This study explored the effectiveness of combining creativity and logic for discovering the implications of Emergent and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs) in the domain of Big Data. The objective was to establish what are the emergent technologies in the Big Data domain, how these technologies might be used in future novel Big Data applications for military purposes, and how they might impact defence operations and national security. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in Big Data and Australian Defence Force members were engaged in a workshop aimed at contextualising future challenges and opportunities to defence from the technological developments in Big Data.

The study methodology combined knowledge creation and knowledge elicitation approaches from the base domains of Systems Design and Program Theory. Two knowledge schemas were used to support the synthesis of ideas and expert knowledge captured during the two-day workshop: the Concept Capture Theory (CCT) and the Technology Development Theory (TDT). These schemas were complemented by techniques that facilitate creativity in workshop settings: an excursion and sense-making sessions, aimed at developing concept options.

The workshop resulted in developing twenty nine concept options, with in-depth examination of eleven concept options in the TDT format. The TDT and CCT tables’ parameters were analysed to create taxonomies of Big Data technologies for subsequent monitoring of technological change. Typical drivers and roadblocks were derived from the TDT tables; typical external interfaces and contexts were derived from the CCT tables, and typical military purposes were derived from combining data in TDT and CCT tables.

This study provided insights into the usefulness of combining knowledge creation techniques with structured, logic based frameworks (CCT and TDT) for capturing expert knowledge. Feedback received from the workshop participants indicates that such combination of methods played significant role in developing novel concept options centred on EDTs in Big Data.

The results of this study showed that combining creativity and logic is useful in technology foresighting studies centered on contextualising the implications of EDTs for defence and national security. Expert knowledge captured in CCT and TDT tables provides sufficient information for on-going monitoring of future technological developments related to the concept options developed at the workshops.