Roadmapping is a methodology that comes from the fields of engineering and technology management. The development of the method is attributed to Motorola over two decades ago. One of his executives stated the following:
"roadmaps are extended looks at the future of a chosen field(s) of inquiry; are composed of the collective knowledge and imagination of the drivers of change in a particular field; they communicate visions, stimulate investigations, monitor progress and form an inventory of possibilities of a particular field" (Galvin in 1998 cit. Kostoff and Schaller 2001)
Garcia & Bray 1997 define technology roadmapping as a process for collaborative strategic planning and coordination of ICT developments within organisations. It involves identifying needs, evaluating and selecting appropriate systems as well as planning the implementation. As a result of it, organisations should be better inform and can make better investment decisions.
Ahlqvist et al. 2011 adapt the technology roadmapping method and propose innovation policy roadmapping to address critical innovation policy challenges at national/regional levels within a global context. This method attempts to align the technology development, business models, sociotechnical systems and policy instruments.
Research Data Management Roadmaps need to take into account the technical research data management systems, the university core business objectives, the sociotechnical elements of researchers and their data, as well as research councils policy requirements.
Producing such a roadmap can be a useful exercise for HE institutions embarking in research data management activities to map out their current state and engage in discussions with internal stakeholders to define where they want to be and how to get there. These roadmaps should set targets for institutional infrastructure and services aligned with the institutional strategy and plan the activities and resources to achieve those targets.
But how do institutions make sure that they are setting the right targets?
Higher Education (HE) Institutions in the UK have started creating research data management roadmaps. These roadmaps followed the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) called in April 2012 for UK universities to have a plan to demonstrate how their policies and processes would align with EPSRC's nine research data expectations by May 2015. These expectations provide the framework to help setting the institutional research data management targets:
In Australia, the research councils have not make a prescriptive call for roadmaps to Australian institutions (at least yet). Nonetheless the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research's section on research data provides a starting point for a framework to help establishing the targets for research data management as the code establishes the following responsibilities for institutions:
Monash University has taken an interesting approach in their Research Data Management Strategy and Strategic Plan 2012-2015. After identifying five major research data themes which map to the goals of Monash research strategy they set their vision for 2015 for each of those.
Some of the benefits of doing the research data roadmaps include:
Seeding the Commons projects through their interactions with researchers as well as the institutional service providers are already discovering what is the current state of research data management at their institutions. But is it possible/desired to use these projects to promote this type of process within institutions?
References
Garcia, M.L. and Bray, O.H. (1997). Fundamentals of Technology Roadmapping. Strategic Business Development Department Sandia National Laboratories.
Kostoff, R.N. & Schaller, R.R. (2001). Science and technology roadmaps. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 48:2, 132–143.
Monash University (2012). Research Data Management Strategy and Strategic Plan 2012-2015. Accessed at: https://confluence-vre.its.monash.edu.au/display/rdmstrategy/Research+Data+Management+Strategy+and+Strategic+Plan+2012-2015
University of Bath (2012). University of Bath Roadmap for EPSRC. Accessed at: http://www.bath.ac.uk/rdso/University-of-Bath-Roadmap-for-EPSRC.pdf
University of Surrey (2012). Research Data Management Roadmap to 2015. Accessed at: http://t.co/DbSY2Nyz
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| "Painting as a Map" by Celia Russell |
"roadmaps are extended looks at the future of a chosen field(s) of inquiry; are composed of the collective knowledge and imagination of the drivers of change in a particular field; they communicate visions, stimulate investigations, monitor progress and form an inventory of possibilities of a particular field" (Galvin in 1998 cit. Kostoff and Schaller 2001)
Garcia & Bray 1997 define technology roadmapping as a process for collaborative strategic planning and coordination of ICT developments within organisations. It involves identifying needs, evaluating and selecting appropriate systems as well as planning the implementation. As a result of it, organisations should be better inform and can make better investment decisions.
Ahlqvist et al. 2011 adapt the technology roadmapping method and propose innovation policy roadmapping to address critical innovation policy challenges at national/regional levels within a global context. This method attempts to align the technology development, business models, sociotechnical systems and policy instruments.
Research Data Management Roadmaps need to take into account the technical research data management systems, the university core business objectives, the sociotechnical elements of researchers and their data, as well as research councils policy requirements.
Producing such a roadmap can be a useful exercise for HE institutions embarking in research data management activities to map out their current state and engage in discussions with internal stakeholders to define where they want to be and how to get there. These roadmaps should set targets for institutional infrastructure and services aligned with the institutional strategy and plan the activities and resources to achieve those targets.
But how do institutions make sure that they are setting the right targets?
Higher Education (HE) Institutions in the UK have started creating research data management roadmaps. These roadmaps followed the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) called in April 2012 for UK universities to have a plan to demonstrate how their policies and processes would align with EPSRC's nine research data expectations by May 2015. These expectations provide the framework to help setting the institutional research data management targets:
- The roadmap by the University of Bath uses each of the nine EPSRC's expectations to define their current position and propose a set of activities clearly defining objectives, deadlines and the roles and responsibilities for each of them.
- The University of Surrey Roadmap takes a slightly different approach. They define three phases that start with policy and strategy development, move into service development and policy implementation to finish with training and development. After this they perform a gap analysis against the EPSRC and RCUK data management principles.
In Australia, the research councils have not make a prescriptive call for roadmaps to Australian institutions (at least yet). Nonetheless the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research's section on research data provides a starting point for a framework to help establishing the targets for research data management as the code establishes the following responsibilities for institutions:
- Retain research data and primary materials
- Provide research data storage and record-keeping facilities
- Identify ownership of research data and primary materials
- Ensure security and confidentiality
Monash University has taken an interesting approach in their Research Data Management Strategy and Strategic Plan 2012-2015. After identifying five major research data themes which map to the goals of Monash research strategy they set their vision for 2015 for each of those.
Some of the benefits of doing the research data roadmaps include:
- identify gaps, challenges and opportunities,
- institutions are be better informed for making future investments,
- provide direction to project teams and future activities,
- help building the consensus amongst institutional stakeholders.
Seeding the Commons projects through their interactions with researchers as well as the institutional service providers are already discovering what is the current state of research data management at their institutions. But is it possible/desired to use these projects to promote this type of process within institutions?
References
Ahlqvist,T., Valovirta, V. Loikkanen, T. (2011) . Innovation policy roadmapping as a systemic instrument for policy design. Paper presented at Fourth International Seville Conference on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis. May 2011
Garcia, M.L. and Bray, O.H. (1997). Fundamentals of Technology Roadmapping. Strategic Business Development Department Sandia National Laboratories.
Kostoff, R.N. & Schaller, R.R. (2001). Science and technology roadmaps. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 48:2, 132–143.
Monash University (2012). Research Data Management Strategy and Strategic Plan 2012-2015. Accessed at: https://confluence-vre.its.monash.edu.au/display/rdmstrategy/Research+Data+Management+Strategy+and+Strategic+Plan+2012-2015
University of Bath (2012). University of Bath Roadmap for EPSRC. Accessed at: http://www.bath.ac.uk/rdso/University-of-Bath-Roadmap-for-EPSRC.pdf
University of Surrey (2012). Research Data Management Roadmap to 2015. Accessed at: http://t.co/DbSY2Nyz
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