ON DOCUMENTATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS,
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to develop improved methods for mission-oriented organizations to improve coupling of their research programs with their mission-objectives. The paper reports on the rationale, plans, and the first year's three months progress of the study conducted in an Air Force environment. The study tests the hypothesis that the Air Force pay-off from its investment in research can be increased by systematically identifying the technological barriers, describing them on problem resumes, and selectively disseminating such resumes as 'knowledge want ads.' The resulting procedures and documentation system are seen as a way to tap the pool of available knowledge in the minds of men for the application to practical agency problems. Problems are to be documented on a one-page problem resume form, analogous to the already existing DD Form 1498 which has been designed by the Department of Defense to keep records about the on-going research. The prime function of the problem resume form is to trigger establishment of direct person to person contacts between the individual who has the problem and the scientist who are the sources of knowledge useful in its solution. A repository of such forms can also serve as an additional source of information for research planners, providing the planners recognize that only a part of research programs can be profitably oriented toward problems which can be recognized in advance. Much high pay-off comes from undirected research which creates opportunities to be recognized only after the research results are available. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 05, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0676970
Entities
People
- Alexander G. Hoshovsky
- Robert J. Massey