In a world shaped by accelerating change, the ability to anticipate emerging risks and opportunities is critical for decision-makers across the UN system. Horizon scanning brings together the perspectives and collective intelligence of different stakeholders to map possible changes, presenting a wealth of information on signals, trends, and drivers of change that can be harnessed to inform decision-making, planning, and programming. To this end, the UN Futures Lab/Global Hub and UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) are developing a digital tool to efficiently harness and analyze insights of horizon scanning initiatives from across the UN system. This joint project aims to help users to draw on existing intelligence to deepen analysis, bridge synergies, facilitate cross-fertilization, and motivate collaboration in advancing their work. 

From “Governance Futures” to a system-wide foresight tool

In 2024, the UN Futures Lab/Global Hub collaborated with UN DESA, through its Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) and the Capacity Development Programme Management Office (CDPMO), on a strategic foresight process exploring Governance Futures as part of a broader foresight initiative of the UN Economist Network (UNEN) to support national efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The foresight process resulted in a Policy Brief on Governance Futures: Key Insights and Policy Implications. This collaboration provided the opportunity to test and develop tools to analyze and visualize strategic foresight outcomes, particularly insights stemming from a jointly conducted horizon scanning survey.

Horizon scanning, as a strategic foresight tool, brings together diverse perspectives to map possible changes. Across the UN system, different horizon scanning efforts have been undertaken, generating a wealth of signals, trends, and drivers of change that can inform decision-making, planning, and programming. Meanwhile, digital innovation holds the potential to package this data in more accessible and actionable ways. Building on this, the UN Futures Lab/Global Hub and UN DESA agreed to deepen the exploration of digital capabilities and analytics to enhance foresight processes by consolidating and analyzing insights from horizon scanning initiatives across the UN system. The collaboration aims to:

• Analyze and visualize foresight outcomes via an AI assistant and knowledge management interface
• Strengthen institutional learning and coherence by identifying synergies in futures thinking and strategic foresight initiatives across the UN system
• Support users with tools to navigate complexity and harness collaboration in shaping anticipatory, SDG-aligned initiative (including policies and programmes)

A demo in action: A first look at the horizon scanning tool

In May 2025, the UN Futures Lab/Global Hub and DESA co-hosted a side event at the 2025 STI Forum, featuring preliminary insights and a live demo of the first prototype which draws on five horizon scanning reports published between 2022-2024 by UN DESA, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and World Health Organization (WHO). Following the demo, representatives from the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG), UN DESA, FAO, UNDP, and UNEP engaged in a panel discussion on horizon scanning to further unpack the tool’s initial insights and explore potential synergies. The side event closed with an interactive exercise with the audience to inform iteration and scaling of the tool. Participants  shared potential use cases for the tool, including foresight for behavioural change, use of appropriate technology, and managing biases.

Outcome summary coming soon

Next steps

As the prototype evolves, the project will continue to:

• Incorporate feedback and reflect proposed applications of the tool in the project iteration
• Refine the tool’s features in collaboration with end-users and foresight practitioners
• Test the AI assistant and knowledge graph functionalities to deep dive on issues of interest and proposed use cases
• Map out engagement strategy and phases for outreach to internal and external stakeholders
• Develop a user guide for accessible technical navigation, responsible use, and application of insights
• Build processes and systems for sustainability to ensure foresight insights translate into anticipatory action