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The fundamentals of technology and science watch : The key to knowledge development.
Technology development is a continuous process and companies need to keep abreast of the latest innovations in order to make the best research and development decisions. Technology watch is a discipline that consists of following the evolution of technologies and detecting new ones in order to use them for the benefit of the company.
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There are different steps to follow in order to set up an effective technology watch:
1. Define the objectives of the watch.
2. Gathering information
3. Establish a data collection routine
4. Analyse the data collected
5. Communicate the results
How to define the objectives of monitoring? Understand the context and the purpose to better understand the processing of information.
Technology watch is practiced in all sectors of activity (industry, consulting, public sector, etc.). Each sector has specific needs in terms of innovations, and the type of information collected by technology watch officers is not the same from one sector to another.
It is important to determine what information you want to obtain and what your research and development needs are. This will help you to better understand the next step in gathering information.
What kind of information should be collected for monitoring? Often raw, high-value data.
It is essential to be selective in the type of information and data sources you use. For your monitoring, several types of information may be relevant:
- Scientific articles are the result of a scientific research study conducted by a group of researchers who are experts in the field.
- Preprints are a version of a scientific article that precedes its approval by the editorial board of a scientific journal.
- Scientific journals represent a collection, critical evaluation and synthesis of current knowledge on a specific issue.
- European projects undertake exploratory research with the aim of opening up new areas of research.
- Grey literature represents professional press, white papers, reports, non-peer reviewed but highly relevant articles.
- Patents A patent is an industrial property title that provides details of unique technologies or approaches.
- Conferences aim to bring together researchers and engineers in a field to report on their progres.
How to establish a data collection routine? Automate the collection of information.
Data collection is essential to monitor trends and innovations in your field. However, this task can be tedious and time consuming. For this reason, it is essential to optimise data collection. Fortunately, there are tools and methods that can help you optimise this task and save time.
Establishing a collaborative data collection routine with Opscidia is key. On the technology intelligence platform, you can find the best sources of information, organise and store them, and finally analyse them to draw useful conclusions.
What is the role of a bibliography for technology watch? The purpose of data collection.
The role of a bibliography in a science and technology watch is to document the sources of information used. It allows the different information to be placed in a context and their relevance to the research and development objectives to be assessed.
Bibliography is an important step in technology watch, as it allows the collection and linking of quality data.
The bibliography is an element on which to build for the next step. Analysis and exploitation of the data collected.
How to analyse the data collected during the technology watch? Creating reports and monitoring to feed monitoring projects.
To analyse the data collected in the context of technology watch, a careful approach must be taken.
The principle of this analysis is to explore different approaches to a problem and analyse the results and limitations of these approaches.
To do this, you need to write a complete scientific report that summarises all your monitoring paths, that is, the elements collected during each of the previous stages of the monitoring project.
On the Opscidia platform, artificial intelligence accompanies you in writing your scientific report.
What is the best way to share monitoring results in a working group? The key to collaborative and effective monitoring.
Collaboration is essential for effective monitoring. Sharing your monitoring projects, working together on a monitoring project or even starting with information collected by another person saves time.
Thanks to numerous collaborative monitoring tools such as the Opscidia platform, it is now possible to collect, process and share your scientific and technological monitoring with the people of your choice.
Opscidia optimises each step of the technology watch process thanks to a platform equipped with numerous artificial intelligence tools that retrieve and process scientific information.
A little extra: The word ‘watch’ comes from the Latin word ‘vigilare’, which means ‘to watch’. This term is appropriate, as one of the main objectives of scientific research is to be on the lookout for discoveries.
