All posts by VPInstitute

Technological forecasting of hydrogen storage materials using patent indicators

Research Examples

Hydrogen is a promising future energy carrier due to its high energetic content and sustainable appeal when produced via clean manufacturing processes. One of the technological challenges concerns its storage in a safe, compact, low mass and high gravimetric capacity manner. In this sense, many Hydrogen Storage Materials (HSM) have been investigated to house this source of energy, such as Simple Hydrides, Borohydrides, Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), Alanates, AB5 Alloys, Ammonia Borane, Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene. Scientific advances aside, less attention has been paid in establishing a panorama of the technological developments in HSM. To assess the technological advances in HSM, patent analysis can be carried out using bibliometrics and text mining approaches in order to forecast the future trend of development and the main players involved in this process. In this work, we evaluated the technological life cycle stage, HSM class prominence and the role of different countries in HSM patenting. The results show that overall HSM patenting decreased after 2007, except in the case of China. On the other hand, the USA, Japan, China and the European Union (EU) were the main patenting territories. Simple Hydrides and Borohydrides were the main classes of HSM that received more attention from the USA and the EU, while Japan had a high share in Solid Solution Alloys. The life cycle stage of HSM seems to be between the first prototype market experiences and full market deployment, even though future assessment is needed to fine-tune the analysis. The developed indicators may also support the funding of new projects and decision making.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319916325241

Author(s): Lucas Faccioni Chanchetti, Sergio Manuel Oviedo Diaz, Douglas Henrique Milanez, Daniel Rodrigo Leiva, Leandro Innocentini Lopes de Faria, Tomaz Toshimi Ishikawa
Organization(s): Federal University of Sao Carlos
Source: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Year: 2016

Collaboration in science and technology organizations of the public sector: A network perspective

Network analysis, Research Examples, Research Type

Engaging in collaborative networks can be an important facilitator of innovation for public sector science and technology (S&T) organizations. It is also an important component of S&T policies that require indicators that can assess the networks through which these organizations innovate. In this study, we apply network indicators to two S&T organizations that are part of the Brazilian public health sector. The indicators cover two complementary perspectives: one that considers the organizations’ scientific networks and the other that considers their technological networks. The indicators allowed the analysis of the networks in which the organizations were engaged and the understanding of important aspects of their collaboration patterns that can support strategic decisions. The method employed in this paper proved to be a valuable diagnostic tool and a useful mechanism for evaluating the performance and supporting the development of S&T institutions.

http://spp.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/25/scipol.scw013.abstract

Author(s): Bruna P. F. Fonseca, Elton Fernandes and Marcus V. A. Fonseca
Organization(s): Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, (Fiocruz)
Source: Science and Public Policy
Year: 2016

Monitoring emerging technologies for technology planning using technical keyword based analysis from patent data

Research Examples

This paper proposes technical keyword-based analysis of patents to monitor emerging technologies, and uses a keyword-based model in contents-based patent analysis. This study also presents methods to automatically select keywords and to identify the relatedness among them. After using text-mining tools and techniques to identify technical keywords, a technical keyword-context matrix is constructed. The relatedness between pairs of keywords is then identified in a transformation of this matrix. Patent documents are clustered by using a hierarchical clustering algorithm based on patent document vectors. As a result, emerging technologies can be monitored by identifying clusters composed of technical keywords. A case study of mechanisms of electron transfer in electrochemical glucose biosensors is given to demonstrate how the proposed method can monitor emerging technologies.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162516302256

Author(s): Junegak Joung, Kwangsoo Kim
Organization(s): Pohang University of Science and Technology
Source: Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Year: 2016

script for GENERATING A VOSVIEWER NETWORK FILE FROM VANTAGEPOINT

TM Tools, VOSViewer, VP Macros

STEPS FOR GENERATING A VOSVIEWER NETWORK FILE FROM VANTAGEPOINT:
1. Generate an empty folder and copy a VantagePoint file of interest to it.
2. Copy Generate_VOS_Network_from_VP.vpm and Generate_VOS_Network_from_VP.xlsm to this same folder.
3. In VantagePoint run the script Generate_VOS_Network_from_VP.vpm.
4. You will prompted to select a field of interest. Select the same one selected to generate a VOS map file.
5. The script will prompt you for a network name. Give it one.
6. After it the script completes a (sparse format) VOS network file will be saved to the same folder housing the VantagePoint file you’re working with.
7. Simultaneously open the accompanying map file and network file you just generated in VOS (under the File tab).
8. The user has the option to adjust number of lines (we suggest 200) on the map, as well as their color, width and whether they’re curved or straight.

