[0001] This application is related to and hereby claims the priority benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/203,374, entitled Method and Apparatus for Internet-Based Human Network Brokering, filed May 9, 2000, by James Duncan Work, which is incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] The present invention relates to a “people-networking” scheme that may be embodied in computer software and/or hardware and that can be characterized as both a browser and broker of human networks on the Internet. When used in a computer network environment employing a client-server architecture, a client-side software application may act as a browser and relationship manager while a server component may act as a broker. When used in a peer-to-peer or distributed server architecture, the broker function can be distributed.
[0003] In the course of conducting their everyday affairs (whether personal or business), people generally access their networks of contacts for referrals, information and/or advice. For example, when choosing a physician, one might check with friends or relatives about past experiences with certain doctors. When seeking a new employee, a potential employer will often check with colleagues to see whether they know of a suitable candidate. And, when investigating new investment opportunities, an investor may consult with professional advisors as to the prospects of the target company.
[0004] In each of these and many other examples, an individual's decisions are often made easier by the advice of trusted associates and friends, but often that individual finds he or she does not have an appropriate contact with the information needed to help with a problem or task. At such times, the individual may ask his or her contacts for leads to contacts in their own “human networks”. This presents a quandary for the person asked for a referral—namely, whether or not to reveal his or her contacts to the requester. By making such revelations, the “connector” may compromise his or her network or expose one or more of his or her contacts to unwanted solicitations. By not making the referral, however, the connector may risk his or her association with the person seeking the referral. Whether or not to make the referral often depends upon the degree of trust that the connector has in the person seeking the referral and any past experiences in making such referrals to the target referee.
[0005] Even where the referral is ultimately made, there is no guarantee that the referee is going to be a suitable candidate for the original requestor's purpose. Thus, the requester may be forced to track down a number of leads (many of which may be unsuitable) in the hope of finding a suitable target. This process is rather inefficient, usually because a) the requestor does not have enough information about the contacts of his or her contacts in order to determine which contacts to approach for referrals, and/or b) the requestor has failed to properly elucidate his or her requirements and/or because the requestor was not provided with sufficient information regarding the potential target to be able to eliminate him or her from further consideration. In other words, the profiles of the desired target and the resulting candidates were not sufficiently developed to meaningfully assist in the selection process.
[0006] Nevertheless, despite these shortcomings, human networks are central to most, if not all, value-creating activities and operate at multiple levels, including personal networks (the personal and professional contacts each of us has), organizational networks (links within and between organizations), and associations and interest groups (people attracted by common values, interests, and goals). Today, many individuals may also be regarded as existing online community members, members of organizational networks (independent consultants, alliances, partnerships, consortiums, associations) or employees of small to large companies. They engage in human development, organizational learning, training, management, brokering, marketing, sales, trade, research, and consulting activities, all of which depend, to some degree, on inter-human networks. Such individuals generally understand the value of computer networks as tools for sharing information, but presently these individuals have only limited access to tools that can give them an edge (e.g., a competitive advantage) to make better human network connections on the Internet.
[0007] Others have recognized some of these deficiencies and have proposed partial solutions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,709 to Gilmour and Wang proposes a method of constructing a user knowledge profile, having distinct public and private portions with different access restrictions. In an automated knowledge management system, electronic documents (e.g., e-mail messages and the like) are collected and each is associated with a user, such as for example the author of the document. Further, confidence levels are assigned to content within these documents and such content may be potentially indicative of a knowledge base of the user. The content is then stored in either the public or private portion of the user's knowledge profile depending upon whether the confidence level exceeds, or falls below, a predetermined threshold level. The public portion of the user knowledge profile is freely accessible by third parties, whereas the private portion has restricted access. Individual users' knowledge profiles may then be accessed (according to public/private access control restrictions) to determine whether a user is an appropriate candidate for a task (e.g., receipt of an e-mail message).
[0008] A related U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,472, to Gilmour, describes a scheme for querying a user profile. Access begins with the public portion of a user's knowledge profile for each of a plurality of potential targets of the electronic document. A matching operation is performed between a document term within the electronic document and public knowledge terms within the public portion of each knowledge profile to identify a first set of targets for which a match exists between the document term and at least one public knowledge term. The first set of targets is published to the originator. Responsive to a second query from the originator, the private portion of a knowledge profile for each of the plurality of potential targets of the electronic document is accessed, the private portion of each knowledge profile including private knowledge terms indicative of a knowledge base of a potential target of the electronic document. A second matching operation between the document term within the electronic document and the private knowledge terms within the private portion of each knowledge profile is performed to identify a second set of targets for which a match exists between the document term and at least one private knowledge term. Each target of the second set of targets is then prompted for authorization to be published to the originator.
