SBIR Phase I: Information Tracking and Trading as a Stimulus to Innovation

The innovation implements a theoretically pure, fair, and accurate credit assignment mechanism whenever information content is reused. The technology is implemented as an algorithm that recursively detects chains of reused content regardless of how far back the chain proceeds. It accounts for changes in authorship each time ideas are reused and for content perturbations in which the essence of an idea is described using different language. A second part of the algorithm uses market gamification to establish the relative value of reused and novel content then apportion the value from reused content back to original sources of novel content. Distinguishing value from quantity is essential because it is often possible to develop a succinct expression of an important idea and a long-winded expression of an unimportant idea. Further, this technology accounts for complementary ideas whose value is greater than the sum of the parts. Since the theoretical ideal is mathematically complex, the algorithm also introduces several novel efficiency shortcuts. Finally, the technology provides a visual display of reused content that helps motivate original sources to share their ideas and aid users in finding related ideas. The broader/commercial impact of this technology draws from its ability to improve white-collar productivity. Numerous research studies show that people who volunteer information thrive on recognition. Conversely, stealing a person's ideas limits their willingness to share. A well functioning credit attribution system therefore has the potential to improve idea sharing as well as the opportunity to recombine ideas in new ways so as to foster profits and innovation. For example, an unrelated MIT study showed firms that reuse their information have 12% higher revenue growth. In a related study, document reuse among a bank's loan officers increased productivity by as much as 10%. Virtually all Fortune 500 firms use document repositories of one form or another. Adding recognition and incentives can improve individual willingness to push valuable information into systems where it can be repurposed by coworkers. These create measurable economic gains in an identifiable and large market.