ABSTRACT

Speaker: Dr. Blaise Champagne

TITLE: Technical Intelligence in an S-T Organization A Perspective from an Information End-User

One of the major S-T challenges for Canada is to harvest economic and social benefit to Canadians of R-D investments through knowledge transfer and commercialization. As part of the National Research Council Canada (NRC), the Industrial materials Institute (IMI) has been taking an entrepreneurial approach to converting knowledge into economic benefits and to stimulate innovation that Canada and Canadian firms need to succeed in the global knowledge economy.

The presentation highlights IMI's experience in knowledge management to assist in the creation, flow and commercialization of knowledge. It illustrates the importance of technical intelligence in terms of IMI core capabilities on advanced materials technologies that are key drivers of innovation and productivity in the 21st century economy, partnerships on next generation materials technologies and community-based "technology clusters". Since technical intelligence focuses on S-T developments and trends occurring outside one's own, examples of access to a good knowledge network are presented to insure that tacit knowledge is converted to explicit knowledge.

The translation of external elements into a logical description of technology trends, emerging needs and potential impact, constitutes a major advantage but also represents a significant challenge. The expertise related to the organization and information analysis is of great importance to effectively deliver technical intelligence. Librarians have to cope with such needs from R-D organizations. They have to provide the right information at the right time and in the right form to support effectively the commercialization and technology transfer towards industry. Since technical intelligence is based on an integration of explicit and tacit knowledge, without a significant shift from "what was usually done" towards new ways of finding and delivering "actionable" information, the librarianship community might well have to leave the delivery of technical intelligence to other type of specialists in a shorter than expected future.

The conclusion presents a share of thoughts on technical intelligence from an information end-user perspective.