Un'applicazione "non tradizionale" del modello di Strategic & Technology Roadmapping: il caso BPA

Il modello di Strategic & Technology Roadmapping permette alle aziende di allineare le capacità tecnologiche ai piani di produzione e di business in modo che strategia e tecnologia vadano di pari passo, specialmente in contesti in cui i cicli di vita tecnologici sono sempre più brevi e la globalizzazione sempre più importante.

Può essere applicato per monitorare lo sviluppo di nuove tecnologie e identificare le minacce che potrebbero influire sulla crescita futura e sulla sopravvivenza dell'azienda o ancora per catturare e diffondere le informazioni tecnologiche necessarie per la pianificazione strategica e il processo decisionale.

L'esperienza di un'azienda statunitense operante nel settore energetico, presentata a RADMA 2016 (R&D Management Conference), mostra come sia possibile applicare il modello di roadmapping anche in modo "non tradizionale", aprendo nuovi spunti di riflessione e discussione.

As a government institution with a public service mission that does not itself develop products or services for the marketplace, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) nevertheless needs to articulate its technology research agenda to external experts to help the Agency achieve its reliability, safety, and environmental stewardship missions.

(...) The experience of the BPA Technology Innovation (TI) Office in creating roadmaps and developing its own Technology Roadmap Process Implementation Manual may be informative for other organizations seeking to implement and sustain the process.

BPA TI communicates technology needs of its Power and Transmission business lines to the research community by way of its roadmaps. External expertise has been critical in development of roadmap content to help bring “outside the box” thinking to pressing Agency needs.

With a few exceptions, external experts from universities, manufacturers, national laboratories, and other such organizations are the ones actually conducting hands-on research, development, and demonstration for the Agency’s benefit.

(...) BPA TI’s roadmaps link key opportunities and challenges (“Drivers”) facing barriers (“Capability Gaps”). For each of these barriers, there will be one or more associated “Technology Characteristics”—functions of a product, component, algorithm, software, etc.—that could address the barriers. Finally, “Research and Development Program” descriptions link to the Technology Characteristics, ideally specifying key research questions that further hone the focus of external proposals.

Thus, strategic Agency needs cascade down into increasingly more tangible technical requirements at the tactical level. Once these requirements are communicated (by way of an annual funding opportunity announcement), BPA TI uses these roadmaps as one component within its “system of systems” to administer the Agency’s R&D portfolio— the other systems being Portfolio Management, Project Management, and Technology Transfer.(...)

To help do all this work more effectively, in 2015 BPA TI staff developed their Technology Roadmap Process Implementation Manual. It outlines roadmapping process steps.

This provides logistical checklists, and identifies key roles, responsibilities, and timelines, thereby serving as what the Project Management Institute calls an “Organizational Process Asset.”

It offers more value than a standard static manual, however, in that it resides on an internal SharePoint site and contains hyperlinks to templates and sample documents needed to plan for and conduct workshops, process output, and create deliverables.

The Manual standardizes and centralizes institutional knowledge and best practices while facilitating knowledge transfer. It also provides a foundation for continuous improvement and maturation. (...).

Per maggiori informazioni sul caso presentato a RADMA 2016 leggi "Technology Roadmap Development Framework: A case study within the energy sector" 

Fonti: R&D Today, RADMA 2016

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