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Technology Management back to top
Today's rapid rate of technical advance causes technological factors to play a crucial role in most important strategic decisions. To take full advantage of both emerging and existing technologies, a carefully-crafted technology management program is essential to the long-term success-even survival-of any large organization. Advantages such a program provides include:
- Constructing technology development roadmaps.
- Promoting technology transfer within and outside the organization.
- Identifying and mediating partnerships with academia, government and commercial firms.
- Developing new technology deployment strategies.
- Allocating R&D resources.
- Examining the financial implications of technology decisions.
- Ensuring that technology and marketing strategies match.
- Obtaining outside review of plans and forecasts.
- Defining new knowledge assets (and ways of obtaining them) that are needed to stay technologically adroit.
Since all planning is based on projections of future trends and events, TFI's forecasting proficiency provides us with a unique capability to assist our commercial clients in developing and implementing strong technology management programs.
Technology Forecasting back to top
The rapid pace of change in today's business environment magnifies the importance of quality forecasts. All plans and decisions, of necessity, are based on forecasts of the future. Properly focused and conducted technology forecasts are of great value for:
- Identifying and evaluating new technology-based products and services.
- Projecting technology advances.
- Defining market needs for new technologies.
- Projecting market adoption rates for new technologies.
- Formulating strategic models of future developments.
- Estimating economic lives and depreciation schedules for technology investments.
- Developing cash flow models for technology investments.
- Assisting in identifying new approaches to current or emerging problems.
- Providing a foundation for strategic planning.
- Motivating imaginative thinking.
To advance the goals and visions of their objectives, commercial organizations must be able to project future developments in an organized, responsible, and timely manner. Our multi-view framework Five Views of the Future™ and other innovative frameworks allow us to use a large variety of methods to accomplish this. Three decades of forecasting experience has made TFI one of the world's premier practitioners in this field.
Roadmaps back to top
TFI has extensive experience in developing and using roadmaps to assist organizations in visualizing their critical assets; the relationships between them; and the skills, technologies, and competencies required to meet future demands. TFI goes beyond the traditional technology roadmap to include areas such as knowledge assets, services, science/research, market, capability, product/issues, and others. Advantages offered by TFI's roadmapping services include:
- Capability-based planning.
- More effective capture and use of business knowledge.
- More effective product innovation.
- Technology planning.
- A more efficient and targeted research process.
- Assisting with science and technology marketing.
- For R&D, science, and technology management including planning, executing, reviewing, and transitioning.
- Business and value planning.
- Enhancing communication and collaboration among researchers, technologists, managers, users, and stakeholders.
- Identifying gaps and opportunities in R&D, science, and technology programs.
- Identifying obstacles to rapid and low-cost product development.
TFI offers its clients the power of roadmapping for planning, communicating, adapting, and moving successfully into the future. We have produced plans for several commercial organizations, and were one of the leaders and lead author of the first National Technology Roadmap. We have also facilitated and produced roadmaps for satellite services and other propriety activities.
Technology Terrain Maps back to top
Terrain mapping is one of the major crosscutting analysis activities in a project. TFI uses information collected from information exchanges, forums, research funding analysis, papers and patents searches, innovation capacity survey, regulatory analysis, and university benchmarks to help its commercial clients map out:
- Current research projects.
- Extensions and enhancements of research projects.
- Innovation capacity.
- Supporting sciences.
- Federal and state funding.
- Local funding sources.
- Patents and papers.
- Impacting regulations.
- Identify points of intersection between institutions.
TFI's services in this area help commercial organizations to better understand the overall technology environment.
Strategic Market Services back to top
Market studies of potential markets for an emerging technology are essential before committing major engineering resources. TFI’s techniques for structuring and evaluating during the early conceptualization stage helps organizations pinpoint “first applications” with the greatest early payoff and strategic value. TFI will help you:
- Identify and assess emerging market opportunities.
- Identify and evaluate target markets for their breakout technologies.
- Probe potential markets to identify key care-abouts, high value applications, and industry structure.
- Determine which opportunities are the most promising for your organization.