An online VOSviewer manual, which provides in-depth guidance on VOS maps, networks and manipulation the same, is available at:
http://www.vosviewer.com/documentation/Manual_VOSviewer_1.6.4.pdf

Download Generate_VOS_Network_from_VP.vpm

Download Generate_VOS_Network_from_VP.xlsm

Research topics and implementation trends on automotive head-up display systems

CTI, Research Examples, Research Type

For about 5 years, production of automobiles equipped with head-up display (HUD) systems has continuously grown and this trend will remain for at least three years more from 2014 [7, 19]. Therefore, looking for clarifying how to orientate future efforts in developing these systems, a systematic analysis approach has been implemented for identifying best design practises, common characteristics, gaps, implementation trends and research topics on automotive HUD systems. The proposed approach is conducted on two areas, firstly exploring the current scientific literature to find the most relevant research topics and understanding how these are evolving. Secondly, a competitive intelligence analysis was conducted compiling patents related to automotive HUD systems. This analysis was specially oriented towards determining, currently and in the near future, basic product design implementation trends in automotive HUD systems. Finally, the results obtained from both scientific and technological points of view were compared and commented, looking for determining common, converging or diverging, evolution parameters in automotive HUD systems. In this way, the results exposed the distraction as an outstanding research topic for these systems, becoming even more crucial if they are mixed with augmented reality projections, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) or infotainment systems.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12008-016-0350-3

Author(s): J. Alejandro Betancur, Jesús Villa-Espinal, Gilberto Osorio-Gómez, Sergio Cuéllar, Daniel Suárez
Organization(s): Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad EAFIT
Source: International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM)
Year: 2016

A bibliometric analysis of the development of next generation active nanotechnologies

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

Delineating the emergence of nanotechnologies that offer new functionalities is an important element in an anticipatory approach to the governance of nanotechnology and its potential impacts. This paper examines the transition to next generation active nanotechnologies which incorporate functions that respond to the environment or systems concepts that combine devices and structures that are dynamic and which may change their states in use. We develop an approach to identifying these active nanotechnologies and then use bibliometric analysis to examine the extent of research papers and patents involving these concepts. We also examine references to environmental, health, and safety concepts in these papers, given that these next generation nanotechnologies are likely to have risk profiles that are different from those of first-generation passive nanomaterials. Our results show a steady growth overall in focus on active nanotechnologies in the research literature and in patents over the study period of 1990–2010. We also find an increase in consideration given to environmental, health, and safety topics. While gaps are highlighted in our understanding of research and innovation in active nanotechnologies, the results suggest that there is beginning to be a shift to active nanotechnologies, with the implication that governance processes need to be conscious of this shift and to prepare for it.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11051-016-3578-8

Author(s): Arho Suominen, Yin Li, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira
Organization(s): Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Manchester, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Source: Journal of Nanoparticle Research
Year: 2016

Graphene enterprise: mapping innovation and business development in a strategic emerging technology

novel source, Research Examples

This paper explores enterprise development and commercialization in the field of graphene. Firm characteristics and relationships, value chain positioning, and factors associated with product entry are examined for a set of 65 graphene-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises located in 16 different countries. As well as secondary sources and bibliometric methods to profile developments in graphene, we use computerized data mining and analytical techniques, including cluster and regression modeling, to identify patterns from publicly available online information on enterprise web sites. We identify groups of graphene small and medium-sized enterprises differentiated by how they are involved with graphene, the materials they target, whether they make equipment, and their orientation toward science and intellectual property. In general, access to finance and the firms’ location are significant factors that are associated with graphene product introductions. We also find that patents and scientific publications are not statistically significant predictors of product development in our sample of graphene enterprises. We further identify a cohort of graphene-oriented firms that are signaling plans to develop intermediate graphene products that should have higher value in the marketplace. Our findings suggest that policy needs to ensure attention to the introduction and scale-up of downstream intermediate and final graphene products and associated financial, intermediary, and market identification support. The paper demonstrates novel data methods that can be combined with existing information for real-time intelligence to understand and map enterprise development and commercialization in a rapidly emerging and growing new technology.

