Strategic technology alignment roadmapping STAR® aligning R&D investments with business needs

The objective of the integrated technology roadmapping methodology STAR (R) outlined in this paper is to enable companies to align their technology acquisition programmes to meet their business objectives. STAR (R) has three phases: a preliminary phase involving the setting up of an enterprise framework; a technology data collection phase; and a project creation and assessment phase. STAR (R) utilises the analytic hierarchy process to rank company technology requirements, several non-financial factors to determine the alignment of proposed projects and visual representations to select a portfolio of projects. Project evaluations have demonstrated that statistically significantly different project selection outcomes arise from the additional non-financial factors included in STAR (R). Elements of STAR (R) are being implemented at a major collaborator, and it is planned to implement the whole STAR (R) methodology within a year. An integrated enterprise level roadmapping methodology such as STAR (R) offers an objective way of selecting and evaluating projects and, later, of re-evaluating and improving the process.