The Navigator Network A Futurewatch Case Study

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The Navigator NetworkA Futurewatch Case Study

• Jane Cameron
• Ministry of Research, Science Tech
• New Zealand
• 2nd Annual Seville FTA Seminar
• Sept 28-29, 2006

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What is the Navigator Network?
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• The Navigator Network is a New Zealand-based
  national ST scanning network.
• It has been set up in association with the
  Ministry of Research, Science and Technology
  (MoRST) to
• identify emerging science trends and innovations
  (particularly in biotechnology and
  nanotechnology) and
• to further explore those that may raise
  significant economic, social or environmental
  issues for New Zealand.

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• The project brings together individuals and
  organisations from the science and policy
  communities with insights into the dynamics of
  emerging science, technology and social change,
  both globally and in New Zealand.
• The primary end-user of the Networks findings
  are government agencies. Findings from the
  network provide input for policy and operations
  across government, including science policy,
  regulatory settings and public engagement.

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Background What are the roots of this
initiative?
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The Royal Commission on Genetic Modification

• In 2000, the New Zealand Government convened a
  Royal Commission on Genetic Modification to look
  into and report on the issues surrounding GM in
  New Zealand.
• The Royal Commission recommended that New Zealand
  develop a capability for what they called
  biotechnology futurewatch

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The New Zealand Biotechnology Strategy

• The Government endorsed this recommendation in
  the New Zealand Biotechnology Strategy (2003)
• MoRST was charged with the implementation of
  futurewatch to strengthen ways for New Zealand
  to forsee and make timely responses to emerging
  issues and opportunities relevant to
  biotechnology

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What do we mean by the term
futurewatch?
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The futurewatch approach is about

• looking at the edge identifying potentially
  important things at the margins of current
  thinking, including both future issues and things
  at the periphery.
• in an open way bringing in a range of
  perspectives, considering uncertainties as well
  as certainties, being mindful of assumptions,
  imagining different possible futures, and leaving
  room for creativity
• that considers the big picture such as
  interactions in whole systems, thinking about
  risks as well as opportunities, and considering
  wider time horizons (history as well as future).

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Methodological Approaches

• The over-arching term futurewatch therefore
  encompasses a range of futures methodologies.
• Most specifically, as a means of gathering
  information thinking about emerging ST trends
• Environmental scanning
• Systems thinking
• And as approaches to assessing exploring the
  implications of these
• Technology assessment
• Dialogic methods to facilitate conversations
  about the implications of emerging technologies

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Implementing Biotechnology Futurewatch
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Phase I OrientationBuilding Internal Capability
(2003-04)

• In Phase I of the futurewatch implementation we
  oriented ourselves and built internal
  capability by completing a very broad global scan
  of emerging developments in biotechnology.
• The scan Futurewatch Biotechnologies to 2025
  identifies emerging biotechnology trends in
  Health, Primary Production, Industrial
  Environmental Biotechnology and Security and
  Defence

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Impacts of Biotechnologies to 2025

• The trends and issues identified in the 2025
  report have
• provided a baseline of trends with which to
  compare the emerging developments identified by
  the Navigator Network
• resulted in follow-up work in stem cells and
  industrial biotechnology and
• been used as an input for the OECDs Bioeconomy
  to 2030 project.

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(No Transcript)
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Phase IIPutting in place a distributed ST
scanning networkThe Navigator Network
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MoRSTs has four key objectives for the
Navigator Network

• Support discussion and a collective understanding
  of new and emerging science and technologies, how
  they may influence New Zealands future, and what
  actions may be required to address their
  challenges and opportunities.
• Gather, synthesise and share information and
  support linkages in the exchange and convergence
  of ideas between policy and science communities.
• Support the development of a culture of early
  thinking across government and more broadly
• Develop, apply and profile a New Zealand approach
  to environmental scanning.

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At the core of the Navigator Network is the
central scanning activity

• To date a key focus of the Network has been to
  appoint and train a core group of scanners
  researchers and experts active and aware of
  developments in biotechnology, nanotechnology and
  the socio-political context for science.

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The Network is specifically designed for New
Zealand conditions
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Interpreting the New Zealand context

• On the whole New Zealanders are a
• technologically literate people with a
• good existing awareness of emerging
• technology.
• New Zealanders also place importance
• on considering developments in a wide
• social, environmental, cultural and
• economic context.

