: six reports and 30 contributing offices show the analysis was made, not that a decision changed because of it. The Chancellery describes its own work and states that the reports serve as a basis for legislature planning; the source does not show how. The page gives publication years only up to 2014 and does not date Schweiz 2030, Schweiz 2035 or Perspektiven Schweiz 2040, so the series after 2014 is shown as existing, not as dated. Started is the year of the earliest report the page names, not the founding of the Perspektivstab, which the page does not date. The 30 offices figure belongs to the 2007 report only. The Chancellery is the Federal Council's staff office, so this is a staff function, not a minister's unit.

  • Francelinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2009still operating

    Senate foresight delegation (Délégation sénatoriale à la prospective)

    The Bureau of the French Senate created a foresight delegation in April 2009, succeeding the planning delegation set up by the 1982 planning reform law, with a mandate to study changes in society and the economy and to build scenarios; it has 36 senators appointed in proportion to the political groups and adopted reports in every year from 2010 to 2022 listed on its page.

    36 senators, members of the senate foresight delegation, 2026-10-02. Sénat (France), Présentation de la délégation à la prospective, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: A chamber's governing bureau turned an existing planning delegation into a standing foresight body of members with free choice of topics and a duty to write scenarios, which keeps it outside the legislative calendar.

    Limits: Membership measures size, not influence: 36 senators on a delegation say nothing about whether a report changed a law, and the delegation has no legislative power by design. It informs the Senate only; the National Assembly has no equivalent, as the page itself says, and the figure says nothing about foresight in the executive. The page's report list stops at 2022, although the delegation's main page shows a report dated June 2026, so the list is incomplete and no report count is given here. After the 2026 Senate renewal the main page states the delegations will be reconstituted, so the current membership is pending. It is filed against the foresight construct because its rules instruct it to draw up scenarios of change, which is foresight practice rather than technology assessment (France's technology assessment office, OPECST, is a separate body).

  • Chilelinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2012still operating

    Senate Commission on Future Challenges, Science, Technology and Innovation

    Chile's Senate created the Commission on Future Challenges, Science, Technology and Innovation in April 2012, modelled on Finland's Committee for the Future, with the Academy of Sciences, National Prize winners and university rectors as permanent members; by July 2024 more than 700 scientists had worked in more than 20 of its expert tables.

    700 scientists, scientists who worked in the commission's expert tables (lower bound, as stated), 2024-07-02. 20 expert tables, expert tables convened by the commission (lower bound, as stated), 2024-07-02. Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, Serie Minutas Nº 62-24, Comisión Desafíos del Futuro, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Senado, antecedentes de trabajo legislativo, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: A Senate committee co-opts the national science establishment as permanent members and runs expert tables that turn scientific frontiers into draft strategies and bills, giving parliament a standing futures agenda without a research staff of its own.

    Limits: Both figures are lower bounds (más de) and sit inside a four-page PDF, on page 3. They count participation, not influence: the same note lists five bills in the commission's legislative work, four members' motions and one government bill, all still in their first or second constitutional stage in July 2024, including two to create a national strategic foresight agency (Boletín 16.061-07) and a new foresight institution (Boletín 16.441-19). That means Chile had a parliamentary foresight committee but, as of the note's date, no statutory executive foresight body, and this record does not claim one. The commission is a standing Senate committee; the note does not count its sessions or reports. The figures are compiled by the Congress library at a director's request and are not independently audited. The Senate's own committee page (https://www.senado.cl/actividad-legislativa/comisiones/941) still lists the commission in 2026.

  • Canadalinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1996still operating

    Policy Horizons Canada, the federal foresight unit, and its 2024 disruption scan

    Policy Horizons Canada, which describes itself as the Government of Canada's centre of excellence in foresight and reports through the Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada, published Disruptions on the Horizon 2024, which identified and assessed 35 possible disruptions using survey input from around 500 stakeholders, colleagues and foresight experts across the Government of Canada and beyond.

    500 respondents, stakeholders, colleagues and foresight experts whose survey input assessed the disruptions (approximate, as stated), 2024. 35 disruptions, possible disruptions identified and assessed in the report, 2024. Policy Horizons Canada, Government of Canada, Disruptions on the Horizon 2024 (PH4-198/2024E-PDF), retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: A small dedicated foresight unit inside the federal public service, governed by a deputy minister steering committee, runs recurring horizon scans and surveys hundreds of officials and outside experts to rate disruptions by likelihood, impact and timing, and trains and networks foresight practitioners across departments.

