| H.E. Khalfan Belhoul, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Future Foundation

Strategic foresight is the deliberate exploration of possible futures to inform today’s decisions. In an era of accelerating change, foresight enables leaders to move beyond short-term thinking, anticipate disruption and uncover opportunities that lie beyond the immediate horizon.

At its core, strategic foresight recognizes that technological innovation cannot be understood through a single, linear perspective. At the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), we assess emerging technologies through three simultaneous and interconnected lenses:

Beyond merely predicting outcomes, strategic foresight unpacks the various pathways through which different possibilities might unfold, revealing how innovations can transform our collective future. In exploring these technologies, we invite readers to look beyond technical specifications. Each innovation represents more than an isolated advancement – it is a signal of broader transformations taking shape across our global systems. These are not just technologies, but potential catalysts for reimagining how we address complex global challenges.

For those interested in a deeper exploration of each technology’s potential, the strategic outlook sections that follow each description offer a comprehensive view of transformative possibilities and strategic implications. To ground these technologies in the context of global change, every entry is tagged with two of the DFF megatrends that are most likely to enable, and be enabled by, the respective technology within the next decade.

By connecting these emerging technologies to wider contextual frameworks, we aim to provide a comprehensive view that bridges technical potential with human aspiration. Our goal is not to present a definitive roadmap, but to spark imagination, encourage dialogue and consider multiple futures that might emerge from some of today’s most promising innovations.