Webbased horizon scanning - recent developments with application to health technology assessment

Horizon scanning is an increasingly important part of management decision-making. It involves the systematic search for incipient trends, opportunities and constraints that might affect the probability of achieving management goals and objectives. It requires the continuous acquisition of up-to-date information to anticipate issues and thus inform decisions. As an example of the application of horizon scanning in the public sector, the UK National Horizon Scanning Center provides policy-makers with forewarning about emerging and new health technologies. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a horizon scanning system centered on the use of keyword-based, Web search engines. By leveraging the existing infrastructure of proven search engines, our system aims to automate the human-intensive process of seeking information and emerging trends. A prototype implementation has been developed, and we discuss its potential in the context of a case study on proton beam therapy commissioned by the UK Department of Health.