The NCHRP project panel for the Domestic Scan program developed the following guidance for AASHTO member agencies on identifying and formulating good scan topics and proposals.
What Makes a Good Scan Topic?
An NCHRP domestic scan is a tool for accelerating innovation within the community of transportation agencies by facilitating information sharing and technology exchange. The tool brings scan-team members—typically highly experienced mid-career and senior agency professionals—into direct personal contact with new ideas and the people involved in applying these new ideas to advance the state of practice.
The scan yields two primary products. First, the scan report identifies new ideas that have produced good results and are likely to be beneficial to other agencies. Second, the collegial exchange among scan-team members and the people they meet during the scan form the roots for a professional network that continues to grow well after the scan report is completed, speeding dissemination of good ideas and leading practices within and among agencies.
A scan is not a synthesis to survey current practices in use among agencies; it is an effort to discover the most recent and productive new ideas that can advance the state of practice. A scan is not a review of current research; the ideas a scan team explores will have been successfully applied. A scan is not an opportunity for relaxed travel; scan teams always find it is hard work but professionally rewarding.
A good scan topic presents leading-edge practices that could offer widespread benefits if adopted by others. The scan’s products will be advice and guidance to help other agencies understand the benefits to be gained and how to deal effectively with the complexities and uncertainties that can obstruct innovation.
What Makes a Good Scan Topic Proposal?
A good scan proposal starts with a good topic, stating clearly and succinctly the reasons that a scan is appropriate. Tell the reader what are the types or examples of recently demonstrated leading-edge ideas to be observed. Describe the scale and breadth of benefits that could accrue sooner because of a scan. Explain why a scan—person-to-person contact between the scan team and the early adopters of new ideas—may be particularly appropriate and productive for accelerating dissemination. Give details of where and who has the information to show a scan team.
Remember, the program has resources to conduct only two to four scans each year. We select the proposals that we judge most likely to yield the best payoffs for our investment.
In response to questions about the role of the agencies that propose scan topics, the following guidance is provided to supplement the panel’s comments.
Who Proposes Scans? What Role Does the Proposer Play?
An AASHTO committee or an individual from an AASHTO member (a state DOT) may submit a scan topic for consideration. Proposers usually suggest leading-edge topics that they and other states would like to learn more about in an in-person way. That commonly involves recently developed technologies or approaches that are not widely adopted but that some states—including possibly the submitter’s—are pioneering. The proposal process is an opportunity to present a thoughtful case for a scan, especially if the topic hasn’t been explored by previous scans.
If a proposed topic is accepted as one of the two to four funded scans per fiscal year, the proposing state may volunteer to be a “host state” to be visited by the scan team. Moreover, it is possible that someone from that state will be invited to participate on the scan team as a member or chair.