First pioneered by the telecommunications firm Motorola in the 1970s, roadmapping was designed to improve alignment between technology and product development.

Looking into the future may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but a Cambridge academic has produced a new textbook which could help organisations to take on this challenge.

Rob Phaal, a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), has written the first comprehensive roadmapping textbook, “Roadmapping for strategy and innovation: aligning technology and markets in a dynamic world”.

First pioneered by the telecommunications firm Motorola in the 1970s, roadmapping was designed to improve alignment between technology and product development. The method provides a visual framework to look at the future in order to make better strategic decisions, taking into consideration all key technical and commercial considerations.

Since then the approach has been adopted widely by many organisations in different sectors around the world, at company, sector and national levels. Over the last ten years the IfM, part of the University’s Department of Engineering, has developed the approach and has facilitated over 200 roadmapping projects in a wide range of different areas from the Australian Automotive industry to social care policy making.

The book is available to buy direct from Amazon

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