System and Method for Identifying Relevant Information for an Enterprise

• US 20140330616A1
• Filed: 07/18/2014
• Published: 11/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dimitris Lyras
• Original Assignee: Dimitris Lyras
• Inventors: Lyras, Dimitris
• Granted Patent: US 10,410,156 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.28
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/31 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/205 Parsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system and method are provided for finding and retrieving information within an enterprise that is relevant to enterprise problems, enterprise opportunities, and unexpected or interesting events. The method includes scanning content related to a process conducted by an enterprise, where the process includes one or more process steps; identifying a problem, opportunity or event associated with a process step (an enterprise stress point); indexing the scanned content with respect to the enterprise stress point; determining whether the scanned content is information relevant to the problem, opportunity or event; and providing relevant information to a user. The relevant information includes a description or discussion of a contemporaneous or previous experience of the enterprise regarding the problem, opportunity or event.

Claims

1. A system for finding and transforming information relevant to a process relevant to an enterprise, the system comprising:

a computing device having a computer-readable medium with executable instructions encoded on non-transient digital storage medium, the non-transient digital storage medium also storing a model of the enterprise, content of the enterprise and data of the enterprise;

wherein processes associated with the model include nodes, a computer readable description of relevance between different nodes, and a computer readable description of relevance between content and data and the different nodes;

a device in communication with the computing device and effective to both receive and input data relevant to an enterprise stress point; and

a user interface associated with the handheld device for presenting a user with content and data effective to aid the user in at least one of solving a problem, exploiting an opportunity, or understanding an event, said user interface having a display whereby nodes are visible at first defined moment in time.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the display is integral with and in communication with a handheld device and the display has a limited area such that less than all nodes are visible at the first defined moment in time.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein those nodes visible at said first defined moment in time are interrelated nodes allowing access to relevant information for the user.

4. The system of claim of claim 3 wherein the computing device communicates with said handheld device to identify the interrelated nodes displayed at the first defined moment in time.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the computing device has access to a situation status of an ongoing event and changes the set of interrelated nodes as a function of time and situation status.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the handheld device also displays nodes sequentially preceding and/or following said interrelated nodes identified by said facility.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the user interface enables the user to change the number of interrelated nodes visible on the display at any defined moment in time by one or more of (i) collapsing child nodes into parent nodes, (ii) exposing child nodes under parent nodes, and (iii) zooming in and out.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the user interface enables the user to increase the number of interrelated nodes visible on the display at any defined moment in time.

9. The system of claim 5 wherein the handheld device displays those nodes depicting a greatest risk to the enterprise.

10. The system of claim 7 wherein up to all nodes may be visible on the display at any defined moment in time.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the relevance between adjacent nodes is a computer readable cause and effect.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the relevance between adjacent nodes is derived from the computer readable cause and effect.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein a change to a value in a state model associated with a node does not require a change to the computer readable description of the relevance of content and data between that node and adjacent nodes.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein a value is assigned to a node and, from that value, a transformed value is assigned by the software code to one or more adjacent nodes, the software code defining the computer readable cause and effect connecting that node to adjacent nodes.

15. A handheld device having a communications link, a display and a power source, characterized by:

said handheld device being in communication with a computing device having a computer-readable medium with executable instructions encoded on non-transient digital storage medium, the non-transient digital storage medium also storing a model of the enterprise, content of the enterprise and data of the enterprise, wherein processes associated with the model include nodes, a computer readable description of relevance between different nodes, and a computer readable description of relevance between content and data and the different nodes; and

said display having a limited area whereby less than all nodes are visible at a first defined moment in time and a facility in communication with said computing device identifies interrelated nodes to be displayed at a first defined moment in time.

16. A combination of the handheld device and the computing device of claim 15 wherein the computing device is in communication with a plurality of handheld devices.

