Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring Futures and Emerging Technologies

Hayashi and Baranauskas (2013) present a sociotechnical plan that integrates emotional, cultural, and technical dimensions into educational technology design through their concept of Affectibility. The study was based on a qualitative project involving the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative at a public school in Campinas, Brazil. Using Organizational Semiotics (Stamper, 1993) and participatory design, the authors explored how educational technology could make sense to its users by reflecting the school’s social and cultural practices. The Semiotic Onion model provided a framework for understanding formal, informal, and technical layers of interaction, emphasizing that meaningful learning occurs when technology supports the lived experiences and emotions of its users. This approach moved beyond traditional usability and efficiency-based frameworks to a holistic, human-centered model that treats emotion as an essential part of learning. The sociotechnical plan was implemented throu...

Forecasting and prediction play a central role in business and innovation because they provide organizations with a structured way to anticipate future trends, prepare for uncertainty, and strategically position themselves in competitive markets. Forecasting typically involves quantitative methods, such as time-series analysis or regression, while predictions often stem from more qualitative insights, such as expert judgment or scenario planning (Goodwin & Wright, 2014). Both approaches help leaders make decisions, but predictions often carry the risk of being either visionary or overly optimistic, especially in rapidly evolving industries like technology. The challenge lies in accurately interpreting signals and aligning them with broader economic, technological, or societal forces. One infamous prediction that came true was Steve Jobs’s early forecast that mobile phones would become the primary device for accessing the internet (Frost, 2019). In 2007, when Apple launched the fi...

Organizations constantly face uncertainty about future trends, risks, and opportunities, and they rely on structured methods to prepare for what lies ahead. Two of the most widely used approaches are traditional forecasting, which projects likely outcomes based on historical data, and scenario planning, which develops multiple plausible futures to navigate uncertainty. Forecasting provides quantitative precision and short-term guidance, while scenario planning expands strategic thinking by exploring diverse possibilities. Together, these approaches give leaders a fuller picture of the future, balancing operational efficiency with long-term resilience (Makridakis et al., 2019; ICEF, 2021; Ogilvy, 2022). Scenario planning is a disciplined process that identifies key driving forces and critical uncertainties, then develops a small set of internally consistent narratives to challenge assumptions and expand strategic options (Wright & Cairns, 2011). Classic practice shows how scenario...

Introduction             Innovation is often imagined as the outcome of careful planning, rigorous experimentation, and systematic design. Yet history repeatedly shows that error and accident have played equally significant roles in shaping scientific, medical, and commercial breakthroughs. The capacity to recognize potential in unexpected results, to interpret anomalies, and to refine mistakes into functional products or knowledge is at the heart of many innovations. This paper examines two game-changing ideas that originated from accidents: the development of warfarin from spoiled sweet clover and the invention of the tea bag. These cases demonstrate how serendipitous events, supported by social, scientific, and commercial forces, can transform apparent errors into enduring contributions that reshape medicine, commerce, and culture. Warfarin: From Spoiled Sweet Clover to Lifesaving Drug       ...

 Decision-making in groups is a critical process for organizations, governments, and research communities because collective input often generates stronger, more resilient solutions than individual decision-making alone. Among the wide range of group decision-making methods, the Delphi technique and brainstorming represent two contrasting but highly effective approaches. Each method has unique strengths, limitations, and ideal contexts of use. By comparing and contrasting these approaches, we can better understand when and how they can contribute to sound decision-making. The Delphi technique is a structured process that relies on anonymity, iteration, and expert input to reach consensus. Originally developed by the RAND Corporation in the 1950s for military forecasting, Delphi is now widely applied in business, healthcare, and policy development (Hsu & Sandford, 2007). Participants, usually subject-matter experts, respond to questionnaires in multiple rounds. After each roun...

Think tank methods are structured approaches used by organizations to deliberately foster innovation, generate new knowledge, and influence decision-making. These methods often blend research, collaboration, and problem-solving processes that allow groups to explore complex issues and propose forward-thinking solutions. Unlike ad hoc brainstorming, think tank methods are deliberate, systematic, and designed to channel diverse expertise toward actionable insights. Understanding and applying these approaches can be valuable not only in professional research settings but also in organizational and educational environments where innovation and adaptability are essential. One notable think tank method is scenario planning, a technique that encourages participants to imagine and develop multiple plausible futures. Scenario planning allows decision-makers to explore uncertainties, test assumptions, and prepare for alternative outcomes (Bradfield et al., 2020). This method goes beyond predic...