TRIZ Forum: IT & TRIZ Textbook


Introduction to Umakant Mishra's
"TRIZ Principles for Information Technology"
(Draft version) (TIC, 2007)
Toru Nakagawa (Osaka Gakuin University),
Aug. 17, 2007 and Sept. 5, 2007
[Posted on Aug. 17, 2007; Added more on Sept. 13, 2007; Dec. 19, 2007; Jan. 7, 2008; Jan. 29, 2008] 

For going back to Japanese pages, press  buttons.

Editor's Note (Toru Nakagawa, Aug. 17, 2007)

This page introduces you to a new textbook "TRIZ Principles for Information Technology" written by Umakant Mishra (India).  The book is pre-published as a draft edition from Technical Innovation Center, USA, for the purpose of getting review and comment from readers.

I had a chance to read the draft of its Introduction and first three chapters in May, 2006. I found the text excellent and later communicated with the Author directly in September to October last year to support his plan of publication in English and also to discuss the possibilities of translating into Japanese and of publishing (or, more exactly, getting published) the textbook in Japanese Edition. I saw the whole volume of this manuscript for the first time at TRIZCON2007 in Louisville in the above mentioned Draft edition.  I found it really interesting and important; thus I bought 6 copies (i.e., all the left copies among 10 brought in by TIC) and carried them back to Japan in my suitcase.

I have already reported about this textbook as a special remark in my 'Personal Report of TRIZCON2007' and posted it here in "TRIZ Home Page in Japan" in English.

For the purpose of promoting (or rather initiating) a project of translating and publishing (or getting published) the textbook in Japanese Edition, I have just posted a new Web page in Japanese composed by the following three parts:

(1) Introduction to the book:  (Japanese translation of) Excerpt of Nakagawa's 'Personal Report of TRIZCON2007' posted here in English on Jul. 3, 2007.
(2) Contents of the book:  Shown by outlines and examples of the book.
(3) About the position and significance of this book and on the Requests of volunteers for the translation team.

Since I am very busy at moment for preparing for our Third TRIZ Symposium in Japan, I am showing here only Part (1) above in this English page.

[Addition on Sept. 5, 2007 (Toru Nakagawa):  After finishing the Third TRIZ Symposium in Japan with much success, I have translated the Part (2) and Part (3) above into English and am going to post them here.

The Web site by the Author, Umakant Mishra, is extensive and instructive:  http://umakant.trizsite.com]

[Addition on Dec. 19, 2007 (Toru Nakagawa):  We have officially started the Japanese Translation Project of this book under an Agreement with the Author.  Progress of the Project is posted below briefly in English (and more extensively in our Japanese pages) from time to time, for encouraging your interest in this new approach.]

 

Top of this page Nakagawa's Introduction to the Book Structure and contents Plan of Japanese Edition Japanese Translation Project Japanese Translation Project (New Page ) Mishra's Web site Japanese page

(1) Introduction to Umakant Mishra's Book (Toru Nakagawa (OGU), Jun. 28, 2007)

Excerpt from Nakagawa's 'Personal Report of TRIZCON2007' (posted on Jul. 3, 2007)

Technical Innovation Center (TIC), GOAL/QPC, etc. had exhibits of their publications.  Among the books, I would like to mention specially about the Draft Edition of the following book:

"TRIZ Principles for Information Technologies" by Umakant Mishra (  , India),
Draft Edition, Technical Innovation Center, Apr. 2007, 355 pages.

The Author was a director of CREAX's research institute in India during 2000-2004 when the big research project  was carried out for analyzing all the US Patents of 1985-2003 with the TRIZ views. 

In the book the Author listed up 1000 items of innovative/improving ideas (in 1-3 lines each) in the IT (some hardware-related but mostly software-related) field, and further describes 100 patents and 100 techniques in some more detail (10-20 lines each).  The Author viewed all these items in connection with TRIZ Inventive Principles and classified and arranged them in the order of 40 Principles.  The main body of the book is organized by 40 Chapters, explaining the Inventive Principles and their sub and sub-sub principles in a hierarchical way to show actual cases of IT ideas. 

