Strategic Intelligence in Decision Making

P. Smedt
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P. Smedt: European Commission

Chapter 7 in Future-Oriented Technology Analysis, 2008, pp 89-102 from Springer

Abstract: There are many reasons why strategic intelligence is required to support policy decisions. These primarily stem from the nature of today’s knowledge society with two contrasting trends. On one hand, there is a trend of increasing human intelligence in the economic, social and political systems (Hughes 2007). On the other hand, there is a trend towards dissolving certainties about the problems and solutions of today’s society (Hoijer et al. 2006). Clearly, more information does not always imply more certainties on how to act and even the same facts are often interpreted in markedly different ways. The same policy relevant information can and often does result in conflicting framing of a problem by different stakeholders. This is rather because of competing assumptions than because of inconsistent facts (Dunn 2004). Therefore, it is not surprising us that policy-makers are demanding for strategic intelligence to support their understanding of today’s challenges, including the relevant aspects and impact of science and technology and their possible future developments. This chapter on strategic intelligence in decision-making reflects on policy analysis concepts, such as the evidence-based approach and the rational decisionmaking model, and explores the core problems concerning the effectiveness of SI applications to support decision-making. The hypothesis is that SI applications need to be better institutional embedded in terms of opportunity, purpose and legitimacy, so that SI applications do not become meaningless and useless for the decision-makers.

Keywords: Mental Model; Policy Change; Policy Process; Stakeholder Participation; Advocacy Coalition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-68811-2_7

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