Compare methods

	Patent Analysis	Technology Delphi	Technology Foresight
Field	Science Technology Studies	Science Technology Studies	Science Technology Studies
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1994	1975	1995
Originator	Francis Narin (patent bibliometrics) and the patent-analytics community	Helmer & Dalkey (RAND); national applications by NISTEP (Japan) and Cuhls (Germany)	Ben R. Martin, Irene Miles, and the UK/Japanese foresight programmes
Type	Document-based technological-intelligence process	Iterative structured expert-survey process	Participatory future-oriented strategic process
Seminal source	Narin, F. (1994). Patent bibliometrics. Scientometrics, 30(1), 147-155.	Linstone, H. A., & Turoff, M. (Eds.). (1975). The Delphi Method: Techniques and Applications. Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 9780201042948	Martin, B. R. (1995). Foresight in science and technology. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 7(2), 139-168.
Aliases	Patent analytics, Patent bibliometrics, Patent landscaping	Technology Delphi survey, Foresight Delphi, National Delphi forecast	Foresight studies, Strategic technology forecasting, Future-oriented technology analysis
Related	4	4	4
Summary	Patent analysis, or patanalytics, mines the documents and metadata in patent databases to generate technological intelligence. Because patents are structured, dated, classified, and citation-linked records of inventive activity, analysing patent counts, citations, classification codes, applicants, and text reveals who is innovating where, in which technologies, how fields connect, and how the technological landscape is shifting—evidence that feeds competitive intelligence, R&D strategy, and foresight.	The technology Delphi is a large-scale, multi-round expert survey used to forecast the timing, importance, and feasibility of future technological developments. Built on the classic Delphi principles of anonymity, iteration, controlled feedback, and statistical aggregation, it elicits judgements from hundreds or thousands of experts on a structured list of technology statements and converges them, round by round, into a collective forecast that informs national and organisational science and technology priorities.	Technology foresight is a systematic, participatory process of looking into the longer-term future of science, technology, the economy, and society in order to identify the areas of strategic research and the emerging generic technologies likely to yield the greatest economic and social benefits. Rather than predicting a single future, it brings experts and stakeholders together to explore plausible futures, build shared visions, and translate them into present-day priorities and action.