Science Roadmaps

Abstract

Technology roadmaps are gaining acceptance in industry and government laboratories, and now there are signs that the application of roadmapping to the sciences may grow even faster. A “roadmap” is an extended look at the future of a chosen field of inquiry composed from the collective knowledge and imagination of the brightest drivers of change in that field. Roadmaps can comprise statements of theories and trends, the formulation of models, identification of linkages among and within sciences, identification of discontinuities and knowledge voids, and interpretation of investigations and experiments. Roadmaps can also include the identification of instruments needed to solve problems, as well as graphs, charts, and showstoppers.