Overview

Concept Search

PLATFORMedia has developed a powerful “concept– search” capability – that enables computer users to access documents stored on their local PC drive, the Corporate Intranet, subscription data feeds or the Internet – by automatically building a “mental map” of the concepts that each user is interested in.

For instance, if a Research_Edge_ user wants to find, say, recent news/information on “Enron bankruptcy” on the Internet, Research_Edge_ would find not only those documents containing the initial keywords (“Enron” and “bankruptcy”) but also other documents of relevance in the same “ecosystem of meaning” (concept) – such as “Congress hearings”, “Raptor partnerships”, “creditors”, and even “Fastow” – different keywords but similar “concept” relevance.

I : Problem : Explosive Growth of Corporate Data

In recent years, there has been an explosive growth in the electronic data that corporations must manage. Businesses spend an estimated $750 billion annually due to time spent by workers seeking information necessary for them to do their jobs; by 2003, knowledge workers are expected to spend 30–40% of their time just managing documents. IDC estimates that the rate of creation of unstructured corporate data will grow from 100 terabytes per day during 2000, to 1000 terabytes per day by 2005. Every computer user has experienced the frustration of knowing that a document (or email) exists, without being able to locate it.

II : Solution : PLATFORMedia

Technology – ‘Search by Concept’

PLATFORMedia ’s Search by Concept application is a software–only solution to the corporate data problem outlined above. The capability is designed in a step–by–step iteration:

  • Broaden the query (by understanding and using the “learned” interests and preferences of its users);

  • Capture new knowledge (new ideas actually generated by the computer);

  • Prioritize query results;

  • Focus with laser–like precision on those ideas of maximum (learned) relevance

The steps described above effectively allow a Research_Edge_ user to broaden search in an area of interest where he/she has little prior knowledge, or does not master the language (Research_Edge_, as all PLATFORMedia technology, is language–independent). In effect, Research_Edge_ helps the user find the right question by generating new ideas in the ecosystem of search – eventually helping the user find the needle in a “broad area of interest” haystack.

III : Value Proposition

Our system enables a corporation to leverage its intellectual assets more effectively, using its existing investment in systems. The concept search system can be used in a variety of applications:

  • Search by individual users across their corporate knowledge–base;

  • Content–to–user matching systems on Internet sites;

  • Automatic categorization of documents into subject areas;

  • Building of individual daily news pages, filled with relevant Internet links;

  • Discovery of overlapping individual expertise within large corporations.

20 October 2009