Scan & Sense method guide
Technology Scouting Modes
Technology Scouting records signals, sources and routes through Mine, Target, Scan and Trawl modes.
Beginner-friendly guide · 4 min read
What Technology Scouting Modes does
Technology Scouting records signals, sources and routes through Mine, Target, Scan and Trawl modes.
Technology scouting is the organised search for external technical knowledge. Different questions need different search modes, from focused investigation to broad listening across networks.
The tool helps teams record how a signal was found, who assessed it, what evidence supports it and where it should go next. This makes scouting a repeatable organisational capability rather than an individual browsing habit.
The Mine, Target, Scan and Trawl modes come from Cambridge technology-intelligence research. They distinguish focused investigation, directed external search, broad active scanning and network-fed listening.[1][2]
Choose the mode to match the question rather than using one search style for every need.
- 1Mine: deep and known
- 2Target: directed external search
- 3Scan: broad active search
- 4Trawl: network-fed listening
InnovationFlow explanatory schematic, synthesised from the method sources[1][2].
Understand the method
The parts in plain language
When to use it
- When technology evidence is arriving through several formal and informal channels.
- When the organisation wants to assess whether its intelligence system is balanced and purposeful.
A practical workflow
- 1
Start from an intelligence need or define the signal being monitored.
- 2
Choose and record the scouting mode, source, scout and evidence.
- 3
Assess relevance, novelty, maturity and confidence.
- 4
Route accepted signals into trend, push/pull, sourcing or roadmap work.
Fictional worked example
Example: finding low-power sensing options
This example is illustrative rather than a reported case. A manufacturer needs sensors that operate for years without routine battery replacement.
Observation:Internal experts know the core sensing physics.
Implication:Review adjacent energy-harvesting literature in depth.
Observation:Several university groups work on promising materials.
Implication:Run focused interviews against a defined performance brief.
Observation:Field teams see unconventional suppliers at customer sites.
Implication:Create a simple route for submitting and reviewing signals.
From analysis to decision
How to interpret the result
- 1Judge a scouting system by decision contribution, not volume of signals.
- 2Keep source, date and collector visible.
- 3Route accepted evidence into trends, technology-demand links, sourcing analysis or roadmap work.
The interpretation guidance is an InnovationFlow synthesis of[1][2].
What a useful output looks like
Common pitfalls
- Do not strip a signal from its source and collection date.
- Separate interesting technology from evidence that affects a decision.
References and method basis
- [1]Mortara, L., Kerr, C., Phaal, R. and Probert, D. (2009). A toolbox of elements to build Technology Intelligence systems. International Journal of Technology Management, 47(4), 322-345. Source ↗Peer-reviewed research
- [2]Kerr, C., Mortara, L., Phaal, R. and Probert, D. (2006). A conceptual model for technology intelligence. International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2(1), 73-93. Source ↗Peer-reviewed research
This guide synthesises the named sources into practical questions for strategy and innovation work. It does not claim that using a tool by itself produces a successful decision.