Text mining for technology roadmapping - the strategic value of information

Technology roadmapping is a well established method used in strategy development to map alternative future paths, while text mining offers untapped potentials concerning early detection and environmental scanning. In this paper, the roadmapping process is split into different phases in order to analyze which text mining methods could add further value in each phase. This leads to a two-layered process model, which includes text mining techniques to systematically integrate external information in ongoing roadmapping processes. Textual data can be used for a structured analysis and exploration of thematic fields and an objective quantitative summary of actual developments. To demonstrate some of the benefits, the field of ?cloud computing? is used to illustrate the procedure. As we will show in this article, the results provided by this approach extend the existing methodology and serve as an objective comparison to expert opinion.