The iterative involvement of internal Experts into the technology scouting process

This paper describes technology scouting from the Scout's perspective: He or she needs to rapidly develop a working understanding of the search field, start leading a meaningful search for cooperation partners and be able to identify hitherto unknown and relevant research avenues - all while maintaining a delicate balance between providing value to, and taking time from the assigned Experts in the field. The time of the Experts is usually the most limited resource. The methodology and selection of tools that have evolved to satisfy these needs are modular and highly situational. At their center lies a solid core procedure which is used to establish a framework for Expert/Scout understanding, which we call Solution Space. The paper presents the methodology and a selection of tools that have evolved as a best practice approach in several scouting processes.