TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES ANALYSIS - INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY MONITORING, FORECASTING, AND ASSESSMENT WITH STRATEGIC-PLANNING

This paper describes a research management activity, Technology Opport unities Analysis (TOA), undertaken at The Georgia Institute of Technol ogy (Georgia Tech) to identify and assess the implications of emerging scientific areas and new research technologies. TOA aims to aid the u niversity plan and prioritize research and educational efforts. The TO A process combines a number of activities in the quest for technology planning information: (1) monitoring various literatures; (2) analyzin g various funding trends; (3) analyzing bibliometric materials; (4) ne tworking with experts; (5) assessing the implications of emerging tech nologies to present university capabilities, core competencies, gaps, and educational objectives; and (6) analyzing policy and action option s. During its first year, the TOA process focused on seven high-profil e technologies. Experiences encountered in setting up the TOA process are discussed and strong and weak points are presented.