A roadmap towards habitable exoplanets by the Blue Dots Initiative

This paper is an abridged version of the report produced by the Blue Dots initiative, whose activities include the elaboration of a roadmap towards the spectroscopic characterization of habitable exoplanets. The full version of the Blue Dots report can be downloaded at http://www.blue-dots.net/spip.php?article105. While the roadmap will need to be updated regularly, it is expected that the methodology developed within Blue Dots will provide a durable framework for the elaboration of future revisions.