[0009] These two examples of prior schemes for leveraging human network characteristics (in this case a worker's prior access to information of interest in a current electronic document) show the benefit of using automated means to assist in decision-making processes regarding the use of such networks. However, these schemes do not assist in the forming of relationships or introductions among members of disparate human networks nor do they provide for the brokering function discussed above, which is critical to the exchange of social capital among individuals.
[0010] The above-cited patents are not the only examples of schemes that attempt to address the social networking needs of people. Other schemes, which generally fall into one or more of a few categories, also exist. Among these are access control systems which generally allow only intended users to have access to information. Such systems may make use of encryption schemes such as public/private key encryption schemes.
[0011] Other methods of access control include the following.
[0012] 1. Simple access that is either open or closed. In such schemes, users who have access to the system can “see” everything. Those without access to the system can, of course, see nothing. Access to the system is most often implemented by issuing a password, and in more rigorous systems also by a means of authentication using encrypted certificates issued by trusted third-party certificate authorities.
[0013] 2. Schemes wherein data is separated into public and private designations. In these systems, users can designate some data areas as public and others as private. If others request access to data stored in private areas, the system will deny the request. Or in other implementations, the system may ask the user that designated the data as being private in the first place to decide whether or not to permit the requested access.
[0014] 3. In a variation of the above scheme, data areas may be designated as either “public” or “private” and individuals are given either public or private access rights. Anyone can see public data areas while only persons given private access rights can see both public and private areas. One organization that appears to have implemented a scheme that makes use of this access control model is PeopleStream, Inc.
[0015] 4. Use of multiple access groups to which specific people and other groups are assigned. This is similar to (3) above, except the system allows many different kinds of groups to be defined and applied to different documents, directories, or fields. This type of system is best managed by a professional system administrator because it is quite tedious to administer. Users have to be assigned individually to multiple groups
[0016] 5. Role-based access control. Access groups are defined not just by specific people but also by specific roles. Whoever currently has a specific role has the access rights assigned to that role. This system usually also requires a separate method to authenticate that a particular person has a particular role.
[0017] In addition to access control schemes, other profiling systems do exist. Such systems (e.g., as deployed in Microsoft's Passport and Novell's DigitalMe) are mainly used as adjuncts to eCommerce technologies and provide some limited contact book updating capabilities. Also, so-called “expert finding” systems (e.g., as deployed by Abuzz Technologies, Inc., Tacit Knowledge Systems, Inc. and others) generally lack the sophisticated software agents needed for true social networking and provide only an enhanced resume finding service. In many of these services, access controls to personal information are limited and little or no verification of user information is provided. Referral networks services, such as those developed by Peoplestream, ContactMaps, Six Degrees and others, include only limited user profiles and verification capabilities.
[0018] In one embodiment, matches between search queries and potential targets of such search queries are automatically brokered by (i) comparing search criteria specified in the search queries with profile criteria describing the potential targets, and (ii) reporting instances of acceptable correspondence between the search criteria and the profile criteria, provided that access controls associated with the profile criteria of the targets permit such reporting in light of access levels assigned to the search inquiries. Initiators, using client applications at various remote locations, may formulate the search queries and the brokering may be performed at one or more server locations communicatively coupled (e.g., via the Internet) thereto. The search criteria may include portions of descriptive profiles of the potential targets. The descriptive profiles may include some or all of an individual's capabilities, history, values, interests, style, goals, projects, human networks, contacts, profiles of said contacts, employment history, education history, organizational activities, organizations, profiles of said organizations, or compensation requirements, and indications of the nature and strength of the relationship of the searcher to the target and/or to the target's organization.
[0019] Further, personal access controls may be set by users and uploaded along with their personal profile information to one or more of the servers. When the broker agent matches one user's profile information as a target to another user's search, the broker agent will then follow the instructions embedded in the target's access instructions to determine how or whether the target wants to respond to the search. Such access instructions specified in advance by targets may refer to access controls related to the nature of the search and/or to the searcher's profile information that the searcher has permitted to be shared with potential targets. Access controls specified by either the searcher or targets may permit exchange of information only on an anonymous basis, or with identity revealed. If either searcher or target has included instructions to remain anonymous, then the broker agent will enable an anonymous exchange of email between the searcher and target.
[0020] In contrast, to the above-noted access control schemes, the present method of access control can best be described as concept-based access control and has the following advantages over other methods. First, the present system makes it relatively easy for users to get started with a pre-defined basic set of access groups and corresponding security settings, and also relatively easy for users to create more sophisticated access controls by creating new access groups defined by rules that relate to profile elements and indicators or relationship that are entered by users. Second, being based on rule-created concepts that are defined by data users enter about themselves and about their relationships, i.e., profile and contact information, the present access groups require less administration, that is, less manual assignment of specific people to specific groups.
