Category Archives: Strategic planning

Tracing the system transformations and innovation pathways of an emerging technology: Solid lipid nanoparticles

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples, Strategic planning

Accurately evaluating opportunities in new and emerging science and technologies is a growing concern. This study proposes an integrated framework for identifying a range of potential innovation pathways and commercial applications for solid lipid nanoparticles – one particularly promising contender within the field of nano-enabled drug delivery. Several text mining techniques – term clumping, SAO technique, and net effect analysis – as well as technology roadmapping, are combined with expert judgment to identify the main areas of R&D in this field, and to track their evolution over time. Through analysis, data from multiple sources, including research publications, patents, and commercial press, reveal possible future applications and commercialization opportunities for this emerging technology. We find that research is moving away from materials and delivery outcomes toward clinical applications. The most promising markets are pharmaceuticals and cosmetics; however, the “time-to-market” is much shorter for cosmetics than it is for pharmaceuticals.

The most significant contributions of this paper have been highlighted as follows. One innovation is extracting the intelligence from three kinds of data sources after in-depth considering their characteristics and matching with the features of different technology development stages to identify innovative research topics. The second one is combining SAO technique with net effect analysis to identify what the evolutionary links between research topics are, and then to use TRM to visualize the evolution of the main areas of R&D over time.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.04.026

Author(s):Xiao Zhou, Lu Huang, Alan Porter, Jose M.Vicente-Gomila
Organization(s): Xidian University, Beijing Institute or Technology
Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Year: 2018

Innovation core, innovation semi-periphery and technology transfer: The case of wind energy patents

Citation analysis, Network analysis, Research Type, Strategic planning

Some scholars have pointed to a rise of South-South technological transfer led by emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa while other scholars highlight that emerging economies still need to catch up with developed countries. Drawing on world system’s theory, we argue that an adapted innovation framework of ‘core – semi-periphery – periphery’ could be an important analytical framework that may help us understand the process of innovation catch up. This may help specifically to better understand how an emerging economy can at least in theory have sectors that could be defined as innovation core and source for technology transfer. We will look at wind energy as North American, European, Indian and Chinese firms dominate the market. This study used citation network analysis and patent analysis to analyse knowledge flows between wind firms and to identify and compare the position and role of each firm in the knowledge network. We argue that there is still, despite catching up, a difference between innovation core countries (US, Germany, Denmark) and innovation semi-periphery (China, India) which will limit the opportunities of knowledge transfer within the sector of wind energy.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.04.048

Author(s): Johan Nordensvard, Yuan Zhou, Xiao Zhang
Organization(s): University of Southampton, Tsinghua University
Source: Energy Policy
Year: 2018

A nanotechnology roadmapping study for the Turkish defense industry

Research Examples, Research Type, Strategic planning

Technologies are constantly developed to address new demands and provide further opportunities. Owing to a number of potential application areas of nanotechnologies within this sector, the purpose of this study is to take defense as a case and propose a strategic roadmap for the use of nanotechnologies in the Turkish Defense Industry.

The study presented in this paper uses a bibliometric analysis of the most cited publications in the past decade with the aim of identifying the trends in the development of nanotechnology. Interviews were carried out with experts based on the featured words of bibliometric analysis (nanoparticles, nanostructure, self-assembly, drug delivery, graphene, etc.) to reveal the commercialization time of nanotechnology products and applications. After that, a survey was carried out with engineers for determining the possible emergence time of nanotechnology applications and/or products used in military up to year 2035. Finally, a roadmap was created based on the obtained data from bibliometric analysis, interviews and survey results.

Research limitations/implications
Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. Interviews and surveys have limitation with the bounded rationality of corresponders.

Practical implications
The paper proposed a nanotechnology roadmap for the defense sector with a data-led foresight practice.

