Technological Relatedness based on Co-classification Network Analysis: A Case Study on Electricity Sector
WEN Fang-Fang
Journal of Digital Information Management, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2016.
DOI: 
Link: http://dline.info/fpaper/jdim/v14i1/v14i1_4.pdf
Abstract:
This paper describes a quantitative study
on interdisciplinary technological relatedness represented
by patent co-classification. Taking patents in
the electricity sector as samples, classification analysis
was conducted on the basis of 4-digit codes of International
Patent Classification. Then, social network
analysis and visualization technique were conducted.
The relatedness between different subclasses was
measured and visualized. The focus and trend were
detected. The results indicate that "H04L: Transmission
of digital information" is the most active subclass
that can be considered as the focus in the field of electricity.
It also suggests that hot domains characterized
by high interdisciplinarity may involve some emerging
technologies, driven by knowledge relatedness and
characterized by technological diversification. The results
obtained in this study are expected to provide an
improved understanding of technological development
and evolving characteristics, as well as provide insights
that can contribute to further research and development.