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

The objective of the integrated technology roadmapping methodology STAR® outlined in this paper is to enable companies to align their technology acquisition programmes to meet their business objectives. STAR® 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® 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®. Elements of STAR® are being implemented at a major collaborator, and it is planned to implement the whole STAR® methodology within a year. An integrated enterprise level roadmapping methodology such as STAR® offers an objective way of selecting and evaluating projects and, later, of re-evaluating and improving the process.