Knowledge pool goes online

An on-line depository holding the sum of knowledge gained through the government's Technology Foresight project is to be launched next week.

The Department of Trade and Industry says the Foresight knowledge pool will be a "unique electronic resource of visions, information and views about the future". The fully searchable database will include information on future challenges for the economy.

The pool will be a base for carrying forward some of the government's key objectives, including its agenda for a knowledge-driven economy and the involvement of stakeholders in Whitehall's decision-making process, as outlined in the white paper Modernising Government, published last month.

The DTI says the pool will support the work of panels and task forces set up to drive forward the Foresight programme. Their work will include identifying trends and opportunities for future wealth creation.

"The knowledge pool will allow sharing of information to stimulate debate and collaboration. It will also help us communicate draft and final Foresight conclusions to generate a dialogue in which anyone can participate," says the DTI.

The pool is believed to be the world's first fully managed knowledge-management service freely accessible to the general public. The depository will include Foresight panel publications, business case studies, and Foresight news and events. The pool can be found at: www.foresight.gov.uk