Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INTConcept & motivation
Foresight, innovation, decision-making and planning processes all rely on accessing and processing vast amounts of data, information and knowledge, and approaching this content from different angles to draw relevant conclusions. For several years now, Fraunhofer INT has been investigating how foresight processes in particular can be profitably supported and enhanced through the use of IT-based and data-based methods. Known as data-driven foresight, this field of research mainly focuses on developing our KATI (Knowledge Analytics for Technology & Innovation) assistance system as a means of supporting Fraunhofer INT researchers in their everyday work.
In essence, KATI is a powerful tool for literature reviews, but it also offers extensive and unique analysis options. These have been explicitly designed to support the analysis and evaluation of scientific sources such as publications or patents (currently in progress). This science intelligence approach, as it is termed, deals with questions such as the current state of research in a specific area, the technical origins of this area and the direction in which it may evolve. Further analysis options focus on stakeholders who are conducting research into or promoting a specific field. These analyses use an innovative portfolio of methods drawn from bibliometrics, data mining, text mining, computational linguistics and — increasingly — machine learning. All of the analyses support a multi-perspective approach, something that is essential for technology foresight.
The KATI system is currently based on the bibliographical data provided by the Web of Science (comprising approximately 65 million publication data records). However, it is also being expanded to include additional databases. Alongside patent data, this includes data from 116 million publications provided by our cooperation partner Dimensions.
The core system is supplemented by an advanced analytics component that makes it possible to perform flexible, advanced analyses, in turn allowing for the use of additional data sources relating to specific use cases.
Although KATI was originally developed for Fraunhofer INT’s particular requirements and with technology foresight in mind, the system is suitable for anyone who handles similar science intelligence issues. Specifically, it is aimed at stakeholders working in the fields of foresight plus technology and innovation management.