17. The combination of claim 16 wherein the computing device transmits to and receives from each respective handheld device a different packet of information wherein each respective packet of information is dependent on an individual user'"'"'s assigned nodes, and

the respective package transmitted is dependent on designed responses to the interactions instigated by the user and changes of status of any nodes in the system as detected by the computing device that through cause and effect change the status of the nodes assigned to the user.

18. The combination of claim 17 wherein a status of interrelated nodes is defined in computer code encoded on said non-transient digital storage medium and the relationship between interrelated nodes is dynamic.

19. The combination of claim 18 wherein the status of interrelated nodes changes based on communication between said computing device and said plurality of handheld devices.

20. The combination of claim 18 wherein the status of interrelated nodes changes based on the individual user'"'"'s role and effect a latest alert to the interrelated nodes being displayed at the first defined moment in time.

21. The combination of claim 16 wherein each said handheld device includes a respective display that is integral with and in communication with that handheld device.

22. The combination of claim 21 wherein those nodes visible at said first defined moment in time are interrelated nodes allowing access to relevant information for the user.

23. The combination of claim of claim 22 wherein said computing device communicates with said handheld device to identify the interrelated nodes displayed at the first defined moment in time.

24. The combination of claim 23 wherein the computing device has access to a situation status of an ongoing event and changes the set of interrelated nodes as a function of time and situation status.

25. The combination of claim 23 wherein each handheld device is capable of displaying nodes sequentially preceding and/or following said interrelated nodes identified by said facility.

26. The combination of claim 25 wherein the user interface enables the user to change the number of interrelated nodes visible on the display at any defined moment in time by one or more of (i) collapsing child nodes into parent nodes, (ii) exposing child nodes under parent nodes, and (iii) zooming in and out.

27. The combination of claim 26 wherein the user interface enables the user to increase the number of interrelated nodes visible on the display at any defined moment in time.

28. The combination of claim 26 wherein the user interface enables the user to decrease the number of interrelated nodes visible on the display at any defined moment in time.

29. The combination of claim 26 wherein up to all nodes may be visible on the display at any defined moment in time.

30. A method to emulate real world processes in an overlay system, comprising the steps of:

identifying a plurality of system process steps and assigning attributes that are status attributes of underlying processes in the real world;

assembling the system process steps into a plurality of cluster of nodes;

establishing computer readable cause and effect relationships between nodes;

using transactional process nodes to identify underlying status values of real world processes and their unique location in a state model;

placing attributes relevant to each node in a respective state model; and

using the computer readable cause and effect links between the nodes to determine the relationship between status elements of underlying processes in the real world.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein each process node is characterized by attributes in a state model.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein when a new node or a new attribute is identified, the state model is automatically extended to enable storage of values for that node or attribute.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein when a new node or a new attribute is identified, it is added to the node cluster and the user interface is automatically extended to accommodate the new node and its attributes.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein when an existing node or an existing attribute is inactivated, it is removed from the node cluster and the user interface is automatically reduced to delete that node and its attributes.

35. The method of integrating at least two processes in two different systems or processes that are not necessarily designed together to achieve a common goal, comprising the steps of:

identifying one cluster of nodes from a plurality of clusters of nodes that is sufficiently abstract to be valid in both a first process and in a second process, wherein each node in the cluster of nodes depicts an enterprise stress point having an intermediate goal and each said node contains data and/or content related to that enterprise stress point;

each node in the cluster of nodes having a cause and effect relationship with other nodes in the cluster of nodes wherein the cause and effect relationship may be expressed as a computer readable mathematical algorithm; and

said intermediate goals converging on said common goal.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein each process node is characterized by attributes in a state model.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein when a new node or a new attribute is identified, the state model is automatically extended to enable storage of values for that node or attribute.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein when a new node or a new attribute is identified, it is added to the node cluster and the user interface is automatically extended to accommodate the new node and its attributes.

39. The method of claim 36 wherein when an existing node or an existing attribute is inactivated, it is removed from the node cluster and the user interface is automatically reduced to delete that node and its attributes.