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Info-Guide - Technological and Strategic IntelligenceLast Verified:
2006-06-06
This Info-Guide has been prepared by Info entrepreneurs to provide you with basic information on the concept of strategic and technological intelligence and to guide you through the government services and programs relating to this subject. It will enable you to understand the various types of intelligence and the various levels of monitoring for intelligence purposes that exist. While most of your questions will be answered in this document, it is not intended to be exhaustive. Further information can be obtained by contacting Info entrepreneurs at 514 496-4636, Ressources Entreprises at 418 649-4636 or, across the province, at 1-800-322-4636. TABLE OF CONTENTS1. IntroductionIn the information age, knowledge is increasingly considered a key corporate asset that enables organizations to maintain or enhance their market competitiveness. The concept of (strategic, technological or competitive) "intelligence" is still new and somewhat vague for many Quebec executives, but it is growing in importance in our knowledge-based society. And yet this is not a new phenomenon; market intelligence has always been a strategic issue for all nations. Throughout history, knowledge has often been equated with power. Market globalization, the advent of the Internet and the development of information technologies have increased information needs and processing tools. In the past ten years, "competitive intelligence" experts have proliferated in Europe, Asia and especially the United States, where this growth has led to the creation of information services in companies and a phenomenal increase in the number of specialized consulting firms. A study by the Futures Group (1997) found that, while 60% of large American companies have a strategic intelligence service, 82% of very large companies with annual sales of $10 billion or more have such a service. 2. Some Definitions"All technological or other information identification, acquisition, analysis and evaluation activities for decision or choice-making purposes. Competitive intelligence, as it is meant here, encompasses technological, competitive and commercial intelligence as well as other types of intelligence." (Source: ministère Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation (MDEIE). "Continuous and largely iterative activity for the active monitoring of technological, commercial and other environments with a view to anticipating their evolution." "Economic intelligence refers to all coordinated research, processing and distribution for use of information that is useful to economic stakeholders. These various actions are conducted legally with all of the protection guarantees necessary to preserve the organization's heritage, under the best possible conditions for quality, deadlines and costs." (Source: AFNOR; 1998). 3. Types of IntelligenceTechnologicaI Intelligence:refers to scientific and technical assets (patents, publications, know-how), ongoing research activities, products and services (in their conception and design), manufacturing processes, materials and sectors, and information systems: Who does what, where and with what standards? Competitive Intelligence: focuses on present or potential competitors and the analysis of their strategy and competitive advantages; in the literal sense, it refers to competing companies; it can also be interpreted to mean competitive products or processes, e.g., plastic competes against wood, television competes against other recreational activities. Quiz: See how knowledgeable you are about competitive intelligence. Commercial Intelligence:concerns clients, markets, suppliers, the labour market. Strategic Intelligence: more long-term in nature, it focuses on firms' strategic planning matters: What decision should be made concerning a given line of development? What markets are opening up and what sectors are promising? What are the opportunities/threats? 4. Intelligence LevelsCorporate Intelligence
A wide variety of information technologies are available to support the intelligence function within a firm: decision-making assistance systems, data depots and data mining in support of decisions, knowledge-based systems to capture and distribute knowledge, electronic data interchange (EDI) systems, client-server systems, imaging systems, the Internet, intranets and extranets. Institutional Intelligence A Competitive Intelligence Centre is a group of recognized partners in a given sector of economic activity. They include research centres, liaison and transfer centres, companies, universities, CEGEPs and associations. These partners work together to generate new value-added strategic information that is specifically adapted to businesses in their sector, in order to enhance their market competitiveness. This service may be complementary to the intelligence function already within the company, which has the avantage of being directly targeted to the needs of the business. Given the ever-increasing mass of information and the strategic need for this information to be processed quickly, an intelligence service can save the firm a great deal of time and money by providing it with information of vital importance to the making of decisions concerning its development, e.g., for new product launches, new market penetration, technology acquisitions, new research and development activity start-ups, and so on. 5. List of Competitive Intelligence and Information Centres in QuébecInfo entrepreneurs Ressources Entreprises Public MarketsEconomic Intelligence Centres Stratégie Contact Solutions Antenne Bio-FoodInformation retrieval and analysis service Centre de développement du porc du Québec Technological and Industrial InformationCentre de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ) 8475 Christophe-Colomb Avenue Advisory Services and Information Monitoring Software - Vigipro: InnovationInnovation Network (RIN) Techno-Watch in E-commercePoly Centre Graphic CommunicationsInstitut des communications graphiques du Quebec ConstructionConstruNet Land Transportation EquipmentCentre de veille des équipements de transport HorticultureInstitut québécois du développement de l'horticulture ornementale EnergyAgence de l'efficacité énergétique Information TechnologySisTech - Service d'information stratégique en technologies de l'information Alliance NumériQc - Quebec's Digital Industry Network TourismeRéseau de veille en tourisme Wood ProductsCarrefour Recherche et Développement Forestier de la Côte-Nord MultimédiaThe Multimedia World Watch (M2W) 6. Financial AssistanceDevelopment and transfer assistance program – Ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE)
For further information, call the 514 873-4692, 418 659-4692, or 1-800-567-4692, or visit the Web site at: http://www.mdeie.gouv.qc.ca/page/web/portail/en/ministere/nav/programs.html?&iddoc=60762 Tax credit for technological adaptation IRAP - Industrial Research Assistance Program - National Research Council Canada (NRC) 7. Internet Reference DocumentsIndustrial Research and Development (by Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) Fast Company - Competitive Intelligence--Get Smart! (by Gina Imperato) Canoé - Techno & Sciences (In French Only) Fuld & Company - What Competitive Intelligence Is and Is Not Centre d'expertise et de veille inforoutes et langues (CEVEIL) Survey of Knowledge Management Practices - Statistics Canada (2001) 8. Strategic Information ToolsBusiness information sites on the Internet Strategis Infometre Competitive Intelligence E-Monitor The Canada Economic Development Observatory "Alerte" services L'Est Industriel Web Sites Monitoring
Discover many other documents, tools and interesting links pertaining to the "Innovation / R&D cluster" in the Tool Box, What You Must Know and Links of Interest sections of our Web site.
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