About

Collision Detector is where I write about things that don't belong on my business desk.

I'm Scott Smith, futurist, researcher, and writer, currently based in Barcelona.

I studied economic history amid the collapse of the Soviet Union and became a financial journalist during the sterling crash of the early 90s. Futures work is just the same instinct pointed in the other direction.

In 2007 I founded Changeist, a strategic foresight consultancy, after fifteen years working in forecasting, strategy, and consulting across New York, DC, and London. In that time I've worked with UNDP, JPMorgan Chase, Google, The Economist, the BBC, Dubai Future Foundation, and others. I co-lead 10F Consortium, a global network of analysts tracking critical post-globalization shifts.

I wrote How to Future and co-wrote Future Cultures with Susan Cox-Smith, both published by Kogan Page.

I've been a columnist for Quartz and a guest writer for WIRED UK, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and the Atlantic, among others.

I spend too much time reading contemporary folk horror, watching classic giallo, and listening to soundtracks. Most of the watching ends up on Letterboxd.