[0021] The present method also enables autonomous determination of access by users' personal access agents and by network broker agents acting on servers, even in cases where a request for access is coming from a person whom the protected user does not yet know, or for whom the user has not yet personally assigned to any access groups. The method also enables flexible reuse of access groups as defining concepts inside of other rules and definitions having multiple potential uses, including use in determining access to view profile elements, use in determining action that the network broker should take when responding to a search that the user matches as a target, and use in constructing criteria to define desired targets of a search.
[0022] The client applications may include search agents configured to assist initiators in generating the search queries using one or more graphical user interfaces. The search agents may perform such assistance by prompting an initiator for information regarding one or more of the initiator's goals, projects, weighted search criteria, extent of desired search, search context, organization type, or profession.
[0023] The brokering function may be performed using broker agents at one or more of the server locations. Such broker agents may be configured to receive search instructions within the search queries and to use these search instructions along with the access controls to find matches. The broker agents may be further configured to report any matches to the search initiators as paths to information regarding the potential targets, including reporting paths of relationships between the searcher and the target, such as a personal contact of the searcher who knows the target or who has a contact who knows the target.
[0024] Further, the broker agents may be configured to search for such matches within user profiles and contact information maintained at the server locations or elsewhere. The user profiles maintained at the servers generally include portions of descriptive profiles of the potential targets, which profiles may include some or all of an individual's capabilities, history, values, interests, style, goals, projects, human networks, contacts, profiles of said contacts, employment history, education history, organizational activities, organizations, profiles of said organizations, or compensation requirements. These user profiles may also include or be associated with the above-mentioned access controls.
[0025] In some cases, the broker agents may be configured to search for any matches according to degrees of trust between contacts, or other measures of relationship, as specified through the user profiles. Furthermore, the broker agents may be set to report verification information for any matches, such verification information being derived using verification agents located at the server locations. When used, the verification information should be editable only by the verification agents.
[0026] Different search strategies may be employed. For example, the broker agents may be configured to search for matches by beginning with contacts of the initiators and working outward to find potential targets or connectors to potential targets. Alternatively, or in addition, the broker agents may search for matches by beginning with potential targets and working backwards to find connectors to the search initiators. In other cases, the broker agents may be configured to search for connectors between such initiators and any potential targets, so long as the connectors have suitable access levels to permit reporting of any subsequent matches in light of any applicable access controls. Connectors may include contacts of the potential targets, contacts of the initiators, contacts of specified degree of the initiators or potential targets, profiles of organizations of the initiators, organizations of the initiators, or trusted connection paths between the initiators and any potential targets.
[0027] In a further embodiment, a computer network includes one or more clients configured with client applications, and one or more servers communicatively coupled to some or all of these clients and to one or more of each other. The client applications are each configured to permit users thereof to initiate search queries for potential targets specified by profile criteria (e.g., including some or all of an individual's capabilities, history, values, interests, style, goals, projects, human networks, contacts, profiles of said contacts, employment history, education history, organizational activities, organizations, profiles of said organizations, or compensation requirements). The servers include a network broker configured to search for matches between the search queries and potential targets thereof by comparing search criteria specified in the search queries with the profile criteria describing the potential targets and reporting instances of acceptable correspondence between the two where access controls associated with the profile criteria of the potential targets permit it, in light of access levels assigned to the search inquiries.
[0028] The client applications may be further configured to permit users thereof to initiate such search queries through one or more graphical user interfaces. In addition, users may be permitted to create and store profiles of themselves and their contacts, these profiles containing some or all of an individual's capabilities, history, values, interests, style, goals, projects, human networks, contacts, profiles of said contacts, employment history, education history, organizational activities, organizations, profiles of said organizations, or compensation requirements. The users may restrict access to these profiles using the access controls and any or all of these profiles may be uploaded to one or more of the servers. These uploaded copies of the profiles may then be used by the network broker when searching for matches.
[0029] The network broker may be configured to report any matches to the users as paths to information regarding potential targets. In general, the network broker receives search instructions within the search queries and uses these instructions, along with the access controls, to find the matches. The network broker may search for matches according to degrees of trust between contacts as specified through the target profile criteria and may also report verification information for any matches. Alternatively, or in addition, the network broker may search for matches by beginning with contacts of the users and working outward to find potential targets or connectors to potential targets, and/or by beginning with any potential targets and working backwards to find connectors to the users. Further, the network broker may be configured to search for connectors between users and potential targets, so long as the connectors have suitable access levels to permit reporting of any matches in light of the access controls.
