Attilio Sacconi, Monica Cariola
EUROPEAN FORESIGHT PROCESSES ON METROLOGY R&D
The background and the results of a first investigation on national foresight processes carried out in European countries, and what we learned from it, are here presented. This work is one of the basic tasks of the European project “iMERA” started in 2005. A questionnaire provided detailed information on the national activities of metrology foresight, in particular, information on:
- the number of countries performing foresight processes in metrology or in related areas,
- the number and the typologies of foresight processes in different metrology fields,
- the methodologies used,
- the frequencies of the foresight processes and the dissemination of related results,
- the level of participation of NMIs to national foresight processes and their feeling about the real utility of these kind of activities.
The survey gave an overview of the present state-of-the art of the metrology foresight processes, by focusing mainly on their characteristics rather than on their contents. The analysis show a large variety of national foresight processes on metrology R&D ranging from solid and highly formalised procedures to a much more informal and simple methodology. Many reported studies seem to have the characteristics of Forecasting and Strategic Planning rather than of Foresight exercises.