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Foresight Lab Blog
25 November 2024

Foresight Incoming

Foresight Incoming

Prof Jonny Freeman, Director of the CoSTAR Foresight Lab

Hello! It’s been nearly a year since we received the formal offer letter from the AHRC to set up the CoSTAR Foresight Lab, and I am very excited to set out our plans here.

The Foresight Lab has a clear and specific mission: to generate foresight and expert insight for industry, researchers, and policymakers to shape the future of creative R&D in gaming, TV, film, performance, and digital entertainment.

By mapping the adoption, use and impact of new, emergent and convergent technologies, foresighting the future landscape, and showcasing evidence for what works, our mission is to provide robust intelligence that responds to the needs of our fast-growing sector.

As Director of the CoSTAR Foresight Lab, I’ve had the pleasure of working together with our wonderful partners throughout our ‘ramp-up’ first year of operation. I’ve worked with our brilliant Foresight Lab executive team (Rishi Coupland, BFI; Prof Melissa Terras, University of Edinburgh; and Prof Graham Hitchen, Loughborough University) as we have collaborated to develop strong working partnerships with our delivery partners: Olsberg SPI, ARUP, Julie’s Bicycle, i2 media research, Station 12, Data Thistle, and the AHRC’s Creative Policy & Evidence Centre.

Together, we have developed and started implementing an exciting and ambitious programme of work which will incorporate a body of foresight studies, setting out projections and scenarios for the future of creative technology R&D; research and insight reports on topics including sustainability and carbon impacts, and the skills implications of AI adoption; regular data updates on the adoption and diffusion of creative technologies across the UK; and a body of essential policy briefings. We cannot wait to share all these with you. 

Over the coming weeks, an initial programme of reports will be published on our website, including:

  • Foresight Report #1, a first signature publication on future scenarios, which has been developed in collaboration with i2 media research, and in partnership with our Foresight Board; to be published next month;

  • The first in a series of International Reports, developed by Olsberg SPI – to be published next week;

  • A Carbon Report, developed by our Carbon Research Working Group which includes ARUP and Julie’s Bicycle;

  • A mapping study of UKRI funded XR (eXtended Reality) and Virtual Production projects; and

  • The first in a series of Foresight Lab Policy Reports, developed by the policy team.

Coinciding with the start of BEYOND 2024, today (25 November) we will be hosting our second in-person Foresight Board meeting. Our Foresight Board is made up of global leaders across the Creative Technology and converged media production sectors, including technologists, creative producers, researchers, and studio execs:

  • Dave Bull, Professor at University of Bristol and Director at MyWorld 

  • Darren Cosker, Principal Scientist at Microsoft

  • Sarah Ellis, Director of Digital at Royal Shakespeare Company

  • Steve Jelley, Global Head of Virtual Production at D-NEG and Co-CEO at Dimension Studios

  • Gaby Jenks, Executive Producer at Manchester International Film Festival

  • Greg Maguire, Founder and CEO at HUMAIN

  • Alex McDowell, Director at World Building Institute

  • Sylvia Pan, Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London

  • Romana Ramzan, Producer at No Code Studio

  • Bill Thompson, Head of Public Value Research at BBC R&D

  • Lincoln Wallen, CTO at Framestore

  • Nell Whitley, Executive Producer at Marshmallow Laser Feast

  • Deborah Williams OBE, independent in the creative sector

Since our first Foresight Board meeting, held in July 2024 at Digital Catapult in London, we have been working with our Foresight Board to help develop our first major report, Introduction to Moments, which will provide:

  • A brief overview of the Foresight Lab, the Foresight Board, and what to expect from the Moments and Humans workstreams in the years ahead;

  • A look at the current state of the creative sector (screen, gaming, and performance) and expectations around the future, as shared by our Foresight Board;

  • Forces and their uncertain trajectories: a snapshot of the complex ecosystem of change we are wading through, across social, technological, economic, environmental, and political dimensions;

  • Emerging areas of complexity and our approach to synthesising three spaces of critical inquiry for the sector, including tensions, enablers, plausible future scenarios, and pieces of speculative artwork developed with a researcher in human-machine learning collaboration;

  • A list of questions, implications, and areas of future research co-developed with the Foresight Board;

  • Next steps for Moments research, including release of our framework for horizon scanning from 2025.

These insights will provide a platform for our research over coming years.

This is such an important and exciting time to be launching a new venture; we really want the Foresight Lab to make a difference. I’ll sign off with two big takeaways.

First, I want to reiterate how grateful and excited we are to be conducting the R&D we’re focusing on, on the future of converged media production to support the future success of the UK’s Creative Industries.

And secondly, and as importantly, I want to emphasise that a spirit of openness, sharing and collaboration underpins all of the CoSTAR Foresight Lab’s activities. So, if anything you read of what we share over the coming weeks and months sparks an idea for collaboration, or a burning question, or forms the basis of a conversation you want to have with any of us, please do get in touch at costarforesightlab@gold.ac.uk.

Thank you!