Technology Roadmapping
What is "Roadmapping and Roadmap"?
The Step-by-Step Analysis Supporting the Development of a Roadmap
General Approach for TRM Implementation in an Organization
Key Success Factors in TRM implementation
What is "Roadmapping and Roadmap"?
"Roadmapping" and "Roadmap" are words describing the process and the product of roadmapping process, respectively. Technology roadmapping is simply defined as a process to portray the integration of science/technological considerations into product and business planning as well as to provide a way to identify, evaluate, and select alternatives that can be used to achieve a desired objective. Their popular applications are for developing strategies, planning resources, and identifying gaps and opportunities in R&D.
Robert Galvin (1998), former Motorola Chairman and advocate of science and technology roadmaps, said "A roadmap is an extended look at the future of a chosen field of inquiry composed from the collective knowledge and imagination of the brightest drivers of the change."
A roadmap, a product of roadmapping process, is generally presented in a form of a time-based diagram with multi-layers linking technology-related issues to business decisions. The system thinking approach must be applied to the analysis for capturing the change of elements-business, markets, products, technology, R&D, and recourses-and the impacts of those changes on an organization over time.
Figure 1 presents a generic form of a product-technology roadmap. In this roadmap, business drivers; D2 and D3, are determined to be key forces that will drive business changes in the future. These changes would lead to a potential market opportunity as presented by M2 on the diagram. To capture this opportunity, an organization plans to launch a new product called P2 which the design and development of this product requires a new technology known as T2. An organization also needs to invest in research and development activities; RD3, to make T2 ready for use by the time it is needed.