Lux Research services

Promoting emerging technologies is an increasingly high priority for governments around the world. Stimulus packages, market incentives, and massive funding of technology development in the lab are defining future winners and losers at a country level today. The key for any government level initiative is to understand emerging technologies and how they will impact important local industries. Lux Research helps policy makers and government advisors: Benchmark existing innovation capabilities against other countries and regions across the globe, Assess specific technology developments for local economic and global leadership impact, Evaluate past strategies for supporting innovation in emerging technologies and set strategy for the future, Assess companies and project proposals chosen for government support, avoiding the hype and delivering impact.

Successful strategies for new business development in emerging technologies require not only a view of today`s competitive landscape and industry needs, but an informed view of what new developments are coming. We chart paths from today`s proven technologies to tomorrow`s speculative ones, focusing on clients` needs to break the long-term journey into manageable milestones. Lux Research helps executives: Benchmark where today`s opportunities lie in terms of application, industry and geography, Project technology development scenarios across given innovation ecosystems, Map adoption scenarios in the context of technology development and industry dynamics, Prioritize internal development activities to focus on the key opportunities in timeframes of greatest relevance to overall business strategy.

Emerging technology markets represent, by their very nature, a complex, over-crowded landscape of technology developers all claiming to have a best-in-class solution. Navigating this landscape and identifying the valuable technologies and companies is a full-time endeavor, requiring on-going analysis of all the participants, their technical progress and the industry adoption that results. Even once a company identifies a potential partner, it still needs to take a deeper dive to validate the true potential.

Even once the heavy lifting in the lab is done, successful commercialization of emerging technologies is still a major challenge. Years can be wasted chasing a market segment that does not fit well with a given technology, adopts too slowly for the needs of the developer, or lacks key drivers in the industry or geography chosen.

Understanding the market for any emerging technology is often challenging, since the industry structure and value chain are poorly defined, the paths of future technology development aren`t clear, and the future of pricing and performance are difficult to predict. Companies need to understand the applications and industries where new technologies will enter, assess how existing and new technologies will evolve and compete over time, and project how previously non-existent or nascent market opportunities will emerge.

Investing time and resources into technology partners, or capital and expertise into strategic investment partners, demands rigorous analysis before any decision. In emerging technology markets, the challenge of defining technology potential and enterprise value represents the greatest such challenge. It is vital to evaluate not only the company and its technology, but also the markets it is targeting, which are often emerging themselves. The extra degree of uncertainty requires the most careful possible analysis of technology and markets before committing critical resources.

Open innovation is now recognized as a critical tool for accelerating growth, and the rapid pace of change in emerging technology markets heightens the importance of scouting for and incorporating technologies from the innovation ecosystem. From venture capital to government incentives, stimulus and technology funding, new technologies are constantly emerging to potentially serve a range of industries.

To find new opportunities in emerging technology markets while avoiding costly mistakes, businesses and investors need to have a clear picture of the field before entering. Lux Research helps executives: Delineate the key market segments – by application, technology, geography – identifying where the largest and fastest-growing opportunities lie, Find out who the major players are, and learn their strengths and weaknesses, Map the competing technology variations and solutions, and see which ones have an edge in which market segments, Become familiar with key issues and challenges in the field, to determine where their capabilities and expertise might fit in.