    Limits: The unit is reporting on its own work, and the 500 is stated as 'around 500', an approximate count of survey inputs rather than a measure of whether any department used the scan; the report itself says its content does not necessarily represent the views of the Government of Canada. The description as centre of excellence is in the report's disclaimer; the reporting line through the Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada is stated on the unit's about page (https://horizons.service.canada.ca/en/about-us/index.shtml), not in the report. Both figures appear on the web version at the source URL and in the PDF edition (pages 5 and 7 of https://horizons.service.canada.ca/en/2024/disruptions/Disruptions_on_the_Horizon_2024_report.pdf). No published budget, staff count or uptake figure was found: Employment and Social Development Canada's 2024-25 Departmental Results Report does not mention the unit, so the record evidences a standing federal function producing a dated whole-of-government scan with a deputy minister steering committee named in its acknowledgements, not the influence of that scan on policy. Whether the Disruptions report is annual was not verified: no 2023 or 2025 edition was found at the corresponding addresses. Started is 1996, when secondary histories place the unit's predecessor, the Policy Research Secretariat, in the Privy Council Office, renamed Policy Research Initiative in 2000 and Policy Horizons Canada around 2011 to 2012; that lineage was not verified on an official page today and the foresight mandate as now worded dates from the later renaming. The unit sits inside a line department rather than at the centre of government, which limits its reach.

  • Swedenlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2011delivered and closed

    Framtidskommissionen, the Prime Minister's time-limited future commission

    The Swedish government appointed Framtidskommissionen, chaired by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, in November 2011 to identify the societal challenges Sweden faces in the longer term, and by its final report in March 2013 it had held eight meetings, organised 40 open meetings, seminars and workshops, published twelve background reports and an anthology, and carried out four sub-inquiries.

    12 reports, background reports (underlagsrapporter) published by the commission, 2013-03. 40 events, open meetings, seminars and workshops organised by the commission, 2013-03. Government Offices of Sweden (Regeringskansliet), Ds 2013:19 Svenska framtidsutmaningar, final report of Framtidskommissionen, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The head of government chairs a time-limited commission of ministers, social partners and researchers that commissions background reports and runs public meetings across the country to name long-term challenges, then publishes one report and disbands.

    Limits: The commission reports on itself, and the figures count activities, not influence on policy; the foreword says identifying challenges, not proposing how to meet them, was its purpose. The figures are in a 316-page PDF, on PDF page 17 (printed page 14) and repeated on PDF page 310 (printed page 291), where the November 2011 appointment and the membership are also stated. It was a time-limited commission of ministers from one coalition and outside members, and it ended with the report: it evidences the existence and mandate of a centre-of-government foresight exercise and, for the construct's third element, its lack of continuity. The next government ran its own time-limited project, Mission: The Future, from February 2015 to April 2016, with a Minister for Strategic Development from 3 October 2014 to 25 May 2016 (government.se, https://www.government.se/government-of-sweden/prime-ministers-office/mission-the-future/, read in a browser because the site returns 403 to scripts), and Sweden's innovation agency Vinnova wrote in 2024 that in strategic institutionalisation of foresight for policy Sweden is 'a weak case' (Strategic Foresight for Innovation, PDF page 32). Status is concluded rather than dismantled because both vehicles were set up as time-limited and no source read today shows either was cut short.

  • Malawilinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2020still operating

    National Planning Commission foresight work for Malawi 2063

    Malawi's National Planning Commission, which signed a UNDP initiation plan in November 2020 to create a foresight unit and horizon scanning capability, reported for 2022/23 that it produced a foresight modelling report with modelled scenarios for the Malawi 2063 vision, policy briefs on three of the vision's pillars with UNDP and the finance ministry, and foresight modelling training for planners from ministries and academia.

    1 reports, foresight modelling reports produced (assessing malawi's trajectory towards mip-1 milestones and mw2063 aspirations), FY2022/23. National Planning Commission of Malawi, 2023 Annual Report (financial year 2022/2023), section 3.3.3 Enhanced Foresight Initiatives, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The statutory planning commission that owns the national long-term vision built a small foresight and modelling capability with UNDP support and used it to test the vision's targets against scenarios and to train planners in ministries.