[0030] Any or all of the above methods may be embodied as computer-readable instructions on computer-readable media for use by computer systems. This may include physical media, such as CD-ROMs and the like, or other media, such as packetized communications transmitted by electrical signals over communication links, both wired and wireless.
[0031] The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:
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[0041] A scheme for brokering human networks over a computer network that may use a client-server paradigm is disclosed herein. Although discussed with reference to certain illustrated embodiments, upon review of this specification, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the present scheme may find application in a variety of systems. Therefore, in the following description the illustrated embodiments should be regarded as exemplary only and should not be deemed to be limiting in scope.
[0042] Some portions of the detailed description that follows are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data within a computer memory (e.g., using flowcharts and the like). These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the computer science arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, objects, symbols, characters, terms, numbers or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, it will be appreciated that throughout the description of the present invention, use of terms such as “processing”, “computing, “calculating”, “determining”, “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. The various objects, data structures, algorithms, etc. described herein may be stored as computer-readable instructions on computer-readable media in the conventional fashion.
[0043] The present brokering scheme includes an Internet-based social networking tool for online communities, professional networks, and corporate intranets. Social networks are networks of people connected by trust, shared values, and mutual need for cooperation. Social communities, cooperative business relationships, and professional associations are all examples of social networks. The present system creates social networks to find partners, clients and people with shared interests and values. This system is also used to share knowledge, build and strengthen communities, build teams, and map and analyze complex organizational networks.
[0044] Information networking tools now available on the Internet are inadequate to serve the needs of social networks. As exemplified by the above-cited U.S. patents, information networking tools, including tools for “knowledge management”, currently look for relationships between words. But social networking tools have to also reveal relationships between people in order to provide real value. This is why a directory of people and their expertise is generally not enough to evaluate a potential relationship. For most important relationships—potential partners, significant clients and suppliers, etc.—more information is needed to establish trust, mutual values, and other forms of compatibility. And, yet, since some of this information is personal or proprietary, social networking tools also have to ensure privacy and protection.
[0045] The present system resolves this apparent contradiction (between the need to reveal sufficient information about one's self and/or one's contacts to enable intelligent decision making and the desire to protect such information from unintended or undesired disclosure) with a design that combines extensive knowledge of social networks with software agents. Working together, the present tools provide for rich profiling, access control, verification, and network brokering to assure that privacy will not be compromised and that matches will be accurate and valuable to both parties.
[0046] Within and using the present brokering scheme, users are able to:
[0047] Quickly narrow the choices in finding and evaluating new partners, clients, colleagues, suppliers, employers, employees, investors, advisors and information sources, and people with shared interests and values by learning enough about them to properly evaluate their potential.
[0048] Get recommendations and introductions from a trusted source to build extended networks based on trust and value.
[0049] Screen incoming information and requests and maintain privacy when desired.
[0050] Connect with more of the right people to foster new relationships
[0051] The present brokering scheme offers users a rich environment to create and maintain all types of human networks supported by online interactions. When used in a client-server paradigm, the client-side tool may be embodied as a Java™ application or a Java applet that works within a conventional Web browser (e.g., Microsoft's Internet Explorer™ and/or Netscape's Navigator™ or Communicator™), thus offering a rich profiling environment for sharing information. The corresponding Web application server may then be made up of access agent and network broker intelligent agents (again based on Java technology) that are trainable to emulate the functions of a human broker, making highly accurate matches while protecting personal privacy. Of course, other embodiments may make use of other programming languages, such as conventional HTML or other languages.
[0052] Java is a form of an object-oriented (i.e., focused on data and the interfaces to it), dynamic programming language for computer systems developed by Sun Microsystems of Mountain View, Calif. Java has an extensive library of subroutines for coping with TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol) protocols like HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) and FTP (file transfer protocol). Thus, Java applications can open and access objects (i.e., data) across the Internet (or other computer networks) via URLs (uniform resource locators, also known as web addresses) similar to the way other software can access a local file system. Because Java was designed to support applications on networks, which may be composed of a variety of systems with a variety of central processing unit (CPU) and operating system architectures, all Java programs are compiled to an architecture- or platform-neutral object file format. Thus, the compiled code is executable on many processors.
[0053] A. System Operation and Architecture
[0054] Before describing the features of systems which incorporate the present invention in detail, some background is helpful. In one embodiment, the brokering system operates as follows: Initially, users create rich profiles (e.g., of themselves and their contacts) needed for greater visibility and more accurate matching and evaluation of new connections. These profiles may be created using a profile builder application and may be both locally stored (e.g., on a user's personal computer) and/or uploaded on one or more application servers that may reside on an intranet or a Web server for an online community. Users instruct their personal access agents to control access to their own personal profiles and a personal search agent to find desired connections. A network broker agent operating on the server(s) is then used to evaluate matches and broker relationships. All parties can trust the broker to follow their instructions regarding the match desired and the degree of privacy desired. Other embodiments may be deployed as part of a peer-to-peer environment or other computer network. Note that as used herein the term “server” (and personal host and central server) is meant to include any computer system when a system which includes the present invention operates in a peer-to-peer configuration.