- Determine future customer needs and match them with existing and new technologies.
- Project the rate at which new technologies will be adopted in the marketplace.
- Determine when and how these opportunities will develop over time.
- Assist in planning the entry of technologies into new market areas.
- Confirm marketing and technology strategies match.
- Identify white spaces.
- Provide special insights into technology/market interrelationships.
As opposed to the short-term orientation of surveys and focus groups, TFI’s strategic market services help you profit in the long term by taking advantage of fundamental shifts in technologies, markets, and customer needs and desires.
Strategic Planning back to top
An organization that is going to be a leader in the new environment must have a future-facing strategic planning process that adapts to the convergence of the future, while building on the past. TFI helps you achieve both short-term and long-term objectives by:
- Selecting those opportunities that are most consistent with your capabilities and objectives.
- Analyzing changing technical, market, or social factors to uncover emerging business opportunities.
- Determining what additional resources you need to accomplish those objectives.
- Integrating emerging business opportunities into strategic plans.
- Identifying mismatches between a company’s projects, resources, and culture and its strategic goals.
- Initiating programs to correct these mismatches.
- Analyzing possible and probable competitor strategies and actions.
- Developing strategic plans for optimal application of all available resources.
Since planning is always based on projections about the future, TFI’s experience in technology, market, financial, and business environment forecasting provides us with a powerful capability to assist you in strategic planning.
Focus Studies back to top
TFI performs focus studies using our multi-view framework Five Views of the Futures™ and other innovative frameworks on specific areas of technology and across technology domains to determine:
- Current status of a technology.
- Future developments using available roadmaps and other information.
- Competitive technologies.
- Forecasted market potential.
- Industry acceptance.
- Current product implementations.
- Technological issues.
We have performed focus studies for many different commercial agencies.
Futures Concepts back to top
We excel at providing our commercial clients with a strong, grounded view of how to successfully move a technology or technology process into the future. Valuable insights can include:
- What is coming down the pipeline in technology?
- How will the market adapt to new technology?
- Who are the major players in the new technology?
- What are alternatives to each technology?
- What are potential societal effects?
These insights are critical to choosing a successful strategy and implementing a sustainable transformation.
Technology, Research, and Science Plans back to top
An organization that is going to be a strong player in the future must have plans and research that are based in the future and not on yesterday’s problems. At TFI we have a proven track record in:
- Developing future focused, actionable plans that advance the goals and visions of the commercial organizations with which we work.
- Assisting organizations assess their own R&D plans.
- Assisting organizations in identifying and acquiring external science and technology to realize their R&D plans.
- Assisting organizations assess the underlying technological assumptions of bidders in major transformation projects.
A prime focus of the resulting plans is a future focus that is built from our knowledge of today's capabilities, research, and future visions.
Grand Challenges Development back to top
Even the most enlightened and sophisticated view of the future is without value unless it can be related back to the organization and can be used to motivate a change in strategy, processes, practices, or a complete transformation. TFI assists commercial organizations in making such changes and transitions by:
- Creating Grand Challenges documents within and outside the company.
- Vetting Grand Challenges documents within and outside.
- Developing Grand Challenges implementation with opinion shaping messages.
TFI has a great focus and breadth in this area.
Transformation/Innovation Development back to top
TFI has the experience, expertise, and partnerships to bring innovative solutions to bear on the critical challenges facing commercial organizations. TFI's achievements in the area of transformation/innovation development include:
- Providing long-range technology forecasts to both commercial and the intelligence community.
- Playing an integral part in the creation of In-Q-Tel, the Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital firm.
- Leading the first industry national roadmap effort.
- Participating in the first U.S. consortium.
- Producing future-focused plans for more than half of the top Fortune 100 technology-oriented companies.
TFI provides a strong forecasting foundation, unique solutions, and a forward-looking vision to help commercial organizations stay on target and achieve their initiatives.
Technology Transfer/Technology Commercialization back to top
Dramatic changes in the business world are forcing major transformations across the breadth of the industry. TFI has worked closely on projects to address transformations in:
- R&D processes.
