Competitive Technical Intelligence: Using Patent Data to Determine Smart City Trends

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to define a method for uncovering smart city technology trends using competitive technical intelligence processes focused on intellectual property analysis using data visualisation. The authors introduce ways of gathering relevant core bibliographic data on the desired technology together with search preparation and query building. For demonstration purposes, the authors have used the European Patent Office datasets. The aim of this paper is to define a method for smart city competitive intelligence analysis focused on the main innovative companies and organizations and specific technology trends. The time period between the years 1997 and 2017 is used. Based on the results, the authors have indicated that Samsung is the leader in intelligent city innovations in this period. Five main product invention categories were also identified.