*** I had a chance of reading first three chapters a year ago, and have seen the whole volume for the first time at TRIZCON2007.  I have found the Author's explanation/ adaptation/ extensions/ modifications of TRIZ Principles so as to match the IT/software field are excellent. Reading this book, you will find that various innovations/improvements which we know well in IT can be well explained in the TRIZ Principles. 

In Japan we have a plan of translating this book and making it published in Japanese.  I have been communicating with the Author to address this book not to the small TRIZ market (as the Author's original intention) but to the much larger IT market. 

For these 10 years we have often heard IT/software people say 'TRIZ is not applicable to IT/software field', but after knowing this book those IT/software people would say 'TRIZ is nothing new to IT/software field, we have made all these improvement without TRIZ'.  But the IT/software people who read this book seriously and who are really innovative will get much power in their way of thinking by the TRIZ Principles. 

Thus my suggestion to the Author of this book has been to change the title into something like "Innovative Ideas in IT/Software Technologies Classified with TRIZ Inventive Principles". 


(2) Contents of the book: Shown by outlines and examples of the book.   (Toru Nakagawa, Aug. 14, 2007) (English translation on Sept. 4, 2007)

Features and significance of this book have already been described above in my Personal Report of TRIZCON2007.  Thus, now I am going to introduce you to the structure and contents of the book by showing the outlines and examples of descriptions.

(1) Overall Structure of the Book

(2) Structure of each Chapter in the body of text

(3) Example of outline of contents of description

Chapter 10. Prior Action
Description: Principle 'Prior Action' advises to do necessary preparations before doing the actual job.  E.g., to do the action (partly or fully) before it is needed or prearrange the necessary items before they are required.
Benefits: Reduces product development time; Ease of production; Increase system efficiency; Reduce time waste; Reduce harmful side effects; etc.
Application situations: Where the job takes longer time, do it in advance; Where the complete job is not possible to do in advance, do it partly; Project management activities, like planning, analysis, designing, modeling, prototyping, etc.; Save time of the user by doing it beforehand.

10.1  Sub-principle: Perform a useful action (either fully or partly) before it is needed
Keyword: Preloading of data
Explanation: Used to display the page faster.  The contents of the page are downloaded before they are required to be viewed.  Popularly applied in database, web sites, and animations. 
Example 1. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) also help preloading through its 'Display' property.  Using 'display:none' you can tell the browser load and cache an image without displaying it.
Example 2.  Preloading is used for rollover effects.  The rollover images are already downloaded and kept in the cache so that the viewer is less likely to wait for rollover effect.
Example 3. The advanced DBMS use preloading of data for faster display or response. When the user is viewing data page by page, the system loads the subsequent pages in memory, anticipating the viewer might need them.
.....
Example 6. Aggressive peloading for video-on-demand.
Example of Patent:  Adaptive database caching  (Microsoft, 2002, US Patent 6493718)
The invented adaptive caching mechanism retrieves additional data with the expectation of satisfying future queries.  The mechanism uses several probability schemes to predict the future queries and applies cost benefit policies to determine the contents and life of the cache. (about 10 lines)

Keyword:  Preprocessing   (Preprocessing of data)
Keyword: Preformatted disk
Keyword: Pre-check (of the disk space)
Keyword: Prepaid services

10.2  Sub-principle:  Pre-arrange objects so that they can come into action at the most convenient time and place

Keyword:  Planning and budgeting
Keyword: Requirement Analysis
Keyword: Designing and modeling
Keyword: Prototyping
Keyword: Documentation
Keyword: Preconditioning (Warming up)
Keyword: Predefine rules
Keyword: Predefine variables
Keyword: Pre-organize data
Keyword: Preprocessing
Keyword: Preparative actions
Tips (i.e., Suggestion of a technique):  Quick-draw addressing for repetitive emails.
Case Study: Preloading graphics through Javascript
Case Study: Pre-Aggregation and Pre-calculation of data in OLAP (On Line Analytical Processing)

(4) Examples of explaining/adapting/extending/modifying the TRIZ Inventive Principles for the IT/Software field.

Expressions of sub-principles are listed below.  Especially note the expressions with *** marks.

