The 311 Foresight Tower
What the world is watching, researching and debating about the future, live. The Foresight Tower tracks 15 futures topics across news, events, research, search and public attention in 209 countries, and sets them against the work of 955 foresight organisations and leading futurists.
Compiled by Matthew Griffin and the 311 Intelligence Unit. Live signals last updated 2026-10-13.
- 15topics
- 6signals
- 209countries
- 955foresight organisations
Live
Which futures topics are trending now?
Loading the latest signals.
Score: 0 to 100, relative to the strongest topic. Bars, left to right: news, events, search, research, public attention. Rising or cooling compares public attention this week with the previous four weeks. Select a topic to focus the whole page on it.
Where is the world looking at all topics?
Top 10 countries, papers
What does each region focus on more than the rest of the world?
100 is the world average. Pink cells show where a region leans in, violet cells where it leans away. Switch between what researchers publish, what people search for and what foresight organisations work on.
Where is the world ahead of the foresight community?
Share of the world’s attention (the average of news, events, search, research and public attention) minus the share of foresight organisations working on the topic, in percentage points.
Live
What is happening now in all topics?
Latest news
Stories from the last day, across 14 English-language news editions.
Summits, conferences and forums
Coverage of events on these topics in the last week. Useful for spotting where the conversation is gathering.
What are the world’s foresight organisations working on?
The latest published work of 40 leading foresight organisations on all topics, listed A to Z. For every foresight organisation in the world, see the 311 Foresight Atlas.
What are the world’s futurists working on?
The latest books, reports and talks from 30 working futurists on all topics, listed A to Z and never ranked.
How does the Foresight Tower work?
Six signals, the same 15 topics as the 311 Foresight Atlas, refreshed automatically.
- NewsStories per hour on each topic over the last day in 14 English-language Google News editions. Refreshed every two hours.
- EventsCoverage of summits, conferences, forums and expos on each topic over the last week. Refreshed every six hours.
- ResearchResearch papers published in the last 30 days, by author country, from OpenAlex. Refreshed daily.
- SearchMonthly English-language searches about the future of each topic in 35 countries, from Semrush. Refreshed monthly.
- Public attentionDaily views of each topic’s core English Wikipedia articles, from Wikimedia. Refreshed every twelve hours.
- Foresight coverageThe topics that 955 foresight organisations in 92 countries work on, from the 311 Foresight Atlas, plus the latest work of leading organisations and futurists.
Want to know what this means for your organisation?
311 turns these signals into strategy for boards and leadership teams in 102 countries. Book a briefing on the topics that matter to you.
Book a BriefingRun a foresight team or publish futures work?
Tell us about your latest report, book or event and we’ll review it for the next update. Corrections are welcome too.
Tell us about your workAbout the Foresight Tower
What is the 311 Foresight Tower?
A free, live view of what the world is watching, researching and debating about the future. It tracks 15 futures topics across news, events, research papers, search and public attention, and compares them with the work of 955 foresight organisations and leading futurists.
How often is it updated?
News signals refresh every two hours, event coverage every six hours, public attention every twelve hours and research papers every day. Search demand is updated monthly. The time of the latest update is shown on the page.
What does the trend score mean?
Each topic gets a score from 0 to 100 that blends five signals: news coverage (25%), event coverage (20%), search demand (20%), public attention on Wikipedia (20%) and new research papers (15%). Each signal is scaled against the strongest topic, so the score shows relative attention, not an absolute count.
Is this a ranking of futurists or foresight organisations?
No. Topics are ranked by attention. Organisations and futurists are listed A to Z with their most recent published work, and the page does not say who is best.
Where does the data come from?
Google News (14 English-language editions), Wikimedia pageview statistics, OpenAlex research records, Semrush search volumes for 35 countries, the 311 Foresight Atlas, and the published work of the organisations and futurists listed. Only counts and links are shown; the analysis is by the 311 Intelligence Unit.
What is a futures topic?
A broad area where long-term change is being studied, such as technology, energy or geopolitics. The Foresight Tower uses the same 15 topics as the 311 Foresight Atlas so the two can be compared directly.
© 311 Institute 2026. The Foresight Tower, its analysis and scores are the proprietary work of the 311 Institute. Headlines link to their publishers; research, search and attention counts come from the sources named above. Copying, scraping or republishing any substantial part without written permission is prohibited. Licensing enquiries: contact us.