Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI
The development of roadmaps, or roadmapping, is a flexible tool for supporting targeted strategic planning. Roadmaps visually depict future developments, events, or action options over time, whether for technologies, products, sectors, or other planning-relevant areas. What unites all roadmaps is their orientation towards the future, the time-related linkage of the represented aspects, and alignment towards a vision or goal.
The knowledge foundation for roadmap development is established by engaging experts through interviews, surveys, and moderated workshops, as well as analyzing literature and other sources.
In the roadmapping process, discrepancies and gaps between developments in the environment of a company, current trends, and it´s own capacities are identified early on. Based on these insights, the next step involves identifying corresponding fields of action and developing suitable measures.
By engaging with internal and external experts, diverse processes of knowledge acquisition and learning are triggered. The roadmapping, as a participatory approach, is therefore as valuable as the final roadmap itself.