Today we are releasing a new version of the graph interface. The biggest change since the last release is that we have added a toolbar where you can set a threshold for the number of papers, select colour-coding for the nodes, and more. In addition we have made some graphical changes to the interface. We are now working on getting all our maps up and running on the new version.

New functionality:

• Set a threshold for the number of papers in each node.
• Switch between normal and modularity view.
• Switch between publication, patent and combined graph for each technology.
• See the impact factor for each node.
• Increase or decrease the size of the nodes.

These features will be more thoroughly explained later.

Update: We have detected a problem with node-colouring in Chrome. We are working to solve this issue, meanwhile the graphs should work well in Firefox.

We are proud to finally announce the release of our new graph interface. This new interface comes with a lot of added features, most notably the ability to click on the edges, and navigating the timeline. Most of our maps are up and running, but we are currently missing Ion Implanters and E-beam Lithography. These will be made available during next week. Also note that we currently do not have a complete set of maps (both patents and publications) for all technologies.

New functionality

When you select a node in the graph, you can click on one of its edges, and get a list of the co-patents and/or co-publications that make up the edge. As you hover over the items in this list, the respective collaboration will be highlighted in the graph. With the new timeline slider, you can navigate over the years between the oldest and the newest patent or publication, and see how the technology landscape evolves over time.

What's next?

We are working on making the navigation more intuitive, especially with respect to the layout of the left side-pane. We plan to make the lists sortable and searchable, the latter being functionality that fell out since the previous version.

We are also working on incorporating a dashboard in the graph interface. This dashboard will allow the user to switch between different viewpoints, such as modularity, publication impact and patent portfoli maturity. These viewpoints will be further explained when they are ready. The user will also be able to set constraints for the graph, i.e. showing only the key players in the technology.

We have added Micropattern Gas Detectors (MPGD) to the list of available maps. More maps with specific technologies will be added soon, so stay tuned!

All our network maps have been updated! Take a look in the "Samples" section.

We have added a new technology category called Photosensors. The first technology to be investigated is Silicon Photomultipliers, and network maps are now available in the "Samples" section.

New maps of various Interconnection Technologies are now available!

 
We have decided to slightly change the colour codes for the network graphs. This will make it easier to distinguish between the different types of organisations. From now on, Not-for-profit organisations will be coloured yellow! Institutions and companies will keep their previous colour codes, red and blue respectably.
Some of the graphs are still using the old colour codes, but they will soon be re-made to satisfy the new standard.

How to use
The interface is simple to use. At first you see a zoomed-out view of the graph you have clicked on. You can zoom in/out by rolling the mouse wheel up/down, and you can pan by clicking and dragging with either the left or the right mouse button.
On the lower left-hand side there is

• a zoom handle you can use to zoom in and out of the graph,
• a lens that you can use to magnify a round area you need to focus (temporarily zoom in) on,
• the option to display the connections between the different nodes.

Whenever you click on a node, you switch to the so-called Egocentric mode, where you can see the connections between the chosen node and its collaborators. If you need to get out of this mode, just double click somewhere on the empty space.
When you click on a node, you also get a side panel with extra information in it. You can make it go away or reappear any time, by click on the chevrons on the upper left corner of the window
The side panel contains information about each node. Specifically, it displays the number of  ”solo” publications each node has produced, as well as the co-publications with other nodes. Clicking on one of the other nodes takes you to *this* node’s collaborations with others.

Centrality, is one measure of the structure of networks or graphs. It was designed to measure the strength of division of a network into modules (also called groups, clusters or communities). Networks with high contrality have dense connections between the nodes within modules but sparse connections between nodes in different modules.
In other words, centrality measures how well a network decomposes into communities. This structure, often called a community structure, describes how the the network is compartmentalized into sub-networks. These sub-networks (or communities) have been shown to have significant real-world meaning.