Institute For The Future

Program Research Agenda 2008

As the global health economy continues to unfold over the next decade, the Health Horizons Program will explore the landscape of innovation, business models, markets, and boundary players that will ultimately shape it. In 2008, the Program’s frame of reference will continue to be the Global Health Economy Map of the Decade. With the map as a compass, the Health Horizons Program will take a broad look and some deep dives into key trends shaping the future and the big stories on the horizons. Forward-looking companies should be ready to anticipate the threats and opportunities that will emerge over the next decade. Health has become an essential value proposition in considering overall business strategies and market positioning. Whether you are a food manufacturer, a technology company, or a major retailer, you must ask the strategic question, where will you play in the global health economy?

Research Tasks

Green Health and Sustainability
Public attitudes toward global climate change and sustainability have reached a tipping point, creating new pressures for both business and personal social responsibility. We see personal health, the environment, and sustainability converging to create a new market for "Green Health." Green Health values and practices are likely to define whole new product and service categories, as the concept of personal health is linked to community and environmental health. Green Health is also likely to spur demand for new kinds of information about products and services, as online platforms that aggregate and distribute citizen views on corporate sustainability practices proliferate. The Health Horizons Program will explore the emerging spectrum of green practices as they broadly relate to health and define the next chapter of the global health economy.

Mobile Health in a World of Open Connectivity
The mobile phone is becoming an important platform for managing health issues, facilitating transparency in market transactions, and accessing health information in the global health economy. Over the next ten years, the proliferation of a wide range of open mobile devices will accelerate the trend toward "anytime, anyplace" health, shifting management out of clinical settings, and into new contexts (including the workplace, the home, and while on the go). Health Horizons will explore these frontiers of mobile health and will build scenarios to explore the future of health in a world of open connectivity.