A Framework for a Comprehensive National Future Readiness Index

Abstract

This paper introduces the Index of Future Readiness (IFR), a novel framework for assessing a country's capacity to withstand, adapt to, and prosper within an environment of continuous and accelerating change. The framework builds on the classical distinction, first emphasized in economic discourse by Robert E. Lucas Jr. in the 1970s, between temporary shocks, which call for economic resilience, and permanent shocks, which require adaptive capacity. The IFR applies a whole-of-society perspective, drawing on Ali Qassim Jawad s GBC model, to evaluate the preparedness of three central actors (government, businesses, and citizens) across six foundational dimensions. Unlike conventional benchmarking instruments, the IFR explicitly integrates both resilience, understood as the ability to bounce back from temporary shocks, and adaptive capacity, conceived as the ability to bounce forward in the face of structural or permanent disturbances. By enabling both sectoral and thematic analysis, the IFR provides policymakers with actionable insights and thus serves as a dynamic, policy-relevant tool for guiding national development in an era of systemic volatility.