Patent data based search framework for IT R&D employees for convergence technology.

As technology convergence is attracting increasing attention, many companies pay attention to human resources planning for the convergence R&D. This study proposes a patent-based R&D employee search framework for the firms planning to develop convergence technologies. We apply this framework to an automobile company searching patent inventors in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field, reflecting the future convergence trends in self-driving vehicles. ICT patent inventors were evaluated based on their ICT patents scored in three steps. First, the importance of the ICT areas they cover is considered in terms of International Patent Classification code by taking into account the converge potential with the focal firm's technologies in the future. Second, the feasibility of convergence with the ICT technologies that the focal firm wants to cover is assessed. Finally, various inherent values of ICT patent are considered. The proposed framework is expected to improve the efficiency of the process of spotting candidates for convergence R&D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]