[0055] This scheme offers a method and framework for matching people's interests and building personal connections to the right people and information they value. Getting the right person's attention is what really matters and is a necessity for creating almost any type of value. However, in the real world, the factors that influence individual and group attention are very complex. The software agents employed as part of the present brokering scheme build on the complexity of human relationships in ways that are transparent to the user.
[0056] The brokering scheme also addresses the flip side of attention-getting by protecting personal privacy. Maintaining user privacy is an important issue on the Internet and is likely to continue to grow in importance as more and more people conduct online transactions. The brokering scheme addresses privacy concerns by managing access to attention because the scheme is based on the understanding that the more visible it is possible for a user to be, the more it becomes necessary for that user to be selectively visible.
[0057] To better understand these features, consider first the illustration shown in
[0058] From the diagram, it should be clear that various intercommunications amongst network elements might take place. For example, communication between clients
[0059]
[0060] Many components of the present system may be embodied as Java applets or applications to maintain the richness of an object-oriented approach while using a conventional web browser and HTML (hypertext mark-up language) and XML (extensible markup language) as the delivery platform for the user interface. For compatibility with Java-based interface agents that might be delivered through the user interface, Java application server
[0061] 1. Client Application
[0062] The client application
[0063] InterfaceToUser
[0064] This object (although not shown in detail in
[0065] LocalDB
[0066] This is the mapping for the local database
[0067] UserStatus. Described above as information regarding completion status of the user profile, and a record of user behaviors and preferences which other objects may make use of to make the user's experience easier and more rewarding, etc.
[0068] OrgProfile. The organization profile may be completed once for each organization and may be accessible to each user's client application
[0069] Capabilities, History, Values (e.g., Culture, and Basic_Values), Goals, Projects (e.g., collected from member profiles, can also be added by a system administrator), Networks (e.g., collected from member profiles, can also be added by a system administrator; subcategories may include Profile_Of_Networks, Contacts (both Internal and External), and Resources)
[0070] PersonalProfile. The sections of the PersonalProfile may be very similar to the OrgProfile. Both objects may inherit attributes from an abstract Profile class. The sections of the PersonalProfile may include:
[0071] Capabilities, History, Values (e.g., Interests, Style and Basic_Values), Goals, Projects, Networks (e.g., Profile_Of_Networks.
[0072] Contacts, ContactProfiles (This database may store profiles of the user's contacts that were either entered by the user or downloaded from a server
[0073] Access Agent (This database stores general and specialized access instructions and a log of access agent actions and user responses to these actions (e.g., satisfaction, correction, etc.). These will be used to train the access agent
[0074] Searches (This database may store prior search parameters, results, and user responses to results so that searches may be reused, modified, and improved).
[0075] InterfaceToServer
[0076] This component (not shown in detail in
[0077] a. Profile Builder
[0078] The personal profile building agent
[0079] In the client application version, this locally stored application conducts a dialog with its user to build the rich profiles off-line. Data resulting from this dialog is stored in the local database
[0080] The profile builder may also permit users to generally describe their “relationship networks” in addition to adding specific contacts who are members of their relationship networks. These are networks of contacts, clients, partners, and others with certain, specified expertise, industry affiliations, locations, professions, personal or social interests, or any other user-defined criteria. The use of relationship networks help users better understand and evaluate their own networks, make it possible for other users to search for and evaluate potential targets, based on the types of networks they have, and helps other system users search for likely connectors to potential targets, even where users have not yet entered all of their specific contacts. Data retained in relationship network portions of a profile and related contact information may be automatically updated (e.g., using conventional database reconciliation methodologies) whenever users connect to a primary host
[0081] As part of a relationship management section, users may undertake activities to manage this section, including importing or manually entering contact records, adding hyperlinks to connect to, import from and browse accessible parts of profiles created by their contacts, describing relationships to their contacts, viewing graphical displays of information concerning their contacts (including, perhaps, the relationships of contacts to one another), keeping notes on interactions with said contacts, and other relationship management activities.
[0082] A relationship management agent (which may be a part of the profile builder) may continually analyze a user's interactions with his/her contacts (e.g., by monitoring email communications, various searches and results, through user notes, etc.) in order to determine the importance and nature of these contacts. This will provide for advanced contact management. Thus, contacts may be automatically categorized (using various criteria) and such categories dynamically updated in response to changes in a user's profile, a contact's profile, etc.
