Future-oriented technology analysis (FTA) is a collective term from

futures studies Futures studies, futures research or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and wor ...

for analyzing future technology and its consequences. It includes technology intelligence,

technology forecasting Technology forecasting attempts to predict the future characteristics of useful technological machines, procedures or wikt:technique, techniques. Researchers create technology forecasts based on past experience and current technological developmen ...

technology roadmapping A technology roadmap is a flexible planning schedule to support strategic and long-range planning, by matching short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions. It is a plan that applies to a new product or process and may include ...

technology assessment Technology assessment (TA, , ) is a practical process of determining the value of a new or emerging technology in and of itself or against existing technologies. This is a means of assessing and rating the new technology from the time when it w ...

, and technology foresight. Technology Futures Analysis or Technology Future Analysis (TFA) is a synonym. Future-oriented technology analysis shares common methods with

horizon scanning Horizon scanning (HS) or horizon scan is a method from futures studies, sometimes regarded as a part of foresight. It is the early detection and assessment of emerging technologies or threats for mainly policy makers in a domain of choice. Su ...

Definitions

Methods

{, class="wikitable sortable" , + Methods and their families{{cite journal , title=Technology futures analysis: Toward integration of the field and new methods , journal=Technological Forecasting and Social Change , date=1 March 2004 , volume=71 , issue=3 , pages=287–303 , doi=10.1016/j.techfore.2003.11.004 , s2cid=18904868 , url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040162503001380 , language=en , issn=0040-1625, url-access=subscription , - ! Method !! Family , - , Agent based modeling , , Modeling and simulation , - , Analytical hierarchy process , , Valuing/decision/economic , - ,

Backcasting Backcasting is a planning method that starts with defining a desirable future and then works backwards to identify policies and programs that will connect that specified future to the present. The fundamentals of the method were outlined by John B ...

, , Descriptive and matrices , - ,

Bibliometrics Bibliometrics is the application of statistical methods to the study of bibliographic data, especially in scientific and library and information science contexts, and is closely associated with scientometrics (the analysis of scientific metri ...

, , Monitoring and intelligence, Statistics , - ,

Brainstorming Brainstorming is a creativity technique in which a group of people interact to divergent thinking, suggest ideas spontaneously in response to a prompt. Stress is typically placed on the volume and variety of ideas, including ideas that may seem o ...

, , Creativity , - , Cross impact analysis , , Modeling and simulation, Statistics , - ,

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

, , Expert Opinion , - , Multicriteria decision analyses , , Valuing/decision/economic , - , Relevance tree , , Descriptive and matrices, Valuing/decision/economic , - ,

Risk analysis In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...

, , Descriptive and matrices, Valuing/decision/economic , - , Roadmapping , , Descriptive and matrices , - ,

Scenarios In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; from Italian , "that which is pinned to the scenery") is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action ...

, , Scenarios , - ,

Social impact assessment Social impact assessment (SIA) is a methodology to review the social effects of infrastructure projects and other development interventions. Although SIA is usually applied to planned interventions, the same techniques can be used to evaluate the s ...

, , Descriptive and matrices , - ,

Stakeholder analysis Stakeholder analysis in conflict resolution, business administration, Environmental health, environmental health sciences decision making, industrial ecology, public administration, and project management is the process of assessing a system and po ...

, , Descriptive and matrices, Valuing/decision/economic , - , Sustainability analysis , , Descriptive and matrices, Modeling and simulation , - ,

System dynamics System dynamics (SD) is an approach to understanding the nonlinear behaviour of complex systems over time using stocks, flows, internal feedback loops, table functions and time delays. Overview System dynamics is a methodology and mathematical ...

, , Modeling and simulation , - ,

Technology assessment Technology assessment (TA, , ) is a practical process of determining the value of a new or emerging technology in and of itself or against existing technologies. This is a means of assessing and rating the new technology from the time when it w ...

, , Descriptive and matrices, Modeling and simulation , - ,

TRIZ TRIZ (; ) is a methodology that combines an organized, systematic method of problem-solving with analysis and forecasting techniques derived from the study of patterns of invention in global patent literature. The development and improvement of ...

, , Creativity

References

Technology assessment Technology forecasting