A metamodel of an informational structure for model-based technology roadmapping

•A metamodel for model-based technology roadmapping•A metamodel is instantiated to three domain-specific roadmaps•A metamodel is validated by creating an abstract syntax in a language workbench•Elements of a model-based roadmap are created, stored, and maintained numerically•Model-based technology roadmapping (MB-TRM) facilitates all processes and brings flexibility unachievable for document-based roadmapping Recent contributions in the field of technology roadmapping often aim to apply various numerical models and tools to facilitate the roadmapping process and enrich its outcomes. This trend resulted in the emergence of so-called model-based technology roadmapping. We consider it as the future development of the traditional document-based paradigm. One of the general approaches to support the model-based roadmapping is to develop a roadmap's metamodel that would define it independently from the application context and link it to the existing roadmapping literature. In this paper, we attempt to create such a metamodel by generalizing and formalizing existing document-based roadmaps. We validate our metamodel via reproducing three very different roadmaps from the literature, not included in the set of roadmaps from which the metamodel was created, using the novel formal approach. The fact that these roadmaps were reproduced using the proposed metamodel indicates its applicability to many classes of real roadmaps. The results of this work seem beneficial for architects of the software tools for roadmapping and for the regular participants of roadmapping sessions.