Foresight and scenario planning is a structured way to look ahead long term, using the collective intelligence of an assembled group of experts in various disciplines. My department has embarked on such an exercise, in cooperation with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Brussels. The idea is to imagine how the intellectual property system in Europe (and beyond) might develop in the next 20 years. We are not trying to forecast how things will be in 2045 (that would be a futile exercise) but rather to imagine plausible scenarios. This week, we hosted the second workshop in our office in Alicante (the first was in November in Brussels), and we had people from our office, from other IP offices in Europe and elsewhere, and also people from finance, business, academia, civil society, the European Commission etc. This diversity of backgrounds is a key success factor for such an exercise. Most of the photos this week are from the workshop.
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Sunday morning I walked with Mochi to the beach, as usual. We met a smaller (and whiter) version of him:
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Another beautiful sunrise over the Mediterranean:
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Early morning sun makes even seaweed washed up on the beach look nice:
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When I walk around, whether in a city or in my neighbourhood, I always look for amusing details, like this “beware of the dog” sign:
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Staying with the canine theme, the dashboard of a camper parked on one of the streets near my house:
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Embellished concrete wall:
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When Mochi and I come home from a walk, there is a routine. Once the gate to the street is closed, I release Mochi from the leash, and he makes several “zoomies” around the house:
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Sometimes he stops for a moment:
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And then he continues his run:
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Once inside (and paws cleaned after the walk), he can do what he wants:
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My wife acquired the taste for moules during the years we lived in Brussels, and sometimes she prepares a serving for lunch. Mochi is an interested spectator:
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I finished Sunday with a visit to 100 Montaditos where I saw another mini-Mochi at a neighbouring table:
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Wednesday was the day we were going to prepare the workshop that was taking place Thursday and Friday, together with the two colleagues from the Joint Research Centre who were going to lead it. They had arrived Tuesday night, and unfortunately, that sunny Alicante weather was nowhere to be seen, as was much in evidence the next morning:
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Then it was time to go to the office and prepare for Thursday. We spent most of the day like this:
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But we did have time to have a nice lunch in the restaurant at the office. On the left is my Italian colleague Paola, and the other two ladies are Caroline and Valérie from Brussels:
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At one of the other tables, I spotted our Polish deputy executive director Edyta having lunch with the head of the Latvian Patent Office, Agris, who had come to Alicante to participate in our workshop–despite having broken his leg playing basketball a few days earlier. The flight from Riga to Alicante is more than 4 hours, so I really appreciated his dedication:
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After lunch, we went out on the terrace, and I took a photo of my four collaborators Juan, Belén, Paola and Damian with the two visitors from Brussels. The weather was showing definite signs of improvement:
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Late Wednesday afternoon, we are putting the finishing touches on the various materials for Thursday:
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Now it is Thursday morning, our 40+ workshop participants are in the room, divided into 4 groups, and Valérie and Caroline open the proceedings:
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Much of the day was spent like this, working in smaller groups:
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The output of the groups was shared using various old-fashioned tools–posters, flipcharts, post-its. At certain times, the participants were invited to spend a few minutes reading what the others had produced:
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In the evening we invited all the workshop participants for dinner at a restaurant in the centre (our office covered all travel and accommodation expenses for the invited experts):
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The restaurant was a bit slow, but people did not seem to mind. It was interesting for them to meet people whom they otherwise would not have the chance to meet:
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One of the people at my table was Manda from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore:
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A couple of colleagues from my office:
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We started Friday with a group photo of all the participants (yes, I’m in there too):
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Then the work continued. This photo is a good illustration of the variety of participants (and also the high level). The seated gentleman on the left is Francesco Mattina, president of the Community Plan Variety Office (where breeders can register plant variety rights that cover the whole EU). The lady is Lucía Serrano from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, and the gentleman on the right is Mario Guadamillas from the World Bank. The one standing is Meindert Flikkema, professor at the University of Amsterdam:
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Somewhat chaotic flipchart. But everything was recorded and everything will be used in the follow-up work:
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Rahul discussing the work of his group. Rahul is a the AI coordinator in our office:
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This is Simona from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade. I quite like this image, with the way she is framed by the people standing around the flipchart:
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Finally, Friday afternoon, the workshop is over, the participants have left, and we are a tired group of people, but also happy with the way things went:
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I finish the week the way I started it. A cat encountered during Friday evening’s walk with Mochi:
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Saturday morning. It is definitely not warm enough to bathe in the sea, but someone forgot to tell this guy:
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A man and his dog:
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And finally, Mochi getting his morning treat from the friendly lady at the bakery:
