CFE® – CERTIFIED FUTURE ENGINEER

Certified Future Engineer developed by Certificore for foresight professionals who wants to certify their futuring skills.

This qualification is the advanced of the foresight certification scheme is aimed at anyone working within an organization (internally or externally) who may require to have and demonstrate a solid knowledge and understanding of the future management and its application. The certification can also cater for candidates seeking personal certification, also in regards to their knowledge and understanding of the requirements and the content of the standard.

This qualification will provide the advanced level of knowledge to its holders and will certify that they have a solid understanding of the standard and its content.
Note that this qualification provides the advanced level of knowledge for:

1. Strategy Planners
2. Investment Planners
3. Foresight Professionals
4. Futurists

Learning Objectives

Candidates will be introduced to the principles and core elements of the futuring, and more specifically:

1. Foresight Techniques
2. Future Management
3. Strategy Planning
4. Future Engineering

Examination

CFE Certification Exam is designed to validate a candidate’s knowledge of the contents and requirements of the Future Management and will allow for further development along the futuring certification path. The CFE exam focuses on the following two (2) categories in the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy:

•  Knowledge
•  Comprehension

Entry Criteria/Training Requirements 

No specific entry criteria exist for candidates of the CFE examination. However, it is strongly recommended that candidates have at least a basic knowledge of foresight and futuring concepts and terminology and have undergone some formal training on the subject with a proposed duration of 16 hours. A detailed breakdown of these training hours, per topic area is provided in the syllabus section.

Assessment Approach 

The assessment approach used for the CFE certification focuses on the two basic categories of Knowledge and Comprehension. Knowledge is defined as recalling previously learned material, from facts to theories and represents the lowest level of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain. Such learning outcomes are turned in assessment objectives that include knowing and recalling such as:

 Common and/or basic terms, definitions, concepts and principles of foresight

 Specific future management requirements and facts

 Processes, procedures and methods of foresight

Exam Delivery	Paper based
Type	40 Multiple choice questions Single answer, one of four possible answers Each question is awarded one (1) mark
Duration	1 hour (60 minutes) For non-native speakers or candidates with a disability, an additional 15 minutes of extra time is allowed.
Pass Mark	65% (26/40)
Invigilator / Supervisor / Proctor	Yes Physical or Web proctoring
Open Book	Yes
Prerequisites	None
Certification validity	N/A

Comprehension is the lowest level of understanding and entails the ability to grasp the meaning of the material taught, including some sort of interpretation, translation or estimation during the process. Such learning outcomes and in turn assessment objectives go beyond simply recalling information and may include:

•  Understanding facts, concepts and principles
•  Interpreting material (i.e. charts, graphs, text)
•  Justifying a Process, procedure and assessment method

The assessment incorporates the above learning outcomes as it uses assessment objectives that cater for the above cognitive domain categories.

Examination Format 

The tests are derived from a regularly updated question test bank (QTB) based on the test specification detailed below. Questions are used interchangeably among test sets. The overall difficulty level of each test is the same with any other test. A candidate is never assigned the same test in the case of multiple examination attempts.

Detailed Syllabus 

The syllabus contains references to the future engineering domian and is structured into sections relating to major subject headings and numbered with a single digit section number. The recommended training hours, per Syllabus Category are also provided in this table. At the end of the training session, allow 30 minutes for the candidates to familiarize themselves with the exam process and the sample questions.  An additional hour could be provided for the sample test and/or answering the sample test for better preparation of the exam.

CATEGORY	REF	KNOWLEDGE SET
CFE 1.1  Introduction, Terms and Definitions	CFE-1.1.1	Introduction
	CFE-1.1.2	Terms & Definitions
Proposed Training Time: 60 minutes
CFE-1.2 Understanding Future	CFE-1.2.1	System Thinking General Knowledge
	CFE-1.2.2	Change Models
	CFE-1.2.3	Future Perspectives
Proposed Training Time: 120 minutes
CFE-1.3 Future Mapping and  Modeling	CFE-1.3.1	Future Research Methods
	CFE-1.3.2	Future Scan Methods
	CFE-1.3.3	Foresight Methods
Proposed Training Time: 90 minutes
CFE-1.4 Future Design	CFE-1.4.1	Future Design Techniques
	CFE-1.4.2	Defining and influencing the future
	CFE-1.4.3	Visions for Alternative Futures
Proposed Training Time: 90 minutes
CFE-1.5 Advanced Future Engineering Techniques	CFE-1.5.1	Environmental Scanning
	CFE-1.5.2	The Delphi Method
	CFE-1.5.3	The Futures Wheel
	CFE-1.5.4	Trend Impact Analysis
	CFE-1.5.5	Cross-Impact Analysis
	CFE-1.5.6	Wild Cards
	CFE-1.5.7	Structural Analysis
	CFE-1.5.8	The Systems Perspectives
	CFE-1.5.9	Decision Modeling
	CFE-1.5.10	Substitution Analysis
	CFE-1.5.11	Statistical Modeling
	CFE-1.5.12	Technology Sequence Analysis
	CFE-1.5.13	Morphological Analysis
	CFE-1.5.14	Relevance Trees
	CFE-1.5.15	Scenario Planning
	CFE-1.5.16	Interactive Scenarios
	CFE-1.5.17	Robust Decisionmaking
	CFE-1.5.18	Participatory Methods
	CFE-1.5.19	Simulation and Games
	CFE-1.5.20	Genius Forecasting
	CFE-1.5.21	Intuition, and Vision
	CFE-1.5.22	Prediction Markets
	CFE-1.5.23	Using Vision in Futures Planning
	CFE-1.5.24	Normative Forecasting
	CFE-1.5.25	S&T Road Mapping, Agent Modeling
	CFE-1.5.26	Chaos and Non-Linear Dynamics
	CFE-1.5.27	Multiple Perspective Concept
	CFE-1.5.28	Heuristics Modeling
	CFE-1.5.29	Causal Layered Analysis
	CFE-1.5.30	Personal Futures
	CFE-1.5.31	SOFI Software System
	CFE-1.5.32	Integration, Comparisons
Proposed Training Time: 600 minutes

Test SpecificationThe examination will consist of five (5) sections with the following structure:

CATEGORY	DESCRIPTION	EXAM (%)
1	CFE-1.1 Introduction, Terms and Definitions	10.0%
2	CFE-1.2 Understanding Future	10.0%
3	CFE-1.3 Future Mapping and  Modeling	10.0%
4	CFE-1.4 Future Design	10.0%
5	CFE-1.5 Advanced Future Engineering Techniques	60.0%
TOTAL	100 %

Recommended Reading 

1. Thinking about the Future: Guidelines for Strategic ForesightNov 11, 2015 by Andy Hines and Peter Bishop
2. Foresight in Organizations: Methods and Tools (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies) May 8, 2016 by Patrick van der Duin
3. Corporate Foresight: Anticipating the FutureMar 3, 2017 by Alberto F. De Toni and Roberto Siagri
4. Foresight 20/20: A Futurist Explores the Trends Transforming TomorrowFeb 18, 2015 by Jack Uldrich and Simon Anderson
5. Playbook for Strategic Foresight and InnovationJan 1, 2013 by Tamara Carleton and William Cockayne
6. Foresight and KnowledgeJan 1, 1999, by Yves R. Simon
7. Strategic Foresight: Learning from the FutureJul 21, 2015 by Patricia Lustig
8. Foresight: The Art and Science of Anticipating the FutureSep 16, 2008 by Denis Loveridge
9. How to Rethink the Future: Making Use of Strategic Foresight Paperback – September 2, 2015 by Stephen Murgatroyd (Author)
10. Wake Up Or Die: Business Battles Are Won With Foresight, You Either Have It Or You Don’t by Corrine Sandler (Author)
11. Handbook of Research on Strategy and Foresight (Elgar Original Reference) Reprint Edition by Laura Anna Costanzo (Author, Editor), Robert Bradley Mackay (Author, Editor)
12. Foresight, Innovation, and Strategy: Toward a Wiser Future by Cynthia G. Wagner (Author)