Global Futures and Foresight (GFF)

The Company

GFF is a strategic futures think tank formed in September 2006 by futurists Rohit Talwar and David Smith. GFF works with clients to develop critical, powerful insights and pragmatic responses to the trends and forces shaping the future. GFF also undertakes its own programme of research studies. GFF draws on a global network of specialist researchers and consultants to provide practical and actionable insight and advice on future trends and opportunities.

The response to our proposition and approach has been very positive and we have already developed an excellent portfolio of clients, projects, partners, associates, prospects and opportunities. We are committed to displaying the highest ethical and environmental standards and to creating a vibrant, respectful, creative, inspiring and supportive culture for all our customers, staff and associates.

The Services

We focus on five key drivers of global change:

Future Economies
Future Trends and Issues
Future Markets
Future of Business
Future Society

GFF’s approach seeks to integrate views from these multiple perspectives to help clients understand the future context in which they must make business decisions today.

GFF’s studies make extensive use of a wide range of futures tools and techniques. GFF also undertakes electronic future surveys – tapping into the views of a global network of over 10,000 future thinkers in business, government, NGOs, professional services and academia. This network enables GFF to take a truly global and long term perspective on all topics and provides access to experts in every sector and domain. Recent GFF projects include:

Future Economies

A client project on the development of China and India over the next 25 years
A recently completed study on the future of China’s economy to 2020 - to be published in March 2007 drawing on views from over 60 countries (see enclosed diskette)
A survey about to be undertaken on the future of India’s economy
A survey on the future of Dubai

Future Trends and Issues

Our annual Pulse survey looking at global trends and scenarios for the next five years drawing on views from 60 countries – currently being documented (see attached example of raw survey outputs)
A global reach client study on social networks and virtual worlds

Future Markets

A study on the future of the exhibitions industry
A client study on the future of travel in the Middle East

Future Business

A client study on key business challenges over the next five years drawing on views from 40 countries.

The aim of GFF is to harness the views of global experts to provide foresight to organizations so that they can be more successful and less exposed to risk by better understanding the opportunities and threats the future has in store for us. GFF is a global network of business, academic and future thinkers from across the world committed to helping business and government better prepare for the future. It does this through collaborative projects and through undertaking its own research, gathering thought leaders’ views of the future and forming composite ideas of what our future could look like.

In October 1929, John D. Rockefeller decided it was time to liquidate his Wall Street holdings, when he was given a share tip by his shoe-shine boy.

Walter Hunt invented a sewing machine in 1834, but decided not to pursue it, as he feared it might lead to unemployment. The man who did patent the sewing machine also invented the first zip-fastener, but didn’t rate its potential highly enough to take it any further.

The ability to see into the future would guarantee a fortune to every business leader, as well as every gambler. While no-one has ever invented a way of achieving this, some people have dedicated their lives to the next best thing – using their minds to consolidate and extrapolate information from today, to envisage what the future is likely to hold.

Future-thinking is a thriving activity. All over the world, individuals and institutes are quietly applying their ‘analytical imagination’ to areas of human activity large and small, general and esoteric, to paint pictures of the way things may well turn out to be.
Ikon of GFN circle
GFF ICON

GFF ICON was created by Slobodan, an artist living in NIce, France. He paints on the reverse side of glass. So he has to paint the buttons on a coat before the coat - a challenging process and certainly one that requires him to consider what he's going to do in the 'future' of creating his painting - as there's no going back over what's already painted.

The ICON depicts three children, who are our future, looking out into the distance across the earth in different directions from different positions.

In the same way we have perspectives on the world depending upon our location and circumstances and the direction we are looking.

So much more insight can be brought to bare by loooking a little wider into the same future but from different standpoints. This is what GFF brings to it's clients. Enhanced context for the future and foresight on the environment we will soon be operating in.