Research Method: Horizon Scanning

Horizon scanning is defined as “the act of looking for evidence of emerging issues or trends that might be of importance to you, your firm, your institution, or your community”

The main idea of Horizon Scanning is to forecast and predict potential opportunities or issues as early as possible. With the goal being to spot and address these issues while they are further out and can be approached earlier rather than later with a broader set of solutions still available. Spotting a potential trend in the future is just the first part of horizon scanning. Horizon scanners should also take into account the potential implications and significance of what they identify. Horizon scanning is not just identifying potential trends in advance but also understanding and gauging what the impact of these trends will be.

Horizon scanning is a common practice that is executed at various levels of scale. This method is utilized very differently according to the situation. Horizon scanning can be a bit of a large task. To make the process simpler the method is often used within different frameworks. For example STEEP might be used to open up thinking and direct strategic conversation. It is recommended that horizon scanning should be used to look at least 10 years into the future.