Optimized methodology for technology roadmaps definition and update for space systems in a System of Systems architecture

摘要

Recently, an increased market competition has brought technology and innovation management to the centre of decision-making processes aimed at understanding the relationships between technological capabilities and objectives to reach. In addition, according to international roadmaps, aerospace systems' design has increased in complexity in the last decades to answer to market and stakeholders' needs and to face an increased synergy between projects. This scenario has led to the need of analysing a higher level of systems architecture: the System of Systems (SoS) architecture, in which systems are able to cooperate maintaining their operational and management independence. Successfully designing a SoS means being able to overcome organizational boundaries to establish a set of objectives and strategic plans. For these reasons, it has become more compelling to apply global, integrated approaches from the very early steps and all over the design process. A useful tool to monitor the current technological maturation and to support decision makers is the technology roadmap. A technology roadmap is the output of a process aimed at identifying and managing technologies, mission, capabilities and systems according to specific strategic plans. This is a complex process, that considers, at the same time, many disciplines and parameters and that has to be included from the early steps of every optimized design process. Looking at the huge number of parameters to be considered simultaneously, a methodology for technology roadmaps derivation and update has been studied to assist decision makers in identifying a global optimal solution, also considering that this optimum can be far from the results achieved through single-discipline optimizations. This paper explain the main features of the logical methodology, based on the combination of common System Engineering tools and processes with Decision Analysis tools and Project Management needs and theories, able to track and manage