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  • Who We Are
  • IFTF Vantage Partnership
  • IFTF Foresight Essentials
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  • Artifacts from the Future
  • Events
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  • Media Center
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Signals

Innovations + Disruptions

A signal is typically a small or local innovation or disruption that has the potential to grow in scale and geographic distribution. A signal can be a new product, a new practice, a new market strategy, a new policy, or new technology. It can be an event, a local trend, or an organization. It can also be a recently revealed problem or state of affairs. In short, it is something that catches our attention at one scale and in one locale and points to larger implications for other locales or even globally.

Signals are useful for people who are trying to anticipate a highly uncertain future. They tend to capture emergent phenomenon sooner than traditional social science methods. Unlike trends, they turn our attention to possible innovations before they become obvious. Unlike indicators, they often focus our attention at the margins of society rather than the core. In this way, they are more likely to reveal disruptions and innovations. Of course, local trends and indicators can function as signals: when a trend hits a certain threshold, for example, it might be a signal of a change in the larger population, as when an innovation moves beyond the lead user stage and begins to diffuse much more rapidly.

Follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook Group, and like our Facebook Page to see examples of signals posted regularly.

Learn More

For more information about the Institute for the Future and ways to work with us, contact:

Sean Ness | [email protected] | 650-233-9517

  • Institute for the Future

  • 201 Hamilton Avenue
  • Palo Alto, CA 94301
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    What We Do

  • Who We Are
  • IFTF Vantage Partnership
  • IFTF Foresight Essentials
  • Forecasts
  • Workshops
  • Maps
  • Artifacts from the Future
  • Events
  • In the News
  • Media Center
  • Gallery
  • History of the Future

    Our Work

  • Featured Projects
  • Global Landscape
  • People + Technology
  • Health + Self

    Partner with IFTF

  • IFTF Vantage
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  • Research Labs
  • Partners
  • Jobs
  • Donate
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  • Privacy Policy

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