WCCAI 2011 - 4th International Working Conf. on Computer Aided Innovation

CAI is a young domain in the array of CAx technologies. The goal of CAI is to support enterprises throughout the complete innovation process.
Although some existing ideas and concepts of CAI focus on assisting product designers in their creative stage, a more comprehensive vision conceives CAI systems beginning at the creative stage of perceiving business opportunities and customer demands, then continue helping in developing inventions and, further on, providing help up to the point of turning inventions into successful innovations in the market.
As Product Life Cycle Management tools are being integrated with Knowledge management methods and tools, new alternatives arise regarding the Engineering Desktop.
It is expected that changes in innovation paradigms will occur through the use of Computer Aided Innovation methods and tools, which structure is partially inspired by modern Innovation Theories as TRIZ, ASIT, Axiomatic Design, Synectics, General Theory of Innovation, Mind Mapping, Brain Storming, and Lateral Thinking among others.

On the other side the rouse of new information technology and methods, such as semantic web, data mining, text mining, theory of chaos and evolutionary algorithms are being increasingly used for more accurately foretelling the next steps in the technological evolution and in the development of new products.