Annika Uudelepp joined the Foresight Council

“The ability to foresee is a mark of smart countries because many governance decisions cast very long shadows. The task of the Foresight Centre is to make sure that the decisions look further into the future and that the decision-makers possess high-quality knowledge about the long term effects and the approaching changes,” said Annika Uudelepp, the newest member of the Foresight Council. “My priority in my work as a member of the Council is to make sure that Estonia is smart about its foresight and adapts skillfully to the turbulent world.”

Annika Uudelepp is an international expert on governance. Since 2017, she has been working as a senior advisor at the OECD, advising the governments of the Western Balkan countries in the implementation of governance reforms. Uudelepp is a founder of the Commercial Association Tuleva and has worked as the Head of Praxis Centre for Policy Studies, Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Environment, as well as a lecturer on governance at Tallinn University. She graduated in Public Administration from Tallinn University, has acquired research experience at Oxford University, and holds an MSc in Public Administration from Tallinn University.

Members of the Foresight Council are entrepreneur Jaan Pillesaar, Mait Palts (Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Tiit Land (Taltech), Tarmo Soomere (Estonian Academy of Sciences) and Annika Uudelepp (representative of the President of the Republic).

The Foresight Council is a five-member council formed from recognised experts in the field of research, business and technology to ensure the independence of foresight. The members of the Council are appointed by the Economic Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu, the President of the Republic, the organisations representing employers, the Universities Estonia, and the Estonian Academy of Sciences.

The Foresight Centre is a think tank at the Chancellery of the Riigikogu that analyses long-term developments in society and the economy. The Centre conducts research projects to analyse the long-term developments in Estonian society, and to identify new trends and development directions.

During its four years of activity, the Centre has developed future scenarios on the labour market, productivity, governance, pension system, regional economy, health care, the impact of the corona pandemic, and global power relations. In 2021, we can expect scenario analyses on the future opportunities of Estonia’s tax system, long-term care, changes in higher education, and the mobility of the population.

The work of the Foresight Centre is based on the Foresight Act. Information about the research projects and completed studies of the Foresight Centre can be found here.