What   is   technology   scouting?

Technology scouting is the process used by innovation scouts to find technologies externally. It is an essential part of the recently popularised Open Innovation strategy, where research & development professionals look externally for technical opportunities. 

In the old days, R&D driven companies like Unilever, Philips and Shell developed technologies internally. From fundamental research to implementation, everything was in-house. Since 1960’s a shift started to look external. 

Science is an important source of new ideas and concepts to apply in industry. It is undoable for R&D-professionals to stay updated with the latest scientific developments while working on the development projects. An efficiënt approach is needed to find the technologies when you need them. Just in time, technology scouting.  

Now technological development is going so fast, and finding the technologies costs less effort. The yield can be high if you find the golden egg in another research area or industry. That is why technology scouting now is the core of the Open Innovation strategy. 

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written    by

Vincent  franken