Improved selection of technically attractive projects using knowledge management and net interactive tools

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, February 2000."January 2000."Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-77).Conventional technology forecasting and selection practices, in the Western World, suffer from several shortcomings including: weak criteria for developing and evaluating forecasts, limited tool sets for developing possible future states of implementation, anchoring in current functional capability and strong dependence on functional experts. Techniques enabled by the existence of the World Wide Web bring additional knowledge assets to assist in developing suitable forecasts and related technology selection. Additionally, techniques developed by Altshuller provide a powerful set of visioning tools, titled the Laws and Lines of (Technical System) Evolution, to enable improved identification of future product and technology constructs. The Laws allow for thinking about system evolution while the Lines provide insight into implementation. These techniques are integrated to form the majority of a proposed technology identification and selection process because they provide a criteria for developing and establishing technical forecasts that is rooted in extensive study of prior inventive results.by Michael W. Frauens.S.M