Byungun Yoon

Development of New Technology Forecasting Algorithm: Hybrid Approach for Morphology Analysis and Conjoint Analysis of Patent Information

Despite being a strong stimulus for the invention of new alternatives, morphology analysis (MA) suffers the limitations of being a nonquantitative, vague, and static methodology. As a consequence, the MA outcomes typically do not provide practical technology opportunities. This paper, therefore, proposes a new hybrid approach that enhances the performance of MA by combining it with conjoint analysis (CA) and citation analysis of patent information. First, keywords are extracted from patent documents using text mining, and the morphology of existing patents is identified by these keywords. Alternatives for new technology development from among the emerging technologies are presented by combining the valuable levels of each attribute in a morphology matrix predefined by domain experts. Then, configurations of new technology are suggested in order of priority using CA, and the technological feasibility of each new configuration is subsequently investigated. The technological competitiveness of a company can be analyzed by a newly suggested index, ldquotechnology share,rdquo which is analogous to the concept of market share in traditional CA. The proposed MA-CA hybrid process is illustrated with a case example of patent information from the thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) patent database.

Morphology analysis for technology roadmapping: application of text mining

The practice of technology roadmapping (TRM) has received much attention from researchers and practitioners, to support planning and forecasting in companies and sectors. However, little research has focused on the support of well-organized information for more effective roadmapping and the presentation of in-depth configurations of new products or technology. This paper proposes a roadmapping methodology to assist decision-making by applying a systematic approach based on quantitative data. To this end, key information is extracted from documents such as product manuals and patent documents by text mining, which is then used to identify the morphology of existing products and technology. Morphology analysis (MA) also plays a crucial role in deriving promising opportunities for new development of product or technology by matching product and technology morphology. Therefore, MA-based TRM can enable the effective exploitation of large quantities of significant information that might otherwise be left untapped, supporting innovation by generating a comprehensive set of detailed product and technology configurations. The proposed MA-based TRM approach can be applied to both incremental and radical innovation, supporting both market pull and technology push. The method is illustrated with a detailed example for mobile phones to demonstrate its practical application.

On the development of a technology intelligence tool for identifying technology opportunity

Technology intelligence tools have come to be regarded as vital components in planning for technology development and formulating technology strategies. However, most such tools currently focus on providing graphical frameworks and databases to support the process of technology analysis. Techpioneer, the proposed tool in this paper, aims to offer decisive information in order to identify technology opportunities. To this end, the system uses textual information from technological document databases and applies morphology analysis to derive promising alternatives and conjoint analysis to evaluate their priority. In addition, the method used in developing a technology dictionary is presented, employing clustering and network analysis. This system also has the ability to communicate with experts in order to estimate the value of existing patents, which is inevitable for the priority-setting of alternatives, construct a morphological matrix and so on. This paper presents the system architecture and functions of this tool and moreover, illustrates the prototype implementation and case study of the same.

An evaluation method for designing a new product-service system

Highlights? We suggest an evaluation model for designing a new PSS (Product Service System). ? The model considers two perspectives of service providers as well as customers. ? The proposed model is applied to evaluate the feasibility of designing a car-sharing service (one of use-oriented PSSs). ? The approach will provide a good means of deriving a potentially successful PSS. Although the importance of the design of a new PSS (Product-Service System) should be emphasized, it is not obvious that traditional evaluation methods of pure services are still appropriate for PSSs. Since methods to evaluate the feasibility of new businesses vary with the characteristics of businesses, the evaluation methods might need to be modified to reflect unique nature in the design of a new PSS. Therefore, this paper aims at improving the applicability of evaluation methods for designing a new PSS by proposing a new framework and performing an empirical study where a new evaluation method can be used for PSSs. To this end, first, the meanings of service innovation, PSS, and evaluation methods in service research will be investigated. Second, an evaluation method for designing a new PSS will be suggested by considering the perspectives of service providers as well as customers. Finally, the method will be applied to evaluate the feasibility of designing a car-sharing service that is a use-oriented PSS. This method will provide a good means of drawing a potentially successful PSS by applying the proposed evaluation methodology and process.

Development and application of a keyword-based knowledge map for effective R&D planning

With the growing recognition of the importance of knowledge creation, knowledge maps are being regarded as a critical tool for successful knowledge management. However, the various methods of developing knowledge maps mostly depend on unsystematic processes and the judgment of domain experts with a wide range of untapped information. Thus, this research aims to propose a new approach to generate knowledge maps by mining document databases that have hardly been examined, thereby enabling an automatic development process and the extraction of significant implications from the maps. To this end, the accepted research proposal database of the Korea Research Foundation (KRF), which includes a huge knowledge repository of research, is investigated for inducing a keyword-based knowledge map. During the developmental process, text mining plays an important role in extracting meaningful information from documents, and network analysis is applied to visualize the relations between research categories and measure the value of network indices. Five types of knowledge maps (core R&D map, R&D trend map, R&D concentration map, R&D relation map, and R&D cluster map) are developed to explore the main research themes, monitor research trends, discover relations between R&D areas, regions, and universities, and derive clusters of research categories. The results can be used to establish a policy to support promising R&D areas and devise a long-term research plan.

