Combining tech mining and semantic TRIZ for technology assessment: Dye-sensitized solar cell as a case

In a competitive business environment, an early understanding of the dynamics of technological change is crucial to help policymakers and managers make better-informed decisions. Bibliometric analyses help in studying trends and technological evolution. Tech mining (text analyses of science and technology information resources) enhances Bibliometric analyses. However, more often than not, such analyses focus on a specific technological area, and mainly result in incremental advance forecasts. An analysis of the interconnected dynamics of technology change warrants new approaches for identifying technology emergence, technological substitution, and the influences of vital socioeconomic forces. This paper introduces a unique combination that applies a tech mining and semantic TRIZ as a case study to Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) technology. This methodological combination brings broader insights to the emergence of DSSC in conjunction with related technologies that affect its progress, enriching the associated technological progression's empirical characterization.