IPTS-TIM©: Early Evaluation of Technology Development
An adaptable and systematic procedure to evaluate the industrial, economics
and social interests of new technology development projects
The IPTS-TIM© V.1.1 software is a tool to help S&T experts in structuring the evaluation and early
identification of innovative technology and increasing their awareness on market related issues.
Presently, no comparable software of similar characteristics is available: IPTS-TIM© V.1.1 represents a
real novelty. A strong interest has been shown by several RTD and commercial organisations which
already requested to obtain and use the software.
This user-friendly and completely modular tool facilitates the characterisation of technology objectives,
especially under the European (& technological) perspective, incorporating socio- economic
considerations and risk evaluation concepts. The results provided can also fit the expectations of less
experienced evaluators by serving as a checking list or guideline in technology evaluation processes. The
software provides extensive (including prospective) information on specific technology development areas
& markets and can be used as an effective tool to monitor technological and market trends valuable in
technology portfolio management.

The need
The strategic and policy relevance of
technology innovation in the European
Union has become increasingly relevant for
the potential impact it has in the extended
socio-economic
system.
Unfortunately,
whereas the European performance in terms
of scientific output is unquestioned in
comparison with its principal competitors,
the commercial and innovative performance
of some European high-tech sectors is
relatively lower or even declining. This fact
underlines the significance of developing
appropriate mechanisms for the efficient
identification
of
new
& marketable
technologies
and
their
transfer
to
enterprises. These mechanisms could result
in a higher number of innovations and lead
to better products and services for the
European Union citizens.
Whenever a new technology development is
proposed, its interest has to be evaluated
and finally the company, or the funding
organisation, has to decide whether it should
be supported or abandoned. The decision is
generally based on the opinion of evaluators
in the field where the new technology is to
be applied.
The benefits of bringing objectivity into the
technology evaluation are:


From previous experience, an objective
procedure can be adjusted to better
match future results.
Structured/traceable estimate avoids the
mixing of individual interests or biases.
The objective assessment procedure
can be turned into a software product
that
companies
and
funding
organisations will be able to use to
evaluate technology developments.
Considering all these concepts, the
European Commission’s Joint Research
Centre
–
Institute
for
Prospective
Technological Studies (IPTS) implemented
an action-oriented project to identify a
cluster of marketable and innovative
technologies owned by the Community
based on objective elements of judgement.
The results were not only an evaluation of
these technologies, but also the creation of
a decision-making support methodology:
“Technology Identification Model”.
Presently, a software package based on
such methodology, IPTS-TIM© V.1.1 has
been developed (December 1999). The new
methodology allows the identification and
evaluation
of
present
and
future
technologies according to their marketability
potential, while taking into account all
possible
social,
environmental
and
European
policy
dimensions,
their
development status and potential innovative
impacts.
Wold Trade Center, Isla de la Cartuja s/n, E-41092 Seville, Spain
web: http:\\www.jrc.es Telephone: +34 95 448 8318, Fax: +34 95 448 83 00
The model and the product
The IPTS’s Technology Identification Model
and the software (IPTS-TIM© V.1.1) aim to
assist scientists and managers in increasing
their awareness of market related issues, by
upgrading skills and information in a
structured and flexible way.
IPTS-TIM© V.1.1 is constructed as a
weighted additive linear model. The
implemented
methodology
uses
a
hierarchical, rank order approach oriented
towards performing technology portfolio
management.
IPTS-TIM© V.1.1, as a model for appraising
the marketability of new technologies, can
be implemented either at any decisionmaking level or at scientific staff level within
technology-based
organisations
or
stakeholders.
IPTS-TIM© V.1.1 takes into account every
relevant aspect of a technological project in
order to reach a final objective result aimed
at providing an objective evaluation of the
economic and social benefits expected from
the results of the technology development.
Wold Trade Center, Isla de la Cartuja s/n, E-41092 Seville, Spain
web: http:\\www.jrc.es Telephone: +34 95 448 8318, Fax: +34 95 448 83 00
The basic information is collected through
four modules that arrange and select
external and internal information and which
is processed through three additional
modules to provide clear results that
facilitate decision-making.
The results of the test market survey provide
a better understanding of the companies’
technological needs and, more importantly,
open up a dialogue with the industry
concerning the possible transfer of
technologies.
General Data (GD)
Technology Watch (TW)
This module
General data
user’s name,
type, and
description.
