Unveiling opportunities afforded by emerging technologies: evidences from the drone industry

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, researchers and practitioners have increasingly focused on how to develop breakthrough technologies. Notwithstanding this, companies still face the problem of understanding the opportunities enabled by technologies from the early stage of development. The technology management literature highlights that development is usually managed by adopting one of two approaches: normative or explorative. However, in using the latter approach focused on developing emerging technologies, unanswered questions remain. In particular, this paper aims to shed light on the strategies that companies adopt to unveil the opportunities enabled by emerging technologies. Analysing the drone industry using an exploratory case study approach, we investigate the strategies that companies implement to guide technology development to address more meaningful application fields. Using the Federal Aviation Administration database, we identify four possible strategies to develop emerging technologies: focus, deep, broad, and holistic.

KEYWORDS:

• Technology development
• unlock opportunities
• technology epiphanies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Stefano Magistretti is Research Fellow in Design and Innovation Management at the Politecnico di Milano School of Management where he is also PhD candidate of LEADIN’Lab, the Laboratory of Leadership, Design and Innovation. His research interests are focused on Technology Innovation and Innovation of Meanings, and particularly fostering radical innovation of meanings from the development stage of a technology.

Claudio Dell’Era is Associate Professor of Design Strategy at the Politecnico di Milano School of Management where he is also Co-Founder of LEADIN’Lab, the Laboratory of Leadership, Design and Innovation. His research activities focus on Innovation Management. He has published in relevant international journals, including Journal of Product Innovation Management, Long Range Planning, R&D Management, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Industry & Innovation, and International Journal of Innovation Management.

ORCID

Stefano Magistretti http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9968-7030

Claudio Dell’Era http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4930-2208

Notes

1. https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-trends-in-the-gartner-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies-2017/.

2. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-drones-report-research-use-cases-regulations-and-problems-2017-9?IR=T.

3. https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-trends-in-the-gartner-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies-2017/.

4. Please refer to Appendix section A for further details on the data gathered.

5. For more information on exemptions, see https://www.regulations.gov/searchResults?rpp=25&po=0&s=Section%2B333%2BFAA&fp=true&ns=true.