In conjunction with the 6th Biennial Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy, the VP Institute is sponsoring the 5th Global TechMining Conference. Tech Mining, a special form of “Big Data” analytics, aims to generate Competitive Technical Intelligence (CTI) using bibliometric and text-mining software (e.g., VantagePoint, TDA) as well as other analytical & visualization applications for analyses of Science, Technology & Innovation (ST&I) information resources. The goal of the conference is to ENGAGE cross-disciplinary networks of analysts, software specialists, researchers, policymakers, and managers to ADVANCE the use of textual information in multiple science, technology, and business development fields. The conference program will address key CHALLENGES in:
A. Maximizing potential of traditional and novel text data: Tapping vital traits while minding limitations and matching analytical aims. Data topics of interest include:
 resolving data hygiene issues generated by multiple sources
 ways to address newer data sources (e.g., web scraping, social media cumulations)
 transitioning from database mining to real-time streaming text analytics
 data structures and lattices
B. Advancing and integrating methods. Topics of interest include:
 tracking emergence by extracting topical content via advanced natural language processing, term clumping, topic modelling, etc.  ways to demonstrate multi-dimensional indicators of R&D & innovation activity
 means to combine quantitative and qualitative approaches in practical case applications  algorithms for identification of emergence (of technologies and inception of notable innovations)  discovering the higher-level properties of (complex) social networks
C. Translating analyses to useful intelligence: Informative indicators and compelling visualizations.  case studies that offer testable projections (specific, explicit) to enable future revisiting to validate methods.  visual analytics capabilities, both for analysts and for end-users Suggested presentations include case studies/research results, development of new methods, and development of enhanced software tools (e.g., macros). The working language of the conference will be English.