The Industrial Research Institute Report on Big Data and the Future of R&D Management

by Diego Klabjan

We had the chance to participate in a group at IRI analyzing the impact of Big Data on R&D. The group included people from Cargill, Kraft (previously), and SRI International. The group also received support from Phillps66, Ingersoll Rand, JM Smucker, TCS, RTI, and Archer Daniels Midland. In this paper, you’ll get a new look at the definition of Big Data, a case on how a pharmaceutical company uses Big Data to virtually test ideas, and a case on using Big Data to better identify new market opportunities. It is also interesting to note that the best practices in using analytics and Big Data in R&D involve a mix of algorithms of people– for other companies realizing this see this article, What Toyota, Schneider National, PayPal, and Palantir Got Right.

OVERVIEW

Beginning in 2015, IRI undertook a study to explore the concept of “Big Data” and to test whether, and to what extent, this new domain might affect R&D management in the future. We conducted extensive discussions to dissect the nature of Big Data and to achieve a common understanding of what it represents. We then constructed a research framework that analyzes Big Data based on its potential to inform, enable, and transform/disrupt R&D management across four dimensions: strategy, people, technology, and process integration. Through a literature review, interviews with experts, and case studies of organizations using Big Data, we show that this phenomenon will have significant implications for innovation management and capabilities in the future, although progress and impact is somewhat uneven among different industry sectors.

To download the full White Paper, click here: Big Data and the Future of R&D Management

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