Originality/value
Performing such a study is considered to be crucial for the armies of developed and developing countries, so that the military sector also avails benefits from this revolutionary technology. Quantitative and qualitative methods were mixed for developing the roadmap.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/FS-06-2017-0020

Author(s): Ayhan Aydogdu, Serhat Burmaoglu, Ozcan Saritas, Serhat Cakir
Organization(s): Turkish Armed Forces Foundation, Defense Sciences Institute, Higher School of Economics, Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi
Source: Foresight
Year: 2017

Assessing technological developments in amorphous/glassy metallic alloys using patent indicators

Patents, Research Examples, Research profiling, Strategic planning

Alloys with an amorphous structure represent a class of advanced metallic materials which have great potential for industrial applications and technological innovations as a consequence of their interesting chemical, mechanical and magnetic properties. Considerable effort has been devoted to investigating scientific issues concerning these alloys, but less attention has been paid to assessing the impact of this accumulated knowledge regarding the development of new materials, products and processes. In this study, we evaluated the technological developments in metallic glass using patent indicators. Patent documents are a valuable source of information as they reflect R&D activities and market issues. Data and text mining processing were carried out in order to extract useful indicators from bibliographic records of patent documents indexed in the worldwide Derwent Innovations Index database. The results evaluated the technological advances and showed the life-cycle stage of developments and the interests of companies, research institutions and countries. This study mapped the main alloys and manufacturing processes that have been patented. Amorphous metallic alloys have become ever increasingly important for technological developments regarding metallic alloys in general, and the indicators developed in this study can be used as a source to support decision making in funding new projects and in R&D management.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925838817316973

Author(s): Douglas H. Milanez, Leandro I.L. Faria, Daniel R. Leiva, Claudio S. Kiminami, Walter J. Botta
Organization(s): Federal University of São Carlos
Source: Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Year: 2017

Extending Canvas of Manufacturing Strategy: 8Ps Model

Research Examples, Research Type, Strategic planning

The purpose of this paper is to explore an extension to the classic 6Ps framework of Manufacturing Strategy (MS) suggested by Leong and Ward (1996). We utilize text mining of Leong and Ward’s citations and propose an extension to 8Ps of MS by incorporating the missing context dimension of strategy. The proposed 8Ps model of MS completes the triad of content, context and process dimensions of a strategy, enables the practitioner to visualize and formulate MS in a structured way towards enhancing firm’s competitiveness.

http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijgbc&volume=11&issue=1&article=002

Author(s): Kulkarni Sourabh, Verma Priyanka, Mukundan R
Organization(s): National Institute of Industrial Engineering
Source: International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness
Year: 2017

Forecasting potential sensor applications of triboelectric nanogenerators through tech mining

Research Examples, Research profiling, Strategic planning

The Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG), invented in 2012, is an emerging energy harvesting technology that efficiently converts ambient mechanical energy into electricity. Much work has been done to develop this device and improve its performance. However, no systematic report about its applications through large-scale publication and patent data analysis is available. In this study, we use “Tech Mining,” a systematic analytical method based on structured texts applied to publication and patent abstract data, to analyze potential applications of TENGs. A series of applications from product scale to industry scale are identified. The findings show that when used as sensors, TENGs are mostly applicable in automation and energy-intensive industries such as automotive, medical or surgical devices, consumer electronics and household appliances. TENGs in the form of sensors can also be integrated with future-oriented and exponentially growing technologies such as robotics, drones, nanotechnology, and bioinformatics that will create enormous value for future economies. Moreover, applications of TENGs as sensors are also in line with current global trends of science and technology development, including the “Internet of Things,” big data, clean energy, and smart cities. Combined with those technologies and industries, TENGs can help in tackling challenges of global warming, environmental pollution and security systems. We suggest the TENG research community to widen interdisciplinary collaboration, pursue connections with industry, and file more patents as R&D progresses. In addition, research limitations and future development directions of TENG are pointed out.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211285517302069

Author(s): Haoshu Peng, Xudong Fang, Samira Ranaei, Zhen Wen, Alan L. Porter
Organization(s): Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Soochow University
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2017

Science-technology-industry correlative indicators for policy targeting on emerging technologies: exploring the core competencies and promising industries of aspirant economies

Research Examples, Research Type, ST&I indicators, ST&I policy, Strategic planning

