What is Technology Exploration

This chapter presents a technology exploration process designed to support service innovation for information and communication technologies in a university environment. The mission of the technology exploration is to highlight possible applications of new technologies on the basis of prototypes which, following an evaluation phase, are used to develop new services. The exploration process is composed of several stages. In the first stage a number of proposals are generated beginning with the analysis of users’ expectations, best practices and technology developments. In the next stage prototypes for selected proposals are implemented. Only the most viable prototypes are then further developed to maturity, providing a reliable service. This chapter is based on the experience gathered by our team over a period of 18 months. During this period six prototypes have been developed, three of which have been further developed to full maturity. The introduction of a voice over IP service for all the university members illustrates the exploration process.