    Limits: The commission reports on itself, in a PDF (section 3.3, printed pages 38 to 39, PDF page 42). The metric is a single report, and the text does not say how many policy briefs were written, only that they covered the urbanisation, industrialisation and agricultural productivity pillars, so the delivery figure is thin. The foresight work leans on UNDP: the unit was set up under a six-month UNDP initiation plan (NPC news item, 26 November 2020, https://npc.mw/2020/12/npc-undp-sign-agreement-to-initiate-implementation-of-foresight-project/) and the 2022/23 briefs were produced with UNDP, so the record cannot separate national capacity from donor support. The commission is primarily a development planning body that monitors the Malawi 2063 vision and its first ten-year implementation plan, which sits closer to planning than to open-ended scenario foresight; its modelled scenarios are tied to vision targets. No later annual report was read, so status rests on 2022/23, and the report gives no staff count or budget for the foresight function.

  • Côte d'Ivoirelinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1973still operating

    Bureau National de la Prospective et de la Veille Stratégique and the national prospective studies

    Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Planning and Development completed its fourth national prospective study, Côte d'Ivoire 2040, under the technical responsibility of the Bureau National de la Prospective et de la Veille Stratégique, after earlier national studies in 1973 to 1974, 1983 to 1984 and 1993 to 1995, and built eighteen thematic and three global scenarios to the 2040 horizon.

    4 studies, national prospective studies completed (côte d'ivoire 2000, 2010, 2025 and 2040), 2017-03. 18 scenarios, thematic scenarios built in the côte d'ivoire 2040 study, 2017-03. Ministère du Plan et du Développement, Bureau National de la Prospective et de la Veille Stratégique, Etude Nationale Prospective Côte d'Ivoire 2040: Résumé, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The planning ministry keeps a standing foresight bureau with the rank of a directorate general that runs a national prospective study about once a decade, using an expert group drawn from universities and ministries and national and local commissions to debate the results.

    Limits: Both figures are in a 12-page PDF (page 5 for the four studies, page 6 for the scenarios); the date comes from the file name (final version, 13 March 2017), not from the document. The ministry reports on itself, and the figures count studies and scenarios, not influence: the same summary says the 2025 study did not lead to a plan and that the 1999, 2002 and 2010 to 2011 crises followed scenarios the government had not used. The four studies span four decades with a gap the summary attributes to structural adjustment, so continuity is episodic, and the bureau's own creation date is not given; started records the first national study. The ministry's own site (plan.gouv.ci/structure/5, read 2 October 2026) still lists the BNPVS among its attached directorates and keeps a prospective and strategic watch section, which supports the operating status, but no dated output after 2017 was read at an official source; a national prospective day in May 2024 and a sectoral foresight manual in September 2025 were seen only in press. The study claims a strategic watch mechanism was to follow; no figure for it was read.

  • Norwaylinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1999still operating

    Teknologiraadet, the Norwegian Board of Technology

    Norway's Board of Technology, an independent public advisory body created in 1999 on the Storting's initiative that also serves as secretariat for the Storting's technology group, delivered eight publications and held eleven meetings, four of them for the Storting's technology group, in 2025 on operating income of NOK 13.8 million.

    8 publications, publications delivered, 2025. 13.8 million NOK, operating income, 2025. Teknologiraadet, Aarsrapport for 2025 til Naerings- og fiskeridepartementet, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The government appoints a 15-member council for four-year terms with a small independent secretariat that chooses its own projects, convenes expert groups and lay panels, and briefs the Storting through a cross-party technology group it services.

    Limits: The board reports on itself to its parent ministry; the figures are in a 41-page PDF, publications and meetings on PDF page 5 and income on page 3. It is a technology assessment body more than a strategic foresight unit, though its 2025 work included a project on strategic foresight methods and an annual trend report for the Storting. Publication counts measure output, not influence on law or budgets. It is small: the secretariat had eight permanent staff in 2025. Its funding line moved in 2025 from the trade ministry's research council chapter to the research council's allocation letter from the education ministry, which the report describes as an administrative change; continuity since 1999 is stated on the board's own about page (https://teknologiradet.no/forsiden/om-oss/), not in an external evaluation.

  • Denmarklinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1995dismantled

    Teknologiraadet, the Danish Board of Technology, abolished in 2012

    Denmark's parliament abolished the statutory Board of Technology, set up by Act no. 375 of 14 June 1995 to assess technology and report to the Folketing, by Act no. 559 of 18 June 2012, after an all-party budget agreement of 15 November 2011 withdrew its annual grant, which had been DKK 10.5 million in 2011, to fund the research reserve.

    10.5 million DKK, annual grant to the board of technology in the finance act, 2011. Folketinget, L 79 (2011-12), Forslag til lov om ophaevelse af lov om Teknologiraadet, explanatory notes, via Retsinformation, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: A statute gave a self-governing board its own Finance Act grant and a duty to report to parliament each year; an all-party budget deal then reallocated that grant to research funding, and parliament repealed the act unanimously.

