At this conference, we looked at how our mobile world is transforming health and health care. We looked for insights (opportunities and threats) that will guide strategic decision-making in anticipation of this important future. For example, we explored different alternative futures of health and health care as trends in mobility, technology infrastructure evolution, and health care needs converge, opening up new paths for reinvention and innovation

In May 2008, the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council (CCRRC) publicly released the results of a year-long research endeavor by the Institute for the Future's Health Horizons Program, studying the Future of Health and Wellness in Food Retailing. This project helps food retailers connect the dots between food and health, design strategic processes that help retail stores respond to this future, and offer their customers a more holistic approach to food retail.

Three main deliverables resulting from this project can be downloaded in PDF format (see above links):

At our Spring 2008 Conference, we looked at how concerns about health and sustainability are converging--we call this trend "Green Health." As part of the first day of the conference, staff and attendees engaged in an immersive experience to examine a spectrum of green practices that broadly relate to health. With street ethnographic guides in hand, we set out to explore the streets of San Francisco and visit the diverse worlds of "Eco Chic," "Green Retail," and "Urban Community."

Our Fall 2007 Conference focused on the application of open innovation principles in the global health economy. The event kicked off with a keynote address by Alph Bingham, founder of Innocentive. IFTF's Jody Ranck introduced the concept of "Open Health," and presented an overview of our Open Health Map of Disruptive Innovation. Crystal Lynn Keeler and Cesar Castro gave us a sneak peek at the Open Health Toolkit.

The Biocitizens and New Media Technology conference explored the convergence of trends around new media, health, and biocitizenship. After the conference, we launched a new Web site (http://biocitizennewmedia.org)(password required) to demonstrate the participatory nature of new media. The Web site sought to encourage interactive communication with our clients around the potential implications of engaged biocitizens equipped with new media tools.

We developed five video scenarios to illustrate our forecast of how biocitizens might use new media technologies in the next decade. All are in .mov format.

The Health Horizons Spring 2007 Conference examined the emergence of biocitizens and the role of new media technologies. The PowerPoint presentations are available as part of this post, along with the graphic recording wall charts and the agenda booklet.

The Health Horizons Spring 2007 Conference opened with a pre-conference workshop on the future of games & gaming in health. Panelists included Pat Christensen from HopeLab, Ian Bogost, and Jane McConigal. The workshop also featured an immersive gaming experience, lead by IFTF's Jason Tester and Jane McConigal.

Health costs continue to skyrocket in industrialized countries. Populations are living longer and are subject to a greater number of chronic conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. More people are considering the ethical implications of a consumer-based global economy in general (think of global warming and other ecological disasters) and scientific advances in biotechnology in particular (think of the debates on genetically modified foods and cloning).

At the Fall 2006 Health Horizons conference--"New Business Models in the Global Health Economy"--we explored how changes in the broader health economy will create opportunities and risks that will catalyze new business models in the health and health care arenas. Here are the agenda booklet, graphic recordings, and annotated PowerPoint presentations. The conference report is available separately, above.