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A hybrid method to trace technology evolution pathways: a case study of 3D printing

Scientometrics volume 111, pages 185–204 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Whether it be for countries to improve the ability to undertake independent innovation or for enterprises to enhance their international competitiveness, tracing historical progression and forecasting future trends of technology evolution is essential for formulating technology strategies and policies. In this paper, we apply co-classification analysis to reveal the technical evolution process of a certain technical field, use co-word analysis to extract implicit or unknown patterns and topics, and employ main path analysis to discover significant clues about technology hotspots and development prospects. We illustrate this hybrid approach with 3D printing, referring to various technologies and processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object. Results show how our method offers technical insights and traces technology evolution pathways, and then helps decision-makers guide technology development.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (Award No. 1527370), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 71503020 and Grant No. 71673024), MOE (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China) Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (Grant No. 13YJC630042), and the Beijing Institute of Technology Basic Research Project (Grant No. 20142142013). The findings and observations contained in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the supporters. We also thank anonymous reviewers who make useful comments to us.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Ying Huang, Donghua Zhu, Yue Qian, Yi Zhang & Ying Guo

  2. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Yi Zhang

  3. School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Alan L. Porter

  4. Search Technology, Inc., Norcross, GA, 30092, USA

    Alan L. Porter

  5. Academy of Printing and Packaging Industrial Technology, Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication, Beijing, 102600, China

    Yuqin Liu

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  1. Ying Huang
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  2. Donghua Zhu
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  3. Yue Qian
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Correspondence to Ying Guo.

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Huang, Y., Zhu, D., Qian, Y. et al. A hybrid method to trace technology evolution pathways: a case study of 3D printing. Scientometrics 111, 185–204 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2271-8

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