1. Define

Understanding the object of study

Before starting a project, it is fundamental to understand the research expectations in order to establish objectives, questions and/or hypotheses. The "define" phase is key to understand the research aim, and to formulate the approach that will be followed in the course of the project.

During this phase, the Head of Research will elaborate a research brief to guide the research team, which follows the structure below:

Key information

Title: Research area Objective: What is the intention of the study? Timeframe: How far in the future are we looking at?

Sub-themes

Which sub themes should be considered? (e.g. broader theme: agriculture; sub-theme: biotechnology)

Sample technologies

The researchers are requested to curate a list of technologies considered crucial for the project. The number of technologies will be further provided by the Head of Research.

Excluded Technologies

The researchers are requested to curate a list of technologies that do not fit the research aim (e.g. techs considered outdated or too far-fetched), followed by a description explaining why these technologies are unsuitable for the project.

Types of technology application

The Editor in Chief will select the appropriate types of technology application for the project in question, and at the research brief will only display the suitable applications. The definition of each one of the types of technology application are described at the Analyze section under the category of Taxonomy of this methodology guidelines and are listed as it follows:

• Protocol

• Business Model

• Software

• Hardware

• System

• Policy

Metrics

To calculate the metrics of each project, questions should be addressed to orientate the evaluation method followed throughout the research process. The featured questions can be exemplified as such:

• How the technologies should be evaluated?

• Who will be evaluating?

• What is the final intention of the evaluation?

For more specific information regarding the process of analytically measuring the technological development, please access the Metrics section.

Researcher Task: Dive into the subject Using the brief document as a guide, the research team should dive into the subject, read the documentation provided by the project's brief and brainstorm sub-themes to be mapped during the research process. Furthermore, researchers should create a board on TDB (Technology Database) with showcase the primary themes of the study. This board will serve as a guideline to understand which themes should be covered and which need more attention for the further research result.

TDB Tutorial

How to create a board and to select the technologies

• Login on TDB

• Click [Projects]

• Select the project you're working on

• Click [+ Create Board]

• Name it [Clusters I] and click [Submit]

• Click [+ Create Collection] and name it according to one of the sub-themes of the project and click [Submit]. Repeat the process until all the sub-themes are covered