Directing the technology intelligence activity: An ‘information needs’ template for initiating the search

Abstract

In technology-intensive sectors, strategic planning requires relevant and timely information about new/emerging technologies-this is a critical input. Therefore, technology intelligence activities should be directed to capture and deliver pertinent technological information. However, there is a distinct lack of tools for helping organizations to determine what constitutes useful/appropriate information for their needs. To address this issue, an 'information needs' template has been developed to support the process of eliciting and articulating meaningful search queries to guide those who will conduct and provide the necessary intelligence. The use of the template also acts as a means of priming the technology intelligence as it identifies and points to potentially useful sources of knowledge. It covers the spectrum of sources from leveraging internal information, through spanning organizational boundaries to access external sources across the specific industry and neighboring industries, to more distant fields of knowledge. Additionally, the template has sections for distinguishing 'who to watch' versus 'who to talk to'. The deployment of the template can be integrated with roadmapping, using the roadmap landscape to feed hotspots/themes/gaps/white spaces into the template, which are then unpacked to determine the information needs of the organization.

art of director, screenwriter, and actor Martin Scorsese as an author's cinematography model

“…Having succeeded in depicting various facets of human cruelty and weakness, at the beginning of the 21st century Scorsese decided to take a creative break. He returned to directing musical films, creating a number of concert recordings of his favourite artists, such as the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, enthusiastically told the history of cinematography, from the Lumieres to the present day (Kerr & Phaal, 2018). Scorsese was seen in active public speeches and discussions related to the preservation of the National Film Foundation and the development of new cinema.…”

Technology intelligence practices in SMEs: Evidence from Estonia

“…The findings of this study also suggest the importance of the alignment of the business strategy and technology intelligence objectives. In fact, Kerr and Phaal (2018) asserted the necessity of future studies that investigate a formal link between Technology intelligence and strategic planning.…”