This paper seeks to contemplate a sequence of steps in connecting the fields of science, technology and industrial products. A method for linking different classifications (WoS–IPC–ISIC concordance) is proposed. The ensuing concordance tables inherit the roots of Grupp’s perspective on science, technology, product and market. The study contextualized the linking process as it can be instrumental for policy planning and technology targeting. The presented method allows us to postulate the potential development of technology in science and industrial products. The proposed method and organized concordance tables are intended as a guiding tool for policy makers to study the prospects of a technology or industry of interest. Two perceived high potential technologies—traditional medicine and ICT—that were sought by two aspirant economies—Hong Kong and Malaysia—are considered as case studies for the proposed method. The selected cases provide us the context of what technological research is being pursued for both fundamental knowledge and new industries. They enable us to understand the context of policy planning and targeting for sectoral and regional innovation systems. While we note the constraints of using joint-publishing and joint-patenting data to study the core competencies of developing economies and their potential for development, we realize that the proposed method enables us to highlight the gaps between science and technology and the core competencies of the selected economies, as well as their prospects in terms of technology and product development. The findings provide useful policy implications for further development of the respective cases.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2319-9

Author(s): Chan-Yuan Wong, Hon-Ngen Fung
Organization(s): University of Malaya
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2017

The global objective of sustainable development up to 2030 and the BRICS: the analysis of the feasibility and effectiveness of the synergies

Biz lit, Data Type, Research Examples, Research Type, ST&I policy, Strategic planning

The article contains analysis of renewed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the period up to 2030, characteristic of the development of cooperation among BRICS countries during Russia’s chairmanship in the union. It also relates to specific features of interaction of BRICS countries on environmental SDGs. Special attention is paid to the issue of climate change and its consequences in light of the decisions of Paris summit of 2015. In particular the article focuses on goals and tasks of BRICS countries related to climate change and response to it, decreasing emissions of greenhouse gases. The authors also consider the issues of and prospects for using renewable energy sources by BRICS countries, development of cooperation within the framework of BRICS Initiative on research and innovation .Qualitative approach is based on the literature review and consultations with the experts, while quantitative analysis includes collecting the news from Factiva database and processing it in Vantage Point software using bibliometric analysis and natural language processing.

https://publications.hse.ru/en/chapters/193349639

Author(s): Korobov NL, Terentyev AA
Organization: National Research University Higher School of Economics
Source: BRICS Countries: development strategies and mechanisms for coordination and cooperation in a changing world. Proceedings of the First International Scientific and Practical Conference, INION, 2-3 November 2015
Year: 2016

Text mining to gain technical intelligence for acquired target selection: A case study for China’s computer numerical control machine tools industry

Research Examples, Research Type, Strategic planning, Tech mining

Technology strategy plays an increasingly important role in today’s Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activities. Informing that strategy with empirical intelligence offers great potential value to R&D managers and technology policy makers. This paper proposes a methodology, based on patent analysis, to extract technical intelligence to identify M&A target technologies and evaluate relevant target companies to facilitate M&A target selection. We apply the term clumping process and a trend analysis together with policy and market information to profile present R&D status and capture future development signals and trends in order to grasp a range of significant domain-based technologies. Furthermore, a comparison between a selected acquirer and leading players is used to identify significant technologies and sub-technologies for specific strategy-oriented technology M&A activities. Finally, aiming to recommend appropriate M&A target companies, we set up an index-based system to evaluate the acquired target candidates from both firms-side perspective and target firm-side perspective and differentially weigh for specific M&A situations. We provide an empirical study in the field of computer numerical control machine tools (CNCMT) in China to identify technology M&A targets for an emerging Chinese CNCMT company — Estun Automation under different M&A strategies.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.10.061

Author(s): Tingting Ma, Yi Zhang, Lu Huang, Lining Shang, Kangrui Wang, Huizhu Yu, Donghua Zhu
Organization(s): Beijing Wuzi University, Beijing Institute of Technology, University of Technology Sydney
Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Year: 2017

A hybrid method to trace technology evolution pathways: a case study of 3D printing

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples, Strategic planning

Whether it be for countries to improve the ability to undertake independent innovation or for enterprises to enhance their international competitiveness, tracing historical progression and forecasting future trends of technology evolution is essential for formulating technology strategies and policies. In this paper, we apply co-classification analysis to reveal the technical evolution process of a certain technical field, use co-word analysis to extract implicit or unknown patterns and topics, and employ main path analysis to discover significant clues about technology hotspots and development prospects. We illustrate this hybrid approach with 3D printing, referring to various technologies and processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object. Results show how our method offers technical insights and traces technology evolution pathways, and then helps decision-makers guide technology development.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-017-2271-8

Author(s): Ying Huang, Donghua Zhu, Yue Qian, Yi Zhang, Alan L. Porter, Yuqin Liu, Ying Guo
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2017