[0083] Profile information may also be updated according to a user's current projects and other business or personal information. Thus, within the profile builder
[0084] As demonstrated by the example below, it is important for the user interface to respond to differences in user objectives, style and context, and to changes in these factors over time. To accomplish this, users may be queried on their objectives and preferences in their initial session with the client application
[0085] Information about the user's objectives and context (e.g., industry or profession, country, etc.) may be used to select and customize prompts to present to the user, and (in some embodiments) to make suggestions or offer information to the user. For example, information collected on the user's organization type and profession may be used to select prompt variants. Information on the user's objectives may be used to guide the user to complete sections of the profile that will be most necessary for achieving those objectives, and to optionally skip sections that are not essential for his/her objectives. Information on the user's completion status may also be used, alone or along with user objectives, to guide the user to complete the next most important section when s/he logs in next. User completion status may also be used to reward users for profile completion and for the value that this provides to other users.
[0086] In addition, the profiles may include “knowledge-sharing” sections. These sections enable knowledge sharing and searching for knowledge by system users. Users may record important knowledge resources such as web addresses, books, journals, databases, and files, any or all of which may be associated with and hyperlinked (or otherwise linked) to portions of their profiles. The user may then allow partial or full access to these resources, allowing for searches on knowledge-based criteria. In some cases, a separate “knowledge profiling agent” may be used to facilitate such searches and/or to automatically profile and categorize such knowledge resources among system users.
[0087] The interface may also respond to differences in people's style and preferences. For example, a task-focused person who wants to cut to the chase and solve an immediate problem may get a more minimal set of initial questions than, say, a more curious or expressive person who wants to carefully construct his/her profile. In the case of the quick-start person, the interface may cut the orientation and profile building to a minimum and quickly find what the user wants to do. For example, if the user wants to find a particular type of contact, instead of asking him/her a lot of questions about himself/herself, a search profiling agent
[0088] This type of personalization generally requires an intelligent, dynamic and non-linear interface. The present brokering system includes software tools that contain the intelligence (rules, etc.) needed to respond to user preferences, context, and objectives. Since each question presented to the user in each profile section will be an object, the interface may dynamically select which questions and prompts to display, how to number them, etc., based on accumulated information stored in the local database
[0089] b. Personal Access Agent
[0090] This tool allows users to protect the information in their profiles and their attention from inappropriate access, and makes these personal profiles connectable. For example, the client access agent (“Personal Gatekeeper”)
[0091] Personal access controls that put control over access to personal information in the hands of the user, not a centralized system administrator, are also provided. In other systems, a system administrator usually controls access control, for the purpose of protecting the organization, not for protecting individual users. The present brokering system, however, may utilize a set of default security values for different profile sections. Users can then adjust these defaults before they begin to complete their profile, and also as they build and edit the profile, thereby giving instructions to their access agents
[0092] The system of security values is matched by a method of applying access codes to individuals, organizations, or groups defined by customizable sets of criteria. Users are able to access any parts of another user's profile or other protected information that have a security value equal to or lower than the access code that the creator has assigned to them. The personal access control or gatekeeper agent
[0093] In addition, the present personal access control agent
[0094] Building on the above, the present access and security controls may best be described as a “concept-based” methodology. This enables the use of sophisticated autonomous software agent technology, whereby the agents are able to autonomously a) make use of pre-defined concepts to construct and apply new concepts in appropriate ways, and b) discover rules defining new concepts by observing user patterns of behavior.
[0095] One embodiment of the present invention may utilize two sets of pre-defined access groups and security settings. The first set is a non-editable “basic” set of access groups that correspond to progressively more restrictive basic levels of security, for example, “Public”, “Low”, “Medium”, “High”, “Highest”, and “System Only”. This basic set of access groups and corresponding security settings, described in more detail below, are designed to be useful for a majority of access and security purposes and to be quickly usable and easily administered by new users.
[0096] The second set of pre-defined access groups refer to generalized groups of people for whom many users are likely to want to give special access rights. For example, these may include “People in my employing organization”, “Clients”, “Potential Clients”, “Trusted Professional Organizations”, “Trusted Social Organizations”, etc. Users are free to edit the rules defining these pre-defined access groups in order to make them more sophisticated or more inline with their own needs. In addition to pre-defined access groups, the system allows users to create customized and sophisticated new access groups and to use these to define new security settings.