Structuring technological information for technology roadmapping: data mining approach

Most research on technology roadmapping has focused on its practical applications and the development of methods to enhance its operational process. Thus, despite a demand for well-supported, systematic information, little attention has been paid to how/which information can be utilised in technology roadmapping. Therefore, this paper aims at proposing a methodology to structure technological information in order to facilitate the process. To this end, eight methods are suggested to provide useful information for technology roadmapping: summary, information extraction, clustering, mapping, navigation, linking, indicators and comparison. This research identifies the characteristics of significant data that can potentially be used in roadmapping, and presents an approach to extracting important information from such raw data through various data mining techniques including text mining, multi-dimensional scaling and K-means clustering. In addition, this paper explains how this approach can be applied in each step of roadmapping. The proposed approach is applied to develop a roadmap of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to illustrate the process practically.

A systematic approach of partner selection for open innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to exploring potential partners for open innovation in order to facilitate the process of technological collaboration. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed approach utilizes patent information that is considered the most effective data to investigate innovation activities by applying morphology analysis (MA) and generative topology map (GTM) to the process to identify the configurations of technologies and visualize the collected patent information. In particular, diverse informative indices can assist researchers in deriving appropriate partners for technological cooperation. Findings – The hybrid approach that combines MA, GTM, and indices is useful to discover technological opportunity, identify necessary technologies and explore potential partners. The systematic process can overcome the limitations of existing approaches that depend on the insights and strategic decisions of top management, reflect a superficial relationshi...

Technology-driven roadmaps for identifying new product/market opportunities

Identifying new product/market opportunities.Developing technology-driven roadmaps.Applications of text mining and quality function deployment for roadmapping.Exploring profitable markets and promising product concepts using technology information.Performing a case study of solar lighting devices to illustrate the proposed approach. A technology roadmap (TRM), an approach that is applied to the development of an emerging technology to meet business goals, is one of the most frequently adopted tools to support the process of technology innovation. Although many studies have dealt with TRMs that are designed primarily for a market-driven technology planning process, a technology-driven TRM is far less researched than a market-driven one. Furthermore, approaches to a technology-driven roadmap using quantitative technological information have rarely been studied. Thus, the aim of this research is to propose a new methodological framework to identify both profitable markets and promising product concepts based on technology information. This study suggests two quality function deployment (QFD) matrices to draw up the TRM in order to find new business opportunities. A case study is presented to illustrate the proposed approach using patents on the solar-lighting devices, which is catching on as a high-tech way to prevent environmental pollution and reduce fuel costs.

Strategic visualisation tools for managing technological information

In an information economy, the effective management of a massive amount of technological information is inevitable when attempting to facilitate the decision-making process. It is an important part of selecting R&D projects and allocating budgets to promising technology development. Information visualisation is thus regarded as a critical tool in technological information management because it can provide decisive implications that the intelligence of humans cannot produce. This paper proposes six graphical forms, including a technology tree, a technology map, a technology network, a technology matrix, a technology curve, and a technology dictionary, presenting the generic form and concept of each method. Moreover, the principles and applications of such visualisation tools are suggested in order to enhance their use in practical circumstances. A case study of TFT-LCD (thin film transistor-liquid crystal display) technology will help to explain how to apply visualisation tools to strategic technology management.

Patent analysis for technology forecasting: Sector-specific applications

Although patent analysis is a powerful technique to forecast the future of technology, it is not obvious whether the analysis is applicable to technology forecasting over all industries. Since the strategies of firms to protect their innovation vary among patents and trade secrets according to the characteristics of industries, patent analysis might be inappropriate to some industries. Therefore, this paper aims at improving the usefulness of patent analysis in TF by identifying relevant industries which the patent-based TF can be used in. To this end, first, sectoral differences in patenting activities will be investigated, presenting implications from patent activities, innovation patterns and patent statistics. Second, the applicability of patent trend analysis for technology forecasting will be explored in each industry by applying S-curve fitting with patent data. Finally, the method to improve the performance of patent-based TF will be suggested. The comparison of patent application status will make technology forecasting accurate, considering a time lag between R&D investment and patent application of the technology. This process will provide a good vehicle for precise TF by clarifying the application of patent analysis.