Technology intelligence
The practice of systematically monitoring, connecting, and interpreting signals about emerging technologies to understand where innovation is heading.
Hype cycle
The pattern of inflated then corrected expectations a new technology often passes through before fading or maturing into productive use.
Technology readiness level (TRL)
A scale describing how mature a technology is, from basic research through to proven, deployed systems.
Patent landscape
An analysis of patent activity in a field, revealing who is innovating, where, and how fast.
Preprint
A research paper shared publicly before formal peer review, often the earliest visible signal of a scientific advance.
Horizon scanning
The systematic search for early signs of important developments, including weak signals at the edge of current thinking.
Signal vs. noise
Distinguishing meaningful, evidence-backed indicators from attention that is not supported by real activity.
Emerging technology
A technology still developing toward broad practical use, whose eventual impact is not yet fully established.
Deep tech
Companies and technologies built on substantial scientific or engineering advances, typically with longer development timelines.
Technology scouting
The active search for external technologies, startups, or research relevant to an organization's goals.
Competitive intelligence
The gathering and analysis of information about competitors and market conditions to inform strategy.
Patent citation
A reference from one patent to prior patents or literature, used to trace influence and map innovation.
Adoption curve
The pattern by which a technology spreads through a market over time, from early adopters to the mainstream.
Innovation signal
Any observable indicator — a patent, paper, investment, or policy change — that suggests where technology is heading.
Entity resolution
Determining when different mentions refer to the same real-world thing, such as a company, researcher, or technology.
Knowledge graph
A structured network of entities and the relationships between them, used to connect signals into context.
Regulatory filing
A document submitted to a government body that can signal coming changes in what technologies are permitted or required.
Weak signal
An early, ambiguous indicator of potential change that is easy to miss but can precede major shifts.
Analogous market
A different market whose adoption trajectory is used as a reference point for forecasting how a new technology may develop.
Citation graph
A map of how research papers or patents reference one another, used to trace the flow of ideas and identify foundational work.
Confidence level
An explicit assessment of how certain an analyst is in a finding, based on the quality and breadth of supporting evidence.
Corroboration
The process of confirming a finding by locating independent sources that point to the same conclusion.
Crossing the chasm
The difficult transition a technology must make from early adopters to the mainstream market, as described by Geoffrey Moore.
Diffusion of innovation
The process by which a new technology spreads through a population over time, as described by Everett Rogers.
Disruption
A process by which a simpler, more accessible technology eventually displaces established products or services, as described by Clayton Christensen.
Due diligence
A structured review of a technology, company, or opportunity to verify claims and assess risks before committing resources.
Dual-use technology
A technology developed for one purpose — typically commercial — that can also be applied in defense, security, or other unintended contexts.
False positive
An indicator that appears to signal meaningful change but turns out to reflect noise, error, or coincidence rather than a real trend.
Foresight
The structured practice of anticipating plausible futures by identifying trends, uncertainties, and emerging developments.
Frontier technology
A technology operating at the very edge of what is currently possible, often with uncertain but potentially transformative applications.
General-purpose technology
A technology so broadly applicable that it reshapes multiple industries and economic activities — electricity and computing are canonical examples.
Inflection point
A moment when the rate or direction of a technology's development changes markedly, often signaling a transition to faster growth or decline.
Lagging indicator
A metric that confirms a trend after it has already taken hold, useful for validation but less useful for early warning.
Leading indicator
A metric that tends to move ahead of a trend, making it useful for early warning and anticipatory analysis.
Noise
Information that appears relevant but does not reflect genuine underlying change — hype, duplicated coverage, or coincidental data points.
Patent family
The set of related patents filed across multiple countries to protect the same invention, revealing the geographic scope of an innovator's strategy.
Prior art
Publicly available knowledge — patents, papers, or products — that predates a patent application and is used to assess the novelty of a claimed invention.
S-curve
The characteristic shape of a technology's performance or adoption over time: slow initial progress, rapid growth, then a plateau as maturity is reached.
Scenario planning
A structured method for exploring multiple plausible futures by developing distinct narratives around key uncertainties.
Signal
A piece of evidence — a patent filing, a research result, a regulatory move — that indicates something meaningful may be happening in a technology area.
Signal-to-noise ratio
The proportion of meaningful evidence relative to irrelevant or misleading information in a body of data; a high ratio makes trends easier to detect.
Strategic intelligence
Analysis oriented toward long-range decisions — identifying which technologies, markets, or developments will matter most over a multi-year horizon.
Sustaining innovation
An improvement to an existing product or technology along dimensions that established customers already value, as described by Clayton Christensen.
Technology convergence
The coming-together of previously separate technologies to create new capabilities or product categories.
Technology forecasting
The use of quantitative and qualitative methods to project how a technology's capabilities, costs, or adoption will develop over time.
Technology landscape
A structured overview of the technologies, players, and trends active in a given domain, used to orient analysis and identify gaps.
Technology maturity
The stage a technology has reached in its development lifecycle, from early research through commercialization to widespread deployment.
Technology roadmap
A plan that maps expected technology developments against time, aligning research, investment, and strategic decisions.
Technology transfer
The movement of a technology from the context where it was developed — often academia or government research — into commercial or practical application.
Triangulation
The practice of cross-checking a finding against multiple independent sources or methods to increase confidence before drawing a conclusion.