[0097] The basic access settings may be labeled “Public”, referring to others who have no special level of access and who can access only data that is open to anyone; “Low”, referring to people whom the user may or may not know but for whom the user has some reason to want to give access to data that has a “Low” basic level of security; “Medium”, referring to people whom the user may or may not know but who are members of groups that the user trusts enough to give access to data that has a “Medium” basic level of security; “High”, referring to people whom the user knows well, and trusts enough to give access to data with a “High” basic level of security; and “Highest”, referring to people who are the user's closest and most trusted contacts and who have access to the “Highest” basic level of security. The system also includes a special basic security setting that may be labeled “System Only”, referring to data that no human is allowed access to and which may only be accessed by the network broker agent acting on the user's behalf and programmed to follow the user's access instructions. It should be understood that the actual labels for the basic access and security settings might vary from the labels used in this description.
[0098] This system has the advantage of giving a profile section or item a single basic security setting that will allow access to all persons who have been determined to have a basic access setting that is equal to or higher than the item's basic security setting. For example, a person with a “High” basic access setting will have access to any data that is protected by a basic security setting of “High”, “Medium”, “Low”, or “Public”.
[0099] In any case where the user believes that use of one of these basic access groups and security settings is insufficient to protect any data item, the user may use one of the pre-defined access groups to define a corresponding security setting; or may create a customized access group and corresponding security setting.
[0100] All of these access groups, that is, the basic access groups, other pre-defined access groups, and user-created access groups, and all corresponding security settings are defined by either simple or complex rules relating to elements in people's profiles, and to the indicators that users select to indicate their relationship to their contacts and to other people who may or may not yet have a profile in the system. This enables these access groups to a) refer to people whom the user may or may not know, b) be automatically applied and updated based on the defining rules, c) be thereby autonomously applied by the user's access agent acting on the client or by the network broker acting on a server to determine access for people whom the user may not yet know or for whom the user has not yet personally assigned to an access group.
[0101] Each access group in the system can be conceived of as a sophisticated concept that defines a particular group and a corresponding reason for giving access or triggering some other type of action. Any access group can thus be used a) as a concept to define another access group, or b) to be used inside of a rule to define a complex security setting, or c) to be used inside of a rule to define a condition that should cause the network broker to perform an action on the user's behalf, such as making a particular response to a search, or d) as part of criteria defining the targets for a search. Likewise, any search criteria that have been saved can also be used, in whole or in part, to define an access group, or for any other use of a concept, as previously described. This is why the method of access and security that is part of present invention is described as “concept-based access and security”.
[0102] c. Personal Search Agent
[0103] Search agent
[0104] 2. Server Application
[0105] Having thus explored the client-side of the present system, the server-side thereof will now be examined. More than one server may be used, for example a broker server and a database server may be separate entities, even if hosted on a common platform
[0106] Client applets (e.g., as discussed above) may be stored on the Java application server
[0107] The application server
[0108] Most of the server-side data structures may be stored on the database server
[0109] UserDB
[0110] This database may store all the profiles and instructions uploaded by system users. Database sections may include: User_Profiles, Access_Instructions, and Search_Instructions. As these names imply, the User_Profiles section is a collection of duplicate of the portions of the uploaded user profiles created using the profile builder
[0111] SearchResults
[0112] This database may store results of searches to be used by the network broker
[0113] ExternalServerIndex.
[0114] This may be a database that will help a server
[0115] a. Search Agents
[0116] The server-side search agents
[0117] b. Access Agent
[0118] The server-side access agents
[0119] c. Network Broker
[0120] The network broker
[0121] Second, the network broker
[0122] Each step in this process involves a link of trust, and so the process is much safer (and, hopefully, productive) than simply looking in a directory. The present networking system can semi-automate this process, and also speed it up tremendously. Other networking systems currently available through the Internet (e.g., those deployed by PeopleStream as discussed above) have portions of this process available, but lack critical features to make the process really work, including rich profiles, sufficiently sophisticated personal access control, and a sufficiently sophisticated network broker. The present scheme combines all of these features, all of which are required for effective social networking.
[0123] For example, the present scheme allows for the creation and maintenance of rich profiles (of users and their contacts) that can include detailed data on professional capabilities, history and accomplishments, goals, current projects, and professional networks, and also information about personal background, interests, values, goals and networks. Making successful matches often requires both personal and professional compatibility and high degrees of trust. Tools that lack rich profiles usually provide poor matches and require too much work, and risk, from the users to do extensive additional evaluation. Thus, by providing for the rich profiles used in embodiments of the present invention, the network broker
[0124] The present scheme also includes a method for profiling personal networks that is used to guide the network broker
[0125] d. Verification Agent and Network
[0126] Verification agent
[0127] The concept of the verification agent
[0128] In one embodiment, users/subscribers enter their profiles into the system using the profile builder
[0129] Thus, when other users—and their agents—want to evaluate a prospective connection, they may access verification information for the individual or company being evaluated. At minimum they can access a verification rating. If the user's access agent
[0130] B. An Example
[0131] With the above background, it seems now appropriate to explain further details of the present brokering scheme by presenting an example of how it might be used. In the following scenario, a user, Julia, needs to make new contacts to help with a project; her problem is how to make those contacts. As explained above with reference to
[0132] 1) Getting a list of candidates.
