A systems approach for technology assessment and selection

Each system development project necessitates making decisions on the selection of technologies among available alternatives for the system and is covered in the technology assessment phase in the acquisition process. For the assessment very limited numbers of methodologies most of which are qualitative are defined in the literature. This study aims to propose a systematic model, which can be used as a guide by planners or system architects in the multi-criteria technology selection process. The model also proposes a method to define the critical technology elements for a system. A case study on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) communication systems is presented to illustrate the applicability of the model.