Patent Document ID: 8566358
Application ID: 12640749

Base Claim:
1. A method for generating topic maps for a business, the method comprising the steps of: storing in a database, at a first layer of abstraction, a plurality of model assets for a business conducting commerce in an industry, wherein the plurality of model assets are specific to the business and specify infrastructure computing resources and related design and documentation files; storing in a database one or more industry models for the industry, wherein each of the industry models are independent of the business, wherein each of the industry models defines relationships among assets commonly utilized in the industry; and one or more computing devices automatically generating a plurality of topic maps for the business, each of the topic maps representing information utilizing topics, associations, and occurrences, wherein said topics, associations, and occurrences together define characteristics and relationships existing among the model assets based at least in part on the relationships defined in the industry model and based at least in part on the stored model assets of the business.

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Claim 7:
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the topics of the generated topic maps represent a symbol used within a topic map to represent one, and only one, subject, in order to allow statements to be made about the subject, wherein each subject for the business is for one of said model assets, wherein each of the occurrences of the generated topic maps represent a relationship between a subject and an information resource, and wherein each of the associations of the generated topic maps represent a relationship between one or more of the subjects.