DESCRIPTION
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The present time is characterised by rapid and often simultaneous changes and developments: technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), new regulatory requirements such as the CSRD or the EU AI Act, as well as social and political challenges are creating dynamic and disruptive prospects for the future with specific requirements for resilience and innovation management. For this reason, strategic foresight is becoming increasingly important for both companies and the research community.
Companies are faced with the key task of identifying relevant signs (e.g. weak signals, emerging topics, trends) in the economic environment at an early stage and deriving added value for their strategy, business models and products. If development scenarios are not taken into account in strategic planning, or are not taken into account to a sufficient extent, this can, in extreme cases, threaten the very existence of the company. However, a lack of resources, insufficient expertise, a reluctance to change or inadequate (softsware) tools are just a few examples of why small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular find it difficult to establish suitable structures and processes for foresight.
Scientific organizations also face similar challenges when it comes to aligning their own research strategies and, consequently, determining which competencies and topics need to be addressed in the future. At the same time, the use and methodology of foresight – for example in business and society – represent a current and exciting field of research for the scientific community. Despite this potential, however, there are only a few scientific studies on this topic to date, suggesting that there may be gaps in research in this area.
The workshop ‘Foresight in Theory and Practice’ therefore serves as a format for bringing together actors from companies and scientific institutions to discuss experiences and opportunities for cooperation in strategic foresight. In particular, the importance of computer science for the establishment and enhancement of a foresight process will also be taken into account. The following questions provide an orientation on the thematic focus of the workshop:
- What research approaches already exist in the field of foresight? Where is there a need for further research?
- How are research approaches currently being applied in practice? What are their distinguishing features and where are their limitations?
- How is strategic foresight carried out in companies? How does it differ in large companies and SMEs?
- How can strategic foresight be implemented in scientific institutions? Where are the differences to the corporate approach, where are the similarities?
- How can digital technologies (e.g. software applications, AI) support and improve strategic foresight? What resources and skills are required for this?
The workshop will present research approaches and case studies dealing with the research and/or application of foresight methods and technologies. This will be followed by an interactive discussion of opportunities, challenges and current developments in the field of foresight in business and academic research.
The workshop is aimed at researchers and practitioners in the field of strategic foresight, as well as:
- Specialists and managers from companies that use strategic foresight in their planning
- Consultants in the field of future studies and trend analysis
- Those responsible for innovation and technology management
- Decision-makers in politics and administration developing future-oriented strategies
- IT experts and developers of digital foresight tools
- Scientists and students with an interest in foresight methods

TOPICS
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WORKSHOP TOPICS
Contributions to the workshop may address various aspects of foresight or strategic forecasting. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- Methods of strategic foresight
- Use of foresight in companies
- Use of foresight in scientific institutions
- Digital technologies to support foresight (e.g. AI, big data, simulations)
- AI and foresight
- Simulation techniques
- Data analysis/data management
- Scenario techniques
- Trend analysis
- Horizon scanning
- Innovation management
- Organisational and cultural challenges of strategic foresight
- Regulatory and ethical aspects of foresight
- Corporate strategy and foresight
- Risk management with foresight
- Best practices and case studies

SUBMISSIONS
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- Contributions should be submitted in PDF format. The LNI templates should be used for contributions (https://gi.de/service/publikationen/lni).
- Contributions should not exceed the following length:
- Full paper: 10–12 pages
- Short paper: 6 pages
- Work-in-progress paper: 3–5 pages
- Practical examples from industry: 3–5 pages
- Contributions may be written in German or English.
- Submissions should be sent to https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=fortip2025

Submitted contributions will be reviewed and evaluated by at least two representatives of the programme committee as part of a selection process. The programme committee is composed of both researchers and practitioners.

The selected submissions will be published in the Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI) and presented by at least one author during the workshop.

ORGANISATION COMMITTEE
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- Natalja Kleiner, FZI Research Centre for Information Technology, Karlsruhe
- Iuliana Nichersu, FZI Research Centre for Information Technology, Karlsruhe
- Birthe Menke, 4strat GmbH, Berlin