    Limits: The figure was read in the bill's XML (https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/ft/201112L00079/xml), because the eli page renders with JavaScript; the vote (104 for, none against) and the law number and date come from the Folketing's open data API (oda.ft.dk, case 9940). The board was a technology assessment body with participatory methods, which is adjacent to strategic foresight rather than the same thing. Its work did not stop: Aktstykke 65 of 20 March 2012 let it create a foundation, Fonden Teknologiraadet, which continues as a non-profit that sells projects, so what ended is the statutory public function and its guaranteed grant, not every activity. The bill puts the annual saving at about DKK 10 million and sets aside DKK 4.5 million for winding up in 2012. The 1995 act replaced an earlier Technology Board (Teknologinaevnet) under a 1989 consolidated law, so the public function predates the start year given.

  • Belgiumlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 1959still operating

    Bureau federal du Plan

    Belgium's Federal Planning Bureau, which produces the government's economic forecasts and long-term demographic, ageing, energy and transport outlooks, published 34 publications in 2025 and employed 91 full-time equivalents at the end of the year, down from 96 at the end of 2023, after it stopped replacing departing staff in 2024 to meet savings targets.

    91 FTE, staff, full-time equivalents at 31 december, 2025-12-31. 96 FTE, staff, full-time equivalents at 31 december (earlier level, not shown to be a peak), 2023-12-31. Bureau federal du Plan, Rapport d'activite 2025, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: A statutory, de facto independent planning bureau receives mandates from government, parliament and social partners, and publishes forecasts and long-term outlooks that the federal budget and pension debates rely on; in a savings drive the government cut its grant and it stopped replacing leavers.

    Limits: The bureau reports on itself; the 91 FTE (80 funded by the federal grant, 11 by contracts) and the hiring freeze are on PDF page 12, the 34 publications on page 19. The 96 FTE is from the 2023 activity report (https://www.plan.be/sites/default/files/documents/OTH_ACTIV_2023_FR.pdf) and the 2024 report gives 94 (https://www.plan.be/sites/default/files/documents/OTH_ACTIV_2024_FR.pdf). The record is filed as operating, not eroded: the fall is five FTE, about 5 percent, from a 2023 level that is not shown to be a peak (earlier reports were not found at the same address), and output held, with 37 publications in 2023, 45 in 2024 and 34 in 2025. The staff trend and the bureau's statement that it no longer replaces leavers to meet savings targets are a documented squeeze on capacity, and a later report showing a deeper loss would justify eroded. Most of the bureau's work is medium-term forecasting and policy costing, not scenario-based strategic foresight; its long-term population, ageing and sustainable development outlooks are the foresight part. The report says nearly 40 percent of staff will retire within ten years, which is a risk stated by the bureau, not a measured loss. The 1959 start is the Act of 23 December 1959 named on the bureau's legal basis page (https://www.plan.be/en/about-us/legal-basis).

  • Greecelinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2022still operating

    Special Secretariat of Foresight (now of Long-term Planning)

    Greece's Special Secretariat of Foresight published its Megatrends 2040 report and seven megatrend notes in February and March 2022 and then six further foresight studies to September 2026, including Generative AI Greece 2030 (January 2024), The Future of Work and Skills in Greece (February 2025) and Mediterranean Foresight (September 2026).

    6 studies, foresight studies published on the secretariat's studies pages, january 2023 to september 2026, 2026-09-29. 8 publications, megatrends 2040 report and megatrend notes published in february and march 2022, 2022-03. Special Secretariat of Foresight (Eidiki Grammateia Makroprothesmou Schediasmou), Studies pages, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: A special secretariat at the centre of government runs foresight studies with universities and research centres, trains a network of public servants in foresight tools, and represents Greece in EU foresight networks.

    Limits: Both counts are ours: the two studies list pages show no dates, so each item's date is the datePublished stamp in the metadata of its own page (for example Mediterranean Foresight, 29 September 2026; The Future of Work and Skills, 24 February 2025), and the site states no total. Of the six later items, several were made with partners (the National Centre for Social Research on internet use, the UNESCO Chair on Futures Research on innovation to 2035, and the High Level Advisory Committee on AI for the AI blueprint), so the Secretariat's own output is smaller; reposted EU Strategic Foresight Reports are excluded. Output fell from a launch burst in 2022 to one or two studies a year. The site's footer and its July 2026 press release now name the body the Special Secretariat of Long-term Planning, a renaming whose date and legal basis were not read; the 2022 start is the date of the first study, not the founding act, which was not read. A count of studies says nothing about use in policy.

  • Lithuanialinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2022delivered and closed

    STRATA foresight for the Lietuva 2050 state progress strategy

    Lithuania's Government Strategic Analysis Center (STRATA) followed six thematic public discussions on the country's future in May and June 2022 with nine foresight studies on megatrends and scenarios by policy area, which fed the vision and strategic ambitions of the draft state progress strategy Lietuva 2050.

    9 studies, foresight studies prepared for lietuva 2050, 2022. 6 discussions, thematic discussions on lithuania's future, 2022-05 to 2022-06. Vyriausybes strategines analizes centras (STRATA), Ateities izvalgos page (archived copy of 10 August 2025), retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The government's strategic analysis centre ran public thematic discussions, commissioned studies that turned their megatrends into sector scenarios and SWOT analyses, and used them in workshops that drafted the long-term state strategy.

    Limits: The live site (https://strata.gov.lt/) returned 403 to scripts, so an archived copy was read. The counts are stated by the centre about its own work and measure output, not influence; the page does not date each study, and 2022 is the year of the discussions. The exercise was tied to one strategy, so it shows a foresight delivery and not, by itself, a standing foresight function; STRATA's wider role (research, impact assessment, training) continues but was not counted. Whether the final Lietuva 2050 strategy adopted the scenarios was not read.

  • Moroccolinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2007still operating

    Institut Royal des Etudes Stratégiques (IRES)

    Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies, announced in the 2003 Throne Speech to strengthen the country's capacities for analysis, adaptation and anticipation and created by Dahir No 1-07-183 of 30 November 2007, published the twelfth edition of its strategic dashboard on Morocco's international positioning on 28 November 2024 and was still issuing general reports in 2025.

    12 editions, editions of the strategic dashboard 'tableau de bord stratégique: évolution du positionnement international du maroc', 2024-11-28. Institut Royal des Etudes Stratégiques, Publications: Rapports généraux (list page) and Présentation de l'IRES, retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: The head of state created by decree a strategic studies institute with a small project-based staff and associated researchers, which runs recurring monitoring products, national surveys and studies on questions he refers to it.

    Limits: The institute reports on itself, and the figure is an edition number in the title of a listed report, not a count of output the institute publishes. The dashboard tracks Morocco's position in international indicators, which is strategic monitoring (veille) rather than scenario-based foresight, and the institute describes itself as a think tank, a watch function and a forum, working on questions referred by the King; the mandate and the Dahir are on the presentation page (https://www.ires.ma/fr/ires/presentation), where the 2003 Throne Speech that announced it names anticipation as its purpose. It sits outside the elected government, attached to the monarchy, so it is a centre-of-state body rather than a cabinet unit, and nothing read today shows its work entering a government decision. The page gives no budget, staff count or total of reports. Started is 2007, the year of the founding Dahir; the publication list begins in 2009.

  • New Zealandlinked to Government foresight capacitystarted 2020still operating

    Long-term Insights Briefings under the Public Service Act 2020

    New Zealand's Public Service Act 2020 required every departmental chief executive to publish a Long-term Insights Briefing on future trends, risks and opportunities at least once every three years, and nineteen were published in the first round, which concluded in mid-2023, four of them produced jointly by several agencies.

    19 briefings, long-term insights briefings published in the first round, 2023 (mid-year). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, The Policy Project, Long-term Insights Briefings page (last updated 11 December 2025), retrieved 2026-10-02.

    How it worked: A public service statute obliges every department head to consult the public on a topic, write a briefing on medium and long-term trends with policy options, and table it at least once every three years, with the centre of government publishing guidance and reviewing the round.

    Limits: The live dpmc.govt.nz page returns 403 to scripts, so it was read from a Wayback Machine copy of 18 June 2026; the page is the coordinating department reporting on a duty it guides. It is a statutory duty spread across departments, not a single foresight unit with its own budget and staff, and the count measures briefings published, not their quality or influence: DPMC's own review of the first round assessed the process only and said so. Started is 2020, the year of the Act that created the duty; the page does not give the year the first briefings were published. The briefings are think pieces independent of ministers and are not government policy. Whether the second round has kept the same number of briefings is not stated on the page.

Read how the benchmark turns an indicator into a score on the method page. The limits page records where this capability is still poorly observed.