Patent analysis by automated mind maps: Contribution to sustainability in a water and sewage sanitation company

Patent databases represent an essential source of easily accessible information and technological knowledge. Inherent difficulties in the search for useful knowledge, in particular situations from large volumes of companies’ data, have resulted in little exploration in patent databases. The focus in this work was to evaluate the use of automated mind maps as an auxiliary tool in the discovery of knowledge in patent databases. In this context, the objective was to analyze the patent information in a contributory perspective for the sustainability of water and sewage companies. We performed the study using the participant observation technique in a basic sanitation company and resulted in discovering alternatives to improve crucial processes and producing discussions about new technologies aimed at the sector's sustainability. The company selected for the research is within a context of activities in constant challenge for innovations, since the collection and treatment of sewage is currently a problem of global proportions and of great impact in matters of environmental sustainability. In the Sanitation Sector, certain approaches are not necessarily new and much of what is preached in the Circular Economy has already taken place. For example, making beneficial use of sludge in the soil, production and use of reuse water, use of biogas for generating electricity, and heat and energy or bio-methane. The results pointed to the adding of the use of mind maps as another possibility for the discovery of knowledge in the analysis of patents.