- Technology transfer.
- Grand challenges.
- Knowledge management and future awareness processes.
- Structuring frameworks.
- Organizations that face the future requirements of government departments and agencies.
- Global market structure.
- Global industry structure.
Futures Concepts back to top
At no time in the recent past is the ability to visualize the future more critical for today and tomorrow’s success. At TFI, we:
- Provide future vision to leadership groups.
- Help your business teams strategize for the future.
- Assist you to achieve the future vision you desire.
Custom Studies back to top
TFI prepares custom studies for clients on technology and business topics for specialized needs. Some of these studies have included:
- Enterprise network audits.
- Specialized cost studies.
- Industry vision statements.
- Critical issues analyses.
Regional Economic Development Analysis back to top
TFI assists regional economic development groups in the formulation of strategic plans that are actionable and localized. Our approach allows us to get an accurate picture of a region—its strengths and weaknesses, as well as potential opportunities and stumbling blocks with:
- Rigorous research and data collection from various primary and secondary sources.
- One-on-one interviews with key local stakeholders who understand the various nuances and unique characteristics of a region.
- Formal research, including research into patent activity and federal funding for research and development on the part of relevant regional stakeholders.
- First-hand knowledge.
Our goal is not to create a static strategic plan confined to a three-ring binder, but a set of recommendations containing a candid assessment of a region which answers the inevitable question: “What do we do on Monday?”
Research and Strategic Action Plan Development back to top
Since 1978, TFI has provided top quality consulting, planning, forecasting, research, training, and publication services to a wide variety of clients, including over half of the top Fortune 100 technology-based companies, many of the leading-edge government agencies, and many international clients. As a result, TFI has the ability to:
- Construct and lead unique research partnerships with a wide variety of team members from commercial, academic, industrial, and government organizations.
- Draw knowledge and understanding from the various communities and stakeholders that will impact the development and adoption of various technologies.
These diverse partnerships allow us to multiply the value of our analysis and forecasts for our commercial clients.
Forward Looking Foresight back to top
TFI constructs forward-looking views of the future for clients using a full set of tools that range from the quantitative to the qualitative and from forecast to foresight to cover a wide range of domains:
- Geopolitical.
- Economic.
- Social.
- Regulatory market.
- Technology.
- Competitive.
These views, combined with experience with a range of technologically-oriented organizations, are based on years of creating technology and market forecasts in a wide range of technological fields from Information Systems to Life Sciences to Nanotech to Energy to Organizational Systems.
Using this knowledge, TFI offers top-notch speakers with prepared or tailored presentations for company meetings, customer events, ideation kick-off seminars, and keynote events. Our speakers can provide your audience with:
- Thought-provoking presentations that incorporate the vision of the futurist with the down-to-earth judgment of the technologist.
- Descriptions of important emerging technology trends developed through our forecasting and analysis work that will influence organizations now, in the near future, and in the distant future.
- Relate these emerging technology trends directly to specific industries and organizations of individual audiences.
- Provide suggestions on how the audience can best prepare and take advantage of these trends.
- Present the forecasting techniques and applications that TFI has developed and uses in its forecasting and trend analysis work.
Telecommunications Services back to top
TFI provides information, forecasts, analysis, and strategic insights that support business decisions involving wireless and wireline communications technologies and markets including voice, video, data, and sensor applications. In terms of talent, experience, and proven track record, TFI is uniquely qualified to assist commercial organizations to operate effectively in the rapidly-changing communications environment. Our services can help:
- Identify, forecast, and evaluate advances in telecom technology and markets.
- Develop strategic technology, market, and financial plans.
- Provide outside review of plans and forecasts.
- Estimate economic lives and depreciation schedules for telecom investment.
- Provide expert witness testimony in regulatory and other proceedings.
TFI's work in telecommunications is particularly valuable if you are a decision maker responsible for integrating market, financial, and technology factors, e.g., a business or product development manager, strategic planner, financial manager, and technology expert.