Principle 7.  Nested Doll
7.1   Put one object or system inside another.
7.2  Allow one object or system to pass through an appropriate hole in another.
7.3  Increase the number of nesting, or Use a stacking or cascading arrangement.   ***

Principle 26.  Copying
26.1  Use simple and inexpensive copies in place of unavailable, expensive, complicated, dangerous or possibly vulnerable objects and systems.
26.2 Replace an object, or action with an optical copy, infrared or ultraviolet copies.
26.3 Use virtual copies or simulations of an object or system or function.  ***

Principle 28.  Mechanics Substitution
28.1 Replace a mechanical means with a sensory (optical, acoustic, taste, touch or smell) or other (magnetic, electromagnetic, thermal, etc.) means. 
28.2 Change the internal mechanism, structure, format or code.  ***

Principle 31.  Hole  (<-- Porous Materials)  ***
31.1 Make an object porous or add porous elements
31.2 If an object is already porous, add something useful into the pores.

Principle 36.  Conversion and Migration  (<-- Phase Change)  ***
36.1 Convert the old incompatible data, file, format or technology to a new compatible data, file, format or technology.  ***
36.2 Migrate from old incompatible data, format or technology to compatible data, format or technology.  ***

Principle 37.  Expansion  (<-- Thermal Expansion) ***
37.1 Use expansion (or compression) of an object or component to achieve useful effect.  ***

Principle 38.  Enrich/Improve Quality  (<-- Stronger Oxidants)  ***
38.1 Replace an object or system with an updated or advanced object or system.  ***
38.2  Add features or functions to improve an object or system.  ***

Principle 39.  Calm (Inert Atmosphere)  (<-- Inert Atmosphere)  ***
39.1  Replace a normal environment with an inert one.
39.2 Add neutral parts, or inert elements to an object or system.

Principle 40.  Composite  (<-- Composite Materials)  ***
40.1 Use composite (multiple) materials instead of uniform ones.


(3) About the position and significance of this book and on the Requests of volunteers for the translation team (English translation on Sept. 5, 2007)

I am now going to describe the current situations and possible future plans of the Project for translating this book into Japanese and for publishing (or getting published) the Japanese Edition of this book, with the hope of your voluntary cooperation with such a project.

(1) The Position of This Book

The features and significance of this book are already described above in my 'Personal Report of TRIZCON2007'.  So far, many people say/think "TRIZ can not be used in the IT/Software field" and real case studies applied in this field have not been publicized.  Only recently, some people come to think "TRIZ can be used in the IT/Software field" and several case studies in the field have been published.  In such a situation, the present book has clearly demonstrated that "A huge variety of (or practically all) means and technologies in the field of IT and Software can actually be explained in terms of the TRIZ Inventive Principles".  Its wide-scoped but yet concise descriptions have very clearly shown "TRIZ can be used in the IT/Software field", or more rigorously, "TRIZ Principles are (unknowingly) used in all the field of IT/Software". 

On the topic of using TRIZ in the IT/Software field, Darrell Mann has (almost or completely(?)) prepared a draft of a book "TRIZ for Software Engineers" (or currently "Systematic (Software) Innovation") since about three years ago, but has not published the book yet.  I suppose his book is structured just like his former textbook "Hands-On Systematic Innovation" (CREAX, 2002; Japanese Edition, 2004).  Thus he probably explains the concepts of TRIZ from its basics and describes how to use TRIZ in the IT/Software field by using several case studies in detail.  Therefore, we may think Darrell Mann's book is a theoretical/practical textbook of TRIZ methodology in the IT/Software field.  On the other hand, the present book by Umakant Mishra may be regarded as a collection of innovative/improving ideas in the IT/Software field systematically classified with TRIZ Principles.  Consequently, these two books are well complementary with each other, I suppose.

From another perspective, I would like to examine the position of Mishra's book.  Viewing the book from the IT/Software field itself must be important for evaluation.  The book has made a collection of a huge number and range of individual technologies in the IT/Software field, and has classified them with respect to the essence of their ideas systematically by using the TRIZ Inventive Principles.  Varieties of techniques and ideas which have been developed and used in specific fields of IT, Software, and computer science have been revealed, in this book, to be more widely applicable in their essences all across the sections of IT/Software.  Many ideas which have been regarded as 'trivial, practical, improvement ideas' have been found, in the book, to have more universal bases.  In these points, I believe this Mishra's book has a very unique and valuable contribution to the IT/Software field. 