for full-text, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11051-016-3572-1

Author(s): Philip Shapira, Abdullah Gök, Fatemeh Salehi
Organization(s): Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (University of Manchester)
Source: Journal of Nanoparticle Research
Year: 2016

Lessons from Ten Years of Nanotechnology Bibliometric Analysis

Interdisciplinarity, Network analysis, Research evaluation, Research profiling, Research Type

This paper summarizes the 10-year experiences of the Program in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in support of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) in understanding, characterizing, and conveying the development of nanotechnology research and application. This work was labeled “Research and Innovation Systems Assessment” or (RISA) by CNS-ASU.

RISA concentrates on identifying and documenting quantifiable aspects of nanotechnology, including academic, commercial/industrial, and government nanoscience and nanotechnology (nanotechnologies) activity, research, and projects. RISA at CNS-ASU engaged in the first systematic attempt of its kind to define, characterize, and track a field of science and technology. A key element to RISA was the creation of a replicable approach to bibliometrically defining nanotechnology. Researchers in STIP, and beyond, could then query the resulting datasets to address topical areas ranging from basic country and regional concentrations of publications and patents, to findings about social science literature, environmental, health, and safety research and usage, to study corporate entry into nanotechnology, and to explore application areas as special interests arose. Key features of the success of the program include:

  • Having access to “large-scale” R&D abstract datasets
  • Analytical software
  • A portfolio that balances innovative long-term projects, such as webscraping to understand nanotechnology developments in small and medium-sized companies, with research characterizing the emergence of nanotechnology that more readily produces articles
  • Relationships with diverse networks of scholars and companies working in the nanotechnology science and social science domains
  • An influx of visiting researchers
  • A strong core of students with social science, as well as some programming background
  • A well-equipped facility and management by the principals through weekly problem-solving meetings, mini-deadlines, and the production journal articles rather than thick final reports.

https://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/55931?show=full

Author(s): Jan Youtie, Alan Porter, Philip Shapira, Nils Newman
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: OECD Blue Sky Forum on Science and Innovation Indicators
Year: 2016

A bibliometric analysis of 50 years of worldwide research on statistical process control

Research Examples, Research profiling

An increasing number of papers on statistical process control (SPC) has emerged in the last fifty years, especially in the last fifteen years. This may be attributed to the increased global competitiveness generated by innovation and the continuous improvement of products and processes. In this sense, SPC has a fundamentally important role in quality and production systems. The research in this paper considers the context of technological improvement and innovation of products and processes to increase corporate competitiveness. There are several other statistical technics and tools for assisting continuous improvement and innovation of products and processes but, despite the limitations in their use in the improvement projects, there is growing concern about the use of SPC. A gap between the SPC technics taught in engineering courses and their practical applications to industrial problems is observed in empirical research; thus, it is important to understand what has been done and identify the trends in SPC research. The bibliometric study in this paper is proposed in this direction and uses the Web of Science (WoS) database. Data analysis indicates that there was a growth rate of more than 90% in the number of publications on SPC after 1990. Our results reveal the countries where these publications have come from, the authors with the highest number of papers and their networks. Main sources of publications are also identified; it is observed that the publications of SPC papers are concentrated in some of the international research journals, not necessarily those with the major high-impact factors. Furthermore, the papers are focused on industrial engineering, operations research and management science fields. The most common term found in the papers was cumulative sum control charts, but new topics have emerged and have been researched in the past ten years, such as multivariate methods for process monitoring and nonparametric methods.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0104-530X2016005013101&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en

Author(s): Fabiane Letícia Lizarelli, Nayara Cristini Bessi, Pedro Carlos Oprime , Roniberto Morato do Amaral, Subhabrata Chakraborti
Organization(s): Universidade Federal de São Carlos – UFSCar
Source: Gestão & Produção
Year: 2016