The Technology Watch module provides a
systematic and structured procedure to
retrieve and process supportive detailed
background and prospective information on
the technology under analysis, and on the
industrial areas in which it might be applied.
The information provided in this module
uses database and bibliographic sources, in
conjunction with the analysis of available
foresight studies and European Union R&D
and relevant industrial policy actions.
requires the user to fill the
of the project. The data are:
technology name, technology
a very short technology
Technology Description (TD)
This module collects data on the all the
basic
information
available
at
the
Organisation/Department level concerning
the technology that is going to be evaluated.
Market Enquiry (ME)
The module permits analysing information
from a pilot survey on the commercialisation
potential of the targeted technology. It also
allows
identifying
relevant
economic
information,
alternative
applications,
potential market segments for technology
application, etc.
The implementation phase means a
selection of (innovative) companies which
operate in the related market segment and
which would presumably be interested in the
technology.
Technology
and
Evaluation (T&MEM)
Market
This module calculates weighted averages,
which rely heavily on the results of the TD,
ME and TW modules. The T&MEM
incorporates the different factor scores
assigned to each of the technologies and
classified under four main broad categories:
a) Development level of the technology
b) Market potential
c) Innovative potential
d) Social and environmental incidence of
the technology.
Wold Trade Center, Isla de la Cartuja s/n, E-41092 Seville, Spain
web: http:\\www.jrc.es Telephone: +34 95 448 8318, Fax: +34 95 448 83 00
Detailed Economic and
Financial Evaluation (DE&FEM)
Starting from a technological investment
project, this cost-benefit module permits to
perform a detailed economic and financial
evaluation of the profitability potential of the
project. Since the module relies on
quantitative information, the evaluation
provides a first estimation of the expected
returns derived from technology transfer
processes. This module provides the results
for commonly used formulas in project
investment evaluation such as net present
value, return on investment and pay-back. It
also comprises calculations for issues
commonly present in technology transfer
processes such as maintenance fees,
royalty rates and decision under uncertainty.
The Detailed Economic and Financial
Evaluation Module can be operated as a
stand-alone module or its results integrated
with the other IPTS-TIM modules.
©
Final Evaluation Index (FEI)
The Final Evaluation Index (FEI) is a module
combining the results of the “Technology
and Market Evaluation” Index and the
“Detailed
Economic
and
Financial
Evaluation” Index. The FEI combines the
results derived from the T&MEM and the
DE&FEM indexes, with the former using
purely qualitative information and the latter
using only quantitative information. The
module provides graphic representations
and allows comparisons of specific
indicators. Additional features include the
possibility
of
comparing
technology
evaluation results and to perform technology
rankings.
The innovative features
The innovative aspects of IPTS-TIM
V.1.1 relay on unique features which allow
technology
comparison
and
ranking
according to pre-selected criteria, which
include, in an all encompassing structured
model, considerations relating to: scientific
and technological futures, market trends,
economic
and
financial
assessment
planning, and EU RTD policy & SocioEconomic impact dimensions. Moreover, the
software permits the following functions:
©
- structure the evaluation of a given
technology as compared to a) the contents
of the EU policy actions, b) the information
of prospective studies, c) the information
of commercial/bibliographic/ databases.
- automatic preparation of questionnaires
for electronic mailing including matching
with NACE classification and automatic
compilation of results from questionnaires
- provision of economic and financial
evaluation analysis report including NPV,
ROI calculations
- graphical project comparisons for each
criteria and evaluation module
- possibility to modify criteria’s evaluation
weights according to user needs.
IPTS-TIM© V.1.1: What’s next
As a follow up to this product, the Institute
for Prospective Technological Studies of
European Commission’s Joint Research
Centre is planning to update and improve
the currently available version, according to
the suggestions that will be made by the
targeted users of the software.
Seville, 16th December, 1999
Contact information
For any additional information and for
ordering the software, you can contact
the
Institute
for
Prospective
Technological Studies by sending an
e-mail to: IPTS-TIM@jrc.es or writing to
the attention of P. Moncada-PaternòCastello at the following address:
European Commission - Joint Research
Centre, Institute for Prospective
Technological Studies
W.T.C., Isla de la Cartuja s/n,
41092 Sevilla (Spain)
www.jrc.es
Wold Trade Center, Isla de la Cartuja s/n, E-41092 Seville, Spain
web: http:\\www.jrc.es Telephone: +34 95 448 8318, Fax: +34 95 448 83 00