Signal CSF builds foresight capacity across Singapore's public service

Summary

The centre's external activities fall into three areas, namely generating insights, building capability, and running networks and communities. Its flagship biennial Foresight series had appeared seven times by 2024, and the fifteenth-anniversary edition covered the end of low interest rates, backlash against individualism, the convergence of bio and digital technology and the reshaping of an ageing society. The centre also supports whole-of-government National Scenarios that sketch Singapore's paths 20 to 30 years ahead, and hosts the biennial Futures Conversation series. Its FutureCraft workshops, run with the Civil Service College for public officials, were held 27 times in 2023 alone. The Strategic Futures Network gathers deputy-secretary-level officials quarterly to discuss emerging trends, while the Sandbox lets working-level planners share projects. The author describes the centre as a hub that connects and trains the futures capability of the entire government.