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Strategic Foresight
The Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer (OCVO) plays a key role in providing sound scientific advice to inform animal health policy. This role continues to become more challenging as the complexity of problems and the rate of change increase.
Strategic foresight provides the tools for early identification of emerging trends, for analysis and interpretation, and for developing a range of options and identifying preferred responses.
Strategic foresight capabilities are useful when managing uncertainty, both now and in the future. Strategic foresight methods enable the development of more robust and resilient analysis leading to better planning and policy advice.
By scanning the environment for emerging issues and considering them from a range of perspectives, the OCVO aims to identify and respond to significant emerging issues before they become critical.
Some of OCVO’s strategic foresight activities for 2008 are listed below.
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Environmental scanning in areas such as biotechnology, emerging diseases, science and society, and food safety.
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Consideration of key emerging issues using foresight techniques to assist with future planning.
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Cooperative work with Quadrilateral Group partners (Canada, New Zealand and the United States) on future approaches to emergency animal disease management, and
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Participation in the Australasian Joint Agencies Scanning Network (AJASN). The AJASN consists of officers from DAFF (BRS, NRM and PIAPH); Land & Water Australia; Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism; Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment; Victorian Catchment Management Council; NSW Department of Primary Industries; and NZ Ministry for the Environment. The group is facilitated by a professional futurist, Kate Delaney. The annual report is available by emailing the OCVO.