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Automotive-industry companies need to improve significantly their abilities to make sense of the unprecedented changes ongoing in business practices, information and communications technology, the emerging growth economy, globalization, and shifting market needs, and to identify new threats and opportunities. To assist them, SRIC-BI acts as the corporate radar on emerging technology and market issues and provides nonhype insight about key strategic challenges.
Case Studies
Computer-Human Interfaces
For an auto manufacturer, SRIC-BI assessed future research in technologies that enable humans to interface with computerized systems. To conduct the work, SRIC-BI interviewed technical experts at SRI International and other technical institutions about current research activities, potential applications that could result, and commercialization factors. A key part of the assessment was SRIC-BI's conclusion about the uncertainty of the research. Key commercialization factors in the assessment included the timing of commercialization, current barriers to developing the technology to enable each application, and the potential impact of each application on society and in the marketplace. |
R&D Activities in Nanotechnology
A Japanese manufacturer was interested in learning about the approaches in use to develop nanotechnology and which companies and institutions were investing in nanotechnology R&D. The company was interested in other auto manufacturers' investments in the technology and asked SRIC-BI to identify and evaluate R&D activities in the United States. We investigated photocatalysts, sensors and actuators, and biomimetics. The final report identified relevant R&D activities and gave SRIC-BI's assessment of the level of effort, expected commercialization time, and applicability to vehicles of the various approaches in each of the application areas. |
Recent Projects
- Technical Trends/Developments Outside the Tire Industry and Their Impact on the Tire Industry and Steel-Cord Tires
- Scenarios of Future Consumer Environments for Automobiles Globally
- Potential Research Partners in Biomimetic Sensors and Actuators
- Overview of Companies Involved in Rapid Prototyping
- Assessment of Differential Global-Positioning-System Technology for Automotive Markets
- Technology-Commercialization Strategy and Organization for the Corporate R&D Center for a Major Automobile Manufacturer
- Rice-Genome Research Overview
- Innovation Strategy for an European Motor-Vehicle-Manufacturing Company
- Emerging Portable-Power Requirements for Cell Phones and PDAs
- Overview of the Auto-Parts Business
- Steering Safety Product-Development Effort
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