[0133] 2) Selecting the most qualified candidates—the ones with capabilities and experience most finely tuned to the user's needs (referred to herein as targets).
[0134] 3) Getting a target's attention.
[0135] The first step (assembling a list of candidates) may be done readily with a good directory or database; but that is about where such tools end. The present brokering scheme addresses the more difficult steps. Assume our exemplary user, Julia, is a senior consultant in a mid-sized consulting firm in New York. The company has offices in Chicago and Los Angeles, and close alliances with other companies in other cities. Julia has targeted as a prospect an international company that she had never dealt with before. To make any progress, she knows she needs access to that potential client in the form of a high level introduction, and probably also some inside information about the prospect's needs for services. She had sent a message and some promotional material and made a follow-up call to the prospect, but the logical contact there was overwhelmed with work and other requests for his attention. He took a superficial look at her materials, said “Sorry, I'm too busy to respond.” and then did not want to talk anymore.
[0136] Prior to the present brokering system, Julia may have been at a loss for further solutions to penetrate the prospective client. At best, her option might have been to go through her address book and find people she knew who might give her a lead, call each of them in turn, each time explaining her needs, and then follow-up on any leads, which might generate other leads, as well as many blind alleys. Sending a broadcast email or posting a message on the company's discussion server might have helped, but too often such attempted solutions either return little information, or leads that do not really match a searcher's present needs.
[0137] With the present brokering scheme, however, Julia can explain her needs once (to her personal search agent
[0138] Assume for purposes of this example that Julia's company's network had only recently deployed the present brokering system, so people within the company may still be adding information and contacts. Fortunately, the present system does not require that all members of a network be equally thorough in entering information. In this case, suppose that ¾ of the company's workforce had at least profiled themselves and their networks and entered a few specific contacts. This may lead to, say, 10,000 contacts in the network, of which perhaps some 8,000 or so may be unduplicated.
[0139] This is not a vast number of contacts, however, as more and more members of the company enter their information this number will grow. Further, extended networks may also be included to encompass outside contact lists as well. As a result, a total number of contacts in an extended network could easily exceed 500,000 or more, with the potential to grow even larger. Nevertheless, even the 8000 unduplicated, high value, high access contacts is substantial material for the present brokering scheme to work with, especially since the network profiles contributed by participating members also provide considerable information needed to point to likely connectors to most targets. To perform her search, Julia need only perform some or all of the following steps:
[0140] 1. Enter a summary description of her search (i.e., who/what she wants to connect with, for what purpose, etc.).
[0141] 2. Profile the target. In this case Julia had the target's name (her prospective client company) and may also enter a profile including other important criteria: location, industry, specific type of company and products.
[0142] 3. Profile particular target contacts. Here, names of people, roles, and other factors like professional interests that would increase the likelihood of a good match to a person inside of the target company should be provided.
[0143] 4. Profile likely connectors to the target. For example, specific or general types of members of the target's network: clients, suppliers, partners, advisors, or other associates.
[0144] 5. Indicate level and types of connection/verification desired. In this case Julia may specify that she wants only close, trusted contacts, and a maximum of two levels of connections.
[0145] 6. Specify desired results: Julia may want both connectors to this target as well as to other potential targets.
[0146] 7. Launch the search (and, optionally, also save it for future use in similar situations).
[0147] The brokering scheme may then implement the search on the alliance network server
[0148] From this search, assume the following results were obtained (again, these are only examples of the types of results that may be provided by the present brokering scheme):
[0149] 1. Actual connectors to this target. Jane Adams, Chicago Office, was identified as having a close connection to a Vice President in the target organization.
[0150] 2. Likely connectors to this or similar targets. Names of four people in the network who have close contacts in this industry and with this type of company, or with likely clients of this type of company.
[0151] 3. Messages from connectors. “Call Jane before you call her contact.” Presumably, Julia will be quite happy with these results, especially since developing this list did not take that much of her (or anyone else's) time. With these results she could now make just a few phone calls to exactly the right people.
[0152] C. Use Cases
[0153] Although the above example of a user, Julia, searching for a contact provided some details of how the present brokering system operates, a more general discussion of the search process may also be helpful. The search agent
[0154] Users may also enter a pre-selected category describing the search by specifying a general search objective, e.g., “Find Partners” or “Offer Services”, or “Exchange Ideas”. These categories can be used to help optimize search results and also to group searches for refining search strategies, and to retrieve stored searches. In this example, the search type is specified using an appropriate field