Industrial Design

Democratizing the future
Towards a new era of creativity and growth by Josephine Green

Index Josephine Green was appointed Senior Director of Trends and Strategy at Philips Design in 1997. She promotes new thinking and new knowledge in the fields of Foresight and Society, Cultures and People Research, and its application to strategic thinking, sustainable innovation and new value creation.Josephine was born in the United Kingdom and studied History and Politics at Warwick University in England. She has lived in England, Italy and the Netherlands.
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Abstract 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A change of age 6 Beyond consumption 8 Beyond technology 1 The context economy 14 New economic value4 A socially led approach 8 Social innovation 0 The future 4 Foresight in design 6 Sense making and making sense 60 References 66



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Index – Democratizing the future



Abstract
Major corporations are often restricted by a too-limited view of the future. This view is based on the western belief that time is linear and that the future is merely an empty space that canbe ‘colonized’ to the present and filled with ever more technology and consumer goods. However, this technology and consumer determinism now threatens to compromise our wellbeing and prosperity. This paper argues that we need different ways of thinking, being and doing if we are to live well, prosper and safeguard the future. Primarily we need to go beyond the straightjacket of consumer needs and aconsumer approach, and also encompass social needs and a social approach. By doing so, we can drive a new era of creativity and growth. Working with this emerging social space therefore becomes both an opportunity and a necessity. However, we must not only re-invent our social industries, but also our lifestyles and even the very growth models upon which they are based. To achieve this, the newtechnologies enable more radical innovation through the delivery of more context-based customized services and systems. Such place embedded systems have the potential to deliver sustainable solutions for the 1st century. Shifting our emphasis from consumption to services and systems, and combining a consumer-led and socially-led approach, means that how we think about and interact with the futurewill change. This paper explores these changes and examines how we might open up and engage with the future differently, in terms of going beyond: • a market-led approach, based on consumer research and innovation, to a socially-led approach based on social research and social innovation. • the act of researching the future to directly engaging with the future through people who are alreadycreating it today. • closed research and innovation to open co-creation with stakeholders, especially users. • a linear interpretation of time and the future towards new conceptual models that allow a more imaginative and creative interaction with the future. In short, we need to shift the emphasis away from technology and the market and more towards people and responsibility through ownership. It istime to democratize the future.

We live in an age in which we have to re-invent many of our social industries like health, education, wellbeing, care and transport
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Democratizing the future – Abstract

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A change of age
In many companies there has been a shift in the last decades from a focus on technology research and innovation to a focus on consumer research andinnovation. This shift mirrors the realization that technology can drive growth but often fails to be sufficiently in tune with consumers’ needs and aspirations. In other words, there have been too many mistakes and too many misses. The shift from technology to consumer also reflects the increasing influence and (purchasing) power of consumers, captured in the oft-repeated mantra; ‘the customer is...