A technique Steve and I often use is to construct ‘alternative futures’ – hypothetical scenarios designed to test received versions of events or established ways of thinking. We intend to work with the ORCHID team to imagine the kinds of disasters that drone technology might have to respond to. Some of the scenarios that emerge might go beyond the expected (such as global warming, electrical black-outs, terror attacks) to take in what at the present time appears science-fictional (global dimming, virus outbreak, global internet outage). Multinational companies have used scenario planning for many years as a strategy tool. Here is some background from Global Business Network –
http://gbn.com/about/scenario_planning.php