Emerging issues — how to see them?

How to see the future before it begins?

How to see the future before it begins?

The first bitcoin was mined on the 3rd of January 2009. It was not the first cryptocurrency. Some sources indicate that the first cryptocurrency was eCash, developed by DigiCash in 1990. Bitcoin appeared 13 years ago, but this new currency, along with blockchain technology, made a sensation in the second half of the 2010s, when notions such as “token”, “ICO”, “smart contract”, or “fiat currency” became familiar for millions of people worldwide. Was there a way to predict it back in 2009? It could be difficult, but not impossible.

Futurists and foresight experts are not people who see the future. The future is unseeable not because it is hidden from us humans, but because it doesn’t exist. It is being created every second by the effort of all the people, including you and me. Nobody can predict the future, but some people can see the signs of the future changes that are visible today. These signs are called “emerging issues”, or “weak signals”.

Many…