INSEARCH · Supporting SMEs innovation processes through advanced IT search systems

The INSEARCH project aims to develop an information system, based on advanced knowledge search, retrieval and analysis techniques, able to support European SMEs in their technological innovation process in particular in facing one of their main challenges: how to find and use available knowledge present in the form of structured and unstructured data in the World Wide Web. Such an information system will support human decision and action, it is neither pure information brokering, nor automatic execution. INSEARCH will use advanced filtering, recommendation, and monitoring techniques to search and retrieve relevant knowledge, as well as Natural language Processing and text mining techniques to analyse the retrieved knowledge thus providing useful information for the innovation process. The INSEARCH expected final result will be a fully operational information retrieval (IR) and analysis system, eventually integrated within SMEs internal existing knowledge management systems. The IR and Analysis system will consist on: 1) A data modelling toolbox able to support users in providing coherent and structured queries, in line with the organisational databases used for data storage and analysis; 2) An advanced search and retrieve system for relevant knolwdge present in the Web, based on content filtering, reccomendation, monitoring, and ranking of achieved results; 3) An analysis module of retrieved knolwdge through Natural Language Processing and Text Mining, to provide users with already analysed information useful for product/proces innovation; 4) An overall Data Management platform based on Semantic Technologies and innovation-targeted ontologies to store and manage the innovation-related knolwdge.