Survey/Interview Services back to top
TFI has often been called upon by its commercial clients to provide survey services, either as a separate project or as part of a larger project. These surveys have varied widely in purpose, nature, and extent and have included oral, written, and electronic input. They have included forms-based, interactive, Delphi-type surveys and interviews. Typically, survey services include:
- Definition of survey objectives.
- Developing the structure for the survey.
- Conducting the survey.
- Recording and organizing survey data.
- Analyzing the results of the survey.
- Presenting the results of the survey and their significance to organization management.
TFI has software tools in place to enhance its ability to record, collate, and analyze survey input quickly, accurately, and economically. TFI's experience in the planning, conduct, and analysis of surveys enables it to provide its clients with superior survey services.
Public Publications back to top
Technology Futures, Inc. provides a number of publications. Some are used to support other TFI services such as training and facilitation.
- Technology and Telecom Reports
- Technology Forecasting Guides
- Futures' Features—E-Letter
- White Papers, Articles, and Reports
- Communications Reference Book
Many of the public telecom reports produced by Technology Futures, Inc. were commissioned by Telecommunications Technology Forecasting Group (TTFG), a consortium of telephone companies presently comprised of AT&T, Bell Canada, Qwest, and Verizon. TTFG was established to promote the understanding and use of forecasting to predict and support the continuing evolution of the public telecommunications network.
Facilitation Services back to top
Since its establishment in 1978, TFI has been actively involved in assisting commercial organizations in coordinating the activities of various individuals and groups within organizations and between organizations. The techniques employed by TFI include, but are not limited to:
- Impact Analysis.
- Nominal Group Conferencing.
- Stakeholder Analysis.
- Morphological Structuring.
- Cross Impact Analysis.
- Focus Groups.
TFI facilitation services are oriented toward improving the collaborative abilities of the organization through the choice and design of the tools and professional skills in team formation. Facilitation objectives have included:
- Forming new organizations.
- Gaining coordination and cooperation between various internal groups.
- Defining R&D programs.
- Improving promotion policies.
- Promoting new cultural norms.
- Revitalizing organization professionals.
- Improving internal communications.
- Clarifying organizational missions and goals.
- Responding to competitive threats.
- Encouraging creative and innovative thought processes.
A proprietary approach to strategy planning developed by TFI, Technology Advantage Management (TAM)™, has proven to be particularly useful in integrating various separate activities into a unified effort.
In addition, TFI has facilitated sessions that are intended to get teams to think outside the box with its well-acclaimed presentations on future trends. We have produced a series of seminars on technologies that are emerging from the labs and are ready for application exploitation tuned to the community of interest.
Training back to top
To help companies take full advantage of advancing technology, TFI conducts in-house training in technology forecasting, management, assessment, and planning. Since its establishment in 1978, TFI has presented in-house sessions for various companies, institutions, and government agencies. Advantages include:
- Creating a “team vision,” with participants gaining a common understanding of forecasting and planning methods.
- Focusing on subjects of specific interest to you and your organization.
- Combining learning sessions with internal planning and strategy sessions.
- Providing technology management tools for your day-to-day decision-making.
- Allowing choice of seminar dates, length, content, and the number and level of participants.
- Minimizing problems of confidentiality.
- Serving as a starting point for actual in-house projects.
Some of our popular in-house seminars include:
- Forecasting & Planning Technology™
- Managing & Implementing Technology™
- Telecom Trends: Markets & Technologies™
- Quantitative Technology/Market Forecasting™
- Forecasting, Planning & Managing Technology™
- Technology Forecasting for the Telecom Industry™
- Technology as a Strategic Asset™
- Effective Technology Transfer™
- Identifying and Evaluating Breakthrough Technologies™
TFI's in-house training is an excellent way to focus on the future and create strategic plans. The quality of these in-house sessions is indicated by the fact that many organizations have asked us to return over and over again.
If you believe TFI can be of assistance to your organization in the Commercial area, please contact us by telephone at (512) 258-8898 or (800) TEK-FUTR, by fax at (512) 258-0087, or by e-mail at info@tfi.com. We welcome your inquiries.