Automated Data Flow Tracking Module for Litigation Search

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Solution Overview

Problem

As data volumes increase, managing and searching through unorganized data becomes increasingly labor-intensive, especially during litigation or compliance investigations, where identifying specific data items is time-consuming and resource-intensive.

Innovation Solution

A data flow tracking module interacts with a data governance module to generate and track metadata, identifying relationships between data items, including similarities, access history, and transformations, allowing for automated data organization and efficient querying.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If data volumes increase to improve information storage capacity, then the amount of data maintained by an entity increases, but the amount of manpower required to search for specific data items increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata volumeVSAvoidsearch efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by automatically tracking and organizing data relationships, access history, and transformations before searches are needed. Metadata is generated and stored in advance, so when a search is required, the pre-organized data can be quickly queried without manual sorting, thus maintaining search efficiency despite increasing data volumes

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces metadata as an intermediary layer between raw data and search operations. This metadata automatically captures relationships, access patterns, and transformations, serving as a mediator that enables efficient querying without requiring direct manual searching of the underlying data, thereby decoupling data volume growth from search effort

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If manual data organization is used to improve data accessibility, then data can be searched, but the process becomes time-consuming and resource-intensive

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata accessibilityVSAvoidsearch time
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements self-service by automatically generating metadata, tracking data relationships, and maintaining organizational structures without human intervention. The data governance system autonomously monitors data flows, records transformations, and updates access history, eliminating the need for manual data organization while improving accessibility and reducing search time

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces manual mechanical sorting and organizing operations with automated computational processes. Instead of human operators manually categorizing and tracking data, the system uses automated metadata generation and tracking mechanisms that compute and organize data relationships electronically, dramatically reducing the time and resources required for data accessibility operations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS9734195B1Automated data flow tracking
Publication Date: 2017.08.15 ARCTERA US LLC
  • US9734195B1 patent drawing
  • US9734195B1 patent drawing
  • US9734195B1 patent drawing

AI summary

Various automated data flow tracking techniques can involve obtaining metadata identifying the data items from multiple data sources and using that information to identify the relationships among the data items. This information can then be provided to users. For example, a method can involve receiving a query; accessing metadata, which identifies data items generated by multiple data sources; identifying a set of responsive data items from among the available data items; identifying one or more relationships between the data items in the set of responsive data items, and responding to the query with information identifying the set of responsive data items and the one or more relationships.