System and method for focused routing of content to dynamically determined groups of reviewers

• US 20060059151A1
• Filed: 09/02/2004
• Published: 03/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Martinez, Anthony Edward, Tagg, Bradley Scott
• Granted Patent: US 7,444,323 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A mechanism for routing content, e.g., an electronic document, an invention disclosure, etc., to a person or group of persons, e.g., a reviewer/review team, for review and evaluation of the electronic document. This mechanism involves receiving the content and analyzing the content to generate identifiers of subject matter of the content. Subject matter categories are then determined to be associated with the content based on the analysis. The mechanism then retrieves profiles for people that are authorized to review and evaluate content. These profiles include identifiers of categories of knowledge that indicate areas of knowledge held by an associated person. A person is then selected based on the subject matter categories and categories of knowledge. The content may then be routed to a client computing device associated with the selected person or group or persons.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system, for routing content to a person for review and evaluation of the content, comprising:

receiving the content;

determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content;

retrieving profiles for one or more people that are authorized to review and evaluate content, wherein the profiles include identifiers of categories of knowledge of the one or more people, wherein the categories of knowledge indicate areas of knowledge held by an associated person;

selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people; and

routing the content to a client computing device associated with the selected person.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content is an electronic invention disclosure document identifying one or more invention ideas of one or more inventors.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repeating the selecting and routing steps for each of a plurality of people, wherein the plurality of people define a review team for reviewing and evaluating the content.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the selecting and routing steps are repeated until a designated minimum number of review team people are selected from the one or more people.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content includes:

receiving user input identifying one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content includes:

analyzing the content to generate identifiers of subject matter of the content; and

automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories based on the generated identifiers of subject matter.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the identifiers of subject matter of the content are one of keywords extracted from the content and patterns extracted from the content.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from the taxonomy of subject matter categories includes:

comparing the identifiers of subject matter of the content to different previously analyzed content;

determining a degree of matching of the identifiers of subject matter of the content to the different previously analyzed content; and

selecting one or more subject matter categories from the taxonomy based on subject matter categories associated with the different previously analyzed content if the degree of matching is above a threshold.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more subject matter categories are subject matter categories in an established taxonomy of subject matter categories, and wherein the categories of knowledge are also subject matter categories within the established taxonomy of subject matter categories.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

ranking the one or more subject matter categories in accordance with a relevance of the subject matter categories to subject matter in the content.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people further includes:

selecting a person from the one or more people based on one or more of physical proximity of the one or more people to a creator of the content and a degree of correspondence between an organization affiliation of the one or more people and an organization affiliation of the creator of the content.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more subject matter categories are selected from an established taxonomy of subject matter categories, and wherein the subject matter categories in the established taxonomy of subject matter categories represent technology areas.

13. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

generating a metadata file storing the identifiers of subject matter of the content, wherein automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories is performed based on the metadata file.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein each profile in the profiles for one or more people further includes an identifier of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profile, and wherein selecting a person from the one or more people is further based on the identifiers of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profiles.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the identifier of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profile is dynamically updated as an associated person reviews and evaluates content or submits content for review and evaluation.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people includes:

selecting a plurality of people from the one or more people based on a correspondence between the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people;

ranking each person in the selected plurality of people relative to the other people in the selected plurality of people based on a correspondence between the categories of knowledge in the person'"'"'s profile and the one or more subject matter categories, to thereby generate a ranked list of potential reviewers of the content; and

selecting a person from the ranked list of potential reviewers of the content.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein selecting a person from the ranked list of potential reviewers of the content includes:

retrieving schedule information for one or more of the potential reviewers in the ranked list of reviewers;

determining if the schedule information for the one or more potential reviewers indicates that the one or more reviewers will be available to review the content; and

selecting a person from the one or more potential reviewers if the schedule information indicates that the person will be available to review the content.

18. A system for routing content to a person for review and evaluation of the content, comprising:

means for receiving the content;

means for determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content;

means for retrieving profiles for one or more people that are authorized to review and evaluate content, wherein the profiles include identifiers of categories of knowledge of the one or more people, wherein the categories of knowledge indicate areas of knowledge held by an associated person;

means for selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people; and

means for routing the content to a client computing device associated with the selected person.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the content is an electronic invention disclosure document identifying one or more invention ideas of one or more inventors.

20. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

means for repeating the selecting and routing for each of a plurality of people, wherein the plurality of people define a review team for reviewing and evaluating the content.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the means for repeating the selecting and routing repeats the selecting and routing until a designated minimum number of review team people are selected from the one or more people.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content includes:

means for receiving user input identifying one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content includes:

means for analyzing the content to generate identifiers of subject matter of the content; and

means for automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories based on the generated identifiers of subject matter.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the identifiers of subject matter of the content are one of keywords extracted from the content and patterns extracted from the content.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the means for automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from the taxonomy of subject matter categories includes:

means for comparing the identifiers of subject matter of the content to different previously analyzed content;

means for determining a degree of matching of the identifiers of subject matter of the content to the different previously analyzed content; and

means for selecting one or more subject matter categories from the taxonomy based on subject matter categories associated with the different previously analyzed content if the degree of matching is above a threshold.

26. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more subject matter categories are subject matter categories in an established taxonomy of subject matter categories, and wherein the categories of knowledge are also subject matter categories within the established taxonomy of subject matter categories.

27. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

means for ranking the one or more subject matter categories in accordance with a relevance of the subject matter categories to subject matter in the content.

28. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people further includes:

means for selecting a person from the one or more people based on one or more of physical proximity of the one or more people to a creator of the content and a degree of correspondence between an organization affiliation of the one or more people and an organization affiliation of the creator of the content.

29. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more subject matter categories are selected from an established taxonomy of subject matter categories, and wherein the subject matter categories in the established taxonomy of subject matter categories represent technology areas.

30. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for generating a metadata file storing the identifiers of subject matter of the content, wherein automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories is performed based on the metadata file.

31. The system of claim 18, wherein each profile in the profiles for one or more people further includes an identifier of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profile, and wherein selecting a person from the one or more people is further based on the identifiers of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profiles.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the identifier of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profile is dynamically updated as an associated person reviews and evaluates content or submits content for review and evaluation.

33. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people includes:

means for selecting a plurality of people from the one or more people based on a correspondence between the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people;

means for ranking each person in the selected plurality of people relative to the other people in the selected plurality of people based on a correspondence between the categories of knowledge in the person'"'"'s profile and the one or more subject matter categories, to thereby generate a ranked list of potential reviewers of the content; and

means for selecting a person from the ranked list of potential reviewers of the content.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the means for selecting a person from the ranked list of potential reviewers of the content includes:

means for retrieving schedule information for one or more of the potential reviewers in the ranked list of reviewers;

means for determining if the schedule information for the one or more potential reviewers indicates that the one or more reviewers will be available to review the content; and

means for selecting a person from the one or more potential reviewers if the schedule information indicates that the person will be available to review the content.

35. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for routing content to a person for review and evaluation of the content, comprising:

first instructions for receiving the content;

second instructions for determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content;

third instructions for retrieving profiles for one or more people that are authorized to review and evaluate content, wherein the profiles include identifiers of categories of knowledge of the one or more people, wherein the categories of knowledge indicate areas of knowledge held by an associated person;

fourth instructions for selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people; and

fifth instructions for routing the content to a client computing device associated with the selected person.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the content is an electronic invention disclosure document identifying one or more invention ideas of one or more inventors.

37. The computer program product of claim 35, further comprising:

sixth instructions for repeating the selecting and routing for each of a plurality of people, wherein the plurality of people define a review team for reviewing and evaluating the content.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the sixth instructions for repeating the selecting and routing repeats the selecting and routing until a designated minimum number of review team people are selected from the one or more people.

39. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the second instructions for determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content include:

instructions for receiving user input identifying one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories.

40. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the second instructions for determining one or more subject matter categories to be associated with the content based on subject matter within the content include:

instructions for analyzing the content to generate identifiers of subject matter of the content; and

instructions for automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories based on the generated identifiers of subject matter.

41. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the identifiers of subject matter of the content are one of keywords extracted from the content and patterns extracted from the content.

42. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the instructions for automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from the taxonomy of subject matter categories include:

instructions for comparing the identifiers of subject matter of the content to different previously analyzed content;

instructions for determining a degree of matching of the identifiers of subject matter of the content to the different previously analyzed content; and

instructions for selecting one or more subject matter categories from the taxonomy based on subject matter categories associated with the different previously analyzed content if the degree of matching is above a threshold.

43. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the one or more subject matter categories are subject matter categories in an established taxonomy of subject matter categories, and wherein the categories of knowledge are also subject matter categories within the established taxonomy of subject matter categories.

44. The computer program product of claim 35, further comprising:

sixth instructions for ranking the one or more subject matter categories in accordance with a relevance of the subject matter categories to subject matter in the content.

45. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the fourth instructions for selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people further include:

instructions for selecting a person from the one or more people based on one or more of physical proximity of the one or more people to a creator of the content and a degree of correspondence between an organization affiliation of the one or more people and an organization affiliation of the creator of the content.

46. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the one or more subject matter categories are selected from an established taxonomy of subject matter categories, and wherein the subject matter categories in the established taxonomy of subject matter categories represent technology areas.

47. The computer program product of claim 40, further comprising:

instructions for generating a metadata file storing the identifiers of subject matter of the content, wherein automatically selecting one or more subject matter categories from a taxonomy of subject matter categories is performed based on the metadata file.

48. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein each profile in the profiles for one or more people further includes an identifier of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profile, and wherein the instructions selecting a person from the one or more people is further based on the identifiers of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profiles.

49. The computer program product of claim 48, wherein the identifier of a level of expertise for each identified category of knowledge in the profile is dynamically updated as an associated person reviews and evaluates content or submits content for review and evaluation.

50. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein the fourth instructions for selecting a person, from the one or more people, to review and evaluate the content based on the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people include:

instructions for selecting a plurality of people from the one or more people based on a correspondence between the one or more subject matter categories and categories of knowledge of the one or more people;

instructions for ranking each person in the selected plurality of people relative to the other people in the selected plurality of people based on a correspondence between the categories of knowledge in the person'"'"'s profile and the one or more subject matter categories, to thereby generate a ranked list of potential reviewers of the content; and

instructions for selecting a person from the ranked list of potential reviewers of the content.

51. The computer program product of claim 50, wherein the instructions for selecting a person from the ranked list of potential reviewers of the content include:

instructions for retrieving schedule information for one or more of the potential reviewers in the ranked list of reviewers;

instructions for determining if the schedule information for the one or more potential reviewers indicates that the one or more reviewers will be available to review the content; and

instructions for selecting a person from the one or more potential reviewers if the schedule information indicates that the person will be available to review the content.