FOCUS Project Overview:
Acronym: FOCUS
Project Title: Foresight Security Scenarios: Mapping Research to a Comprehensive Approach to Exogenous EU Roles
Objectives: FOCUS will help shape European security research to enable the EU to effectively respond to tomorrow's challenges stemming from the globalization of risks, threats and vulnerabilities. FOCUS will concentrate on alternative future EU roles to prevent or respond to incidents situated on the "borderline" between the internal and external dimensions of the security affecting the Union and its citizens. It will do so by elaborating multiple scenarios, based on IT-supported foresight, in the form of alternative futures. These will be plausibility-probed versus mere threat scenarios. The main contribution of FOCUS is to develop an effective long-term foresight and assessment tool at the EU level, populated with the analyses carried out by the project. Moreover, FOCUS will deliver tangible products (such as an IT-based knowledge platform) and contents (i.e., a roadmap) for planning research and deciding on priorities. These products are usable beyond the project.
Take part in the FOCUS questionnaires
Documentation of the FOCUS Mid-term Symposium on 13 March 2012 in Vienna
FOCUS Comprehensive Progress Table (per Big Theme):
GREEN: Completed; YELLOW: Runnnig
| Comprehensive approach | Natural disasters & global environmental change | Critical infrastructure & supply chain protection | EU as a global actor based on the wider Petersberg Tasks | EU internal framework | |
| Common scenario foresight methodology and strategy for integration of results | |||||
| Foresight tool repertory (identification, summary and assessment of publicly available tools) | |||||
| Working version of IT-based Knowledge Platform, | |||||
| Summary of problem space descriptions with proposed cross-cutting key drivers | |||||
| Scenario foresight process | Scenario foresight process | Scenario foresight process | Scenario foresight process | Scenario foresight process | |
| Context scenarios: Future EU roles | Draft Context scenarios: Future EU roles | Context scenarios: Future EU roles | |||
| EU role scenarios syllabus | |||||
| Implementation of so-far tools (e.g. online questionnaires) and results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far tools (e.g. online questionnaires) and results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far tools (e.g. online questionnaires) and results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far tools (e.g. online questionnaires) and results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far tools (e.g. online questionnaires) and results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | |
| Alternative futures: Scenarios for future security research in support of future EU roles | Alternative futures: Scenarios for future security research in support of future EU roles | Alternative futures: Scenarios for future security research in support of future EU roles | Alternative futures: Scenarios for future security research in support of future EU roles | Alternative futures: Scenarios for future security research in support of future EU roles | |
| Thematic scenario portfolio for "security research 2035" | |||||
| Implementation of so-far results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | Implementation of so-far results in the further development of the IT-based Knowledge Platform | |
| Addressing of cross-cutting aspects and capabilities, including ethics issues | |||||
| Plausibility probe and input into reference scenario process | Plausibility probe and input into reference scenario process | Plausibility probe and input into reference scenario process | Plausibility probe and input into reference scenario process | Plausibility probe and input into reference scenario process | |
| Reference scenario syllabus, and comprehensive syllabus of thematic scenarios (Big Themes) | |||||
| Security research roadmap, including European Security (Research) Glossary | |||||
| Final version of IT-based Knowledge Platform | |||||
FOCUS is part of the network of the
European Foresight Platform:
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