BUSINESS | PLANNING| THE PLANET
A Prescient Reimagining Called Foresight
How CPA-Canada Is Preparing For The Future
In 2018, CPA-Canada (Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada) initiated a discussion with a wide range of stakeholders to create a way forward for the accounting profession in an increasingly digital environment.
They dubbed this reimagining Foresight.
Foresight participants analyzed the potential impacts of the following drivers of change: economic, environmental, technological, geopolitical, and societal shifts.
The intention was to generate ideas and strategies to inform the direction of various aspects of the profession, from auditing to financial management, risk analysis, and skill sets required for the accountants of the future.
The discussions included the brainstorming of scenarios to identify potential future directions for all areas of the accounting profession. The result was The Way Forward, a document that identified four possible scenarios in the future.
The results imagined four scenarios.
SLOW AND STEADY
Conservative institutions use careful analysis to make prudent decisions. Slow-moving yet consensus-driven models where advances in technology are resisted.
High levels of cooperation where the priority is the common good, low willingness to embrace technological and social change
PHOENIX RISING
This scenario imagined a series of events that were a wake-up call to nations, resulting in their renewed commitment to support a civil society. They harness technology for the common good, and equity is a primary focus.
High levels of cooperation where the priority is the common good, high willingness to embrace technological and social change.
TECH TITANS
Governments turn inward but technological change is transforming society. Wearable tech is ubiquitous. Tech giants dominate with very few regulations resulting in an unequal yet highly competitive environment.
Low cooperation where priority is the individual good with society highly willing to embrace technology and social change.
MY WAY
Protectionism turns communities inward and the focus is on local interest. advances in technology are resisted
Low cooperation where priority is the individual or national good with society unwilling to embrace technology and social change.
In most of these scenarios, the effects of global warming, a pandemic-like global event occurs, and advances in technology are either embraced and used for the common good or resisted.
I found this exercise surprisingly prescient, as the pandemic has pushed us into a world where devastating shocks have occurred.
It’s unlikely that the Slow and Steady scenario will play out, as conservative institutions are too slow to adapt to change and too reluctant to adopt recent technological changes. The priority may be the common good, but achieving success will require more flexibility when it comes to technology.
There is some evidence of political leaders uniting around the idea of making commitments for the common good. This would be a reflection of the Phoenix Rising scenario of cooperation.
There is also quite a bit of My Way responses, where nations have hoarded medical supplies and closed borders. More of a nationalism response resulting in fragmented international relations and low cooperation.
As Tech giants tighten their hold on e-commerce and become more powerful financially than most political institutions, the Tech Titans scenario begins to be a strong contender. A focus on the individual is occurring as we are driven indoors in isolation.
Which scenario will prevail?
I believe it will be a hybrid.
It will remain to be seen whether advances in technology will be adopted willingly and how it will be used to improve society in the longer term.
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