(2) On the Current Status of Publishing in English

In April last year, 2006, the Author tried to get this book published by a big global publisher in science and technologies, but in vain.  The publisher, being unfamiliar with TRIZ, could not evaluate this book well and could not expect enough volume of sales.  Currently, Technical Innovation Center, USA, i.e. a pioneering publisher specialized in TRIZ, is considering the possibility of publishing it.  They have published the Draft version last April and are waiting for readers feedbacks.  I am not familiar with the responses from readers.  Nobody outside Japan gave me any email in response to my introduction of this book in my Personal Report of TRIZCON2007.  Certainly I myself is the most positive supporter of this book at moment, I suppose.

(3) On the Preparation for Translating and Publishing Japanese Edition

As I mentioned already, I have had a number of email communications with the Author and wrote him that I want to translate this book into Japanese (together with some people) and to publish it (or more rigorously, get it published) in Japanese.  I also proposed to address this book not to the small TRIZ market but to the much larger IT/Software market, by modifying the title and Introduction of the book without changing the body of the text.  Concerning to these points the Author has given me OK in essence but wants to make an official agreement only with a publisher.  I have been trying, under the support by Mr. Masatoshi Hotta, SKI, to find a Japanese IT/Software publisher who agrees to publish this; but it seems to take some more time. This is because TRIZ is not known at all in the IT/Software field in Japan and because the Japanese manuscripts are not ready yet.

(4) Request of Volunteers for the Project of Japanese Translation of This Book

Even though we are in a somewhat uncertain status as described above, we would like to initiate the Translation Project by voluntary members, considering the importance of this book.  I would like to ask the readers who have expertise in the IT/Software field and have experiences of translating books for joining the Project.  Using the Draft Edition in English, we would like to do the translation work in several groups.  If you are interested in this Project, please communicate with Toru Nakagawa via email.

Note:  During the Third TRIZ Symposium in Japan (Aug. 30 - Sept. 1, 2007 in Yokohama), the English Draft Edition (20 copies) will be displayed for sale (6300 yen including tax).  Please take a look on it.
[Note (TN, Sept. 5, 2007): All these copies were sold out during the Symposium!!]


(4) Project of Translating and Publishing in the Japanese Language (Toru Nakagawa)

Under the Agreement with the Author at the end of November, we have started the project of translating Mishra's excellent book into Japanese and of preparing for the publication through an IT publisher.  Progress of the Project is informed in our Japanese pages, with posting some preliminary and inormative articles.  In this English page, we will show you about them briefly.
[Note (Mar. 9, 2008) : A new English page has been created for reporting the Japanese Translation Project.  See: ]

[1] 'Preface for the Japanese Edition' (manuscript) (Toru Nakagawa, Dec. 15, 2007)  (Posted: Dec. 19, 2007)

[2] 'Table of Contents' (serves as the list of 40 Principles for IT) (in Japanese)  (Posted: Jan. 7, 2007)

[3] 'Introduction' (Umakant Mishra) (in Japanese) (Translated by Y. Konishi and T. Nakagawa)  (Posted: Jan. 7, 2007)

[4] 'Chapter 4.  Asymmetry'  (intented to be a sample chapter) (in English/Japanese and in Japanese) (To be posted in near future)

 

 

Top of this page Nakagawa's Introduction to the Book Structure and contents Plan of Japanese Edition Japanese Translation Project Japanese Translation Project (New Page ) Mishra's Web site Japanese page

 

General index New Information Introduction to TRIZ TRIZ References TRIZ Links TRIZ News & Activities TRIZ Software Tools TRIZ Papers and Tech Reports> TRIZ Forum General index
Home Page New Information Introduction to TRIZ TRIZ References TRIZ Links TRIZ News & Activities> TRIZ Software Tools TRIZ Papers and Tech Reports TRIZ Forum Home Page

Last updated on Mar. 9, 2008.     Access point:  Editor: nakagawa@utc.osaka-gu.ac.jp