In fact, since the 1940s, futures studies have been accepted as one of the knowledge disciplines in the US
and in several European countries. In 1944, General Arnold ordered a report on future technologies which
could be utilized by the US Air Force. Two years later, in 1946, Douglas Aircraft Company initiated The
RAND Project to conduct researches on matters related to war among continents (Wikipedia, 2006).
Subsequently, in the 1950s, more and more futures studies were carried out in the States. Among them
were the RAND studies by Dalkey and Helmer (1951). They were reported as the earliest ones who developed
the Delphi technique in the RAND Corporation (Dalkey & Helmer, 1951; 1963). However, Gordon and Helmer
were the first futurist figures to apply the technique (Gordon & Helmer, 1964; Gordon & Hayward, 1968). The
application of Delphi technique by Gordon and Helmer (1964) aimed to evaluate the directions of science and
technology trends and their impact on society at that time