As part of the “InnoProm – Innovation and Doctoral Research” funding initiative, the Chair of Entrepreneurship conducts the doctoral research project InnoRadar. The project runs from July 2026 to June 2029 and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Project Overview

Under the title “InnoRadar: AI-Supported Scouting, Evaluation, and Matching of Technological Opportunities in High-Tech University Ecosystems”, the project addresses a key challenge in knowledge and technology transfer: technological developments and research results emerge at high speed and are distributed across numerous, often unstructured sources. Small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, often lack dedicated structures for systematic technology scouting.

InnoRadar examines how artificial intelligence can be used to identify technological opportunities from university ecosystems at an early stage, evaluate them systematically, and match them with the innovation needs of companies. The aim is to provide a systematic, data-driven, and transparent basis for early-stage innovation, collaboration, and investment decisions.

Research Objectives

The doctoral research project aims to develop and scientifically evaluate an AI-supported approach that

• automatically identifies dispersed innovation signals from different sources,
• structures them into standardized and comparable Opportunity Profiles,
• evaluates technological opportunities in a transparent manner while taking potential hype effects into account, and
• matches relevant opportunities with the search and interest profiles of companies, investors, and other innovation actors.

A particular focus is placed on how algorithmic decision support influences the quality, consistency, and susceptibility to bias of decisions in early innovation stages. Methodologically, the project follows a Design Science Research approach and combines the development of the IT artifact with field-based evaluations and controlled research designs.

AI-Based Technology Scout

As part of the project, the web-based software demonstrator InnoRadar is being developed. It processes publicly available innovation signals, for example from publications, research projects, patents, prototypes, or technology-oriented start-up activities, and transforms them into structured profiles of technological opportunities.

The evaluation logic is designed to be transparent and explainable and to take into account not only technological maturity and evidence, but also attention dynamics and hype effects. Through an interactive dashboard, users can search, filter, evaluate, and match technological opportunities with their own search profiles. The reference implementation developed in the project is intended to be published as an open-source solution.

Relevance for Practice and Technology Transfer

InnoRadar is intended to provide innovation-oriented SMEs with more systematic access to technological developments emerging from science and research. At the same time, the approach supports technology transfer actors and investors in identifying relevant developments earlier and in targeting potential collaboration, innovation, and investment opportunities more effectively.

By reducing search costs, increasing transparency, and enabling a more systematic evaluation of technological opportunities, the project aims to strengthen knowledge and technology transfer and enhance the innovation capacity and competitiveness of SMEs in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Project Partners

The doctoral research project is conducted in close cooperation with practice partners from different parts of the innovation and technology transfer ecosystem:

• Next Mobility Labs GmbH
• PECON GbR
• Mosel Ventures GmbH
• G&M Systemtechnik GmbH
• Science and Innovation Alliance Kaiserslautern e. V. (SIAK), associated partner

This collaboration brings together perspectives from technology scouting, venture building, early-stage investment, industrial application, and knowledge and technology transfer in the development and evaluation of InnoRadar.
 

About the Funding Program:

The project is funded within the “InnoProm – Innovation and Doctoral Research” initiative and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.