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New Zealanders have a particularly deep
connection with the natural environment. This in
turn has a strong influence on the set of values
we bring to our views on emerging
biotechnologies.
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Royal Commission on Genetic Modification
New Zealand has a small, horizontally connected
government sector. Connections between agencies
are therefore relatively easy to foster. A
particular focus of these horizontal
relationships are complex, cross-cutting
issues, like emerging technologies.
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New Zealands science capacity is predominantly
in public owned research institutes and
universities. But, compared with other
countries, there is limited capacity in central
government.
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New Zealand has a strong biological-base to our
economy with around 65 of total goods exports
coming from the primary sector agriculture,
horticulture, forestry, fishing food
beverage.
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Specific Design Features to Achieve Outcomes
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Design Feature OneA New Zealand-centric
strategic focus

• While the scope of the Navigator Network broadly
  encompasses biotechnology and nanotechnology,
  areas of strategic focus for the New Zealand
  context have been selected.
• Given the importance of agriculture to New
  Zealands economic societal wellbeing the
  initial strategic focus of the Network is
  agricultural biotechnology and food and their
  interface with the environmental and social
  context.

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Design Feature TwoArms length from Government

• Although MoRST is an active participant in the
  project team, the Network is managed by an
  independent team.
• Placing the management of the Network external to
  government was deliberate to ensure that it
  could, if necessary, provide independent advice
  which can challenge existing institutional
  knowledge, world-views and horizons.

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Design Feature ThreeA Knowledge Creation
rather than Data Mining Approach

• Many of our objectives in designing this
  initiative are more oriented towards achieving
  softer outcomes (like supporting discussion and
  shared understanding between the policy and
  science communities)
• The process of interpreting the implications of
  the scanning reports for New Zealand is
  therefore, geared more towards creating knowledge
  through social processes than harder-edged
  scientometric data-mining technical assessment.
  

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The Scanning Reporting Process
Scanning Workshop Wider set of
participants Theme areas (ie. agricultural
stakeholders, policy-makers and opinion
leaders) Workshop discussion using trends
identified in Draft Scanning Report and
discussion of the implications of these for New
Zealand.
Draft Scanning Report Quarterly reporting by
contracted scanners Synthesis of scanning
observations into broad trends, thematic areas
Updated Scanning Report Report updated to
reflect value-add from the Workshop process
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Design Feature FourFacilitating Uptake of
Network Reporting

• To facilitate uptake government officials are
  explicitly embedded in the process. This is
  achieved in two ways, officials act both as
• scanners feeding their own scanning
  observations into the reporting cycles and thus
  capturing the policy context and
• interpreters more senior officials attending
  the workshop sessions to offer their own insights
  into future implications for New Zealand.
• The results of the Network are also channelled,
  where possible, through relevant existing
  networks and channels such as cross-departmental
  officials groups

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Design Feature FiveBuilding Futures Capability

• One of the objectives of the Navigator Network is
  to build futures capability across the science
  and government sectors.
• A primary foci of the Network is therefore to
  focus on training and developing the skills of
  the core group of scanners.
• Putting the effort into training is resulting in
  more robust reporting as the scanners are
  learning over time the truly new compared to
  the new to me.

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Design Feature SixBuilt in Action Learning

• The Network has a built in action research
  component. This emphasis on reflective practice
  gives this initiative a degree of flexibility
  which ensures that it is constantly focusing on
  whats working best to achieve the projects
  objectives and can re-orient its course
  accordingly.

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Whats Working Well?
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The Network is already resulting in positive
impacts

• Were successfully building futures capability in
  the science and policy spheres
• Stronger linkages are being built between the
  policy and science communities
• Network outputs are being channeled into a range
  of cross-government forums (both from
  methodological and subject specific
  perspectives) and
• New cross-sectoral discussions about the future
  of food are in train that wouldnt otherwise
  have occurred.

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Next Steps
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Evaluation planned early 2007

• The types of questions that will be explored
  further in the evaluation include
• Have better or more timely decisions have been
  made because of the discussions or insights
  arising from the Navigator Network?
• Does this system approach to scanning better
  support governments readiness to emerging
  technology developments than existing
  organisational approaches?

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For further information

• The Navigator Network
• http//www.navigatornetwork.net.nz
• The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology
• http//www.morst.govt.nz/current-work/futurewatch/
  

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Key Contacts

• Ministry of Research, Science and Technology
• Katherine Silvester Principal Adviser
• katherine.silvester_at_morst.govt.nz
• Jane Cameron Adviser, Futurewatch
• jane.cameron_at_morst.govt.nz
• Navigator Network Project Team
• Dr Barbara Nicholas Project Leader
• barbara.nicholas_at_nicholas.net.nz
• Karen Cronin Project Team
• Navigator Network karen.cronin_at_paradise.net.nz