Characterizing and comparing the evolution of the major global economies in information and communication technologies

AbstractIn this paper, we characterise and compare status and evolution of the ICT industry of the six major global economies in ICT: China, the EU, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the USA. For this, we employ official data covering the period 2006–2009. Our analysis shows that although the EU is the largest economy of the world, it is the least ICT-specialised economy of all six major ICT economies. The USA is clearly the top global player in ICT in many respects. In both ICT Manufacturing and ICT Services it has the largest Value Added, BERD, BERD intensity and labour productivity. We further observe that China has, by far, the largest number of employees in both ICT Manufacturing and Services, while its level of ICT BERD remains low. China is however an emerging economy and economic indicators of its ICT sector have strongly grown from 2006 to 2009. Japan׳s ICT sector has a larger weight in the national economy than those of the USA, EU, and China. Moreover, it is the country from which the highest number of ICT patent applications originate. We also find that, of all six major global economies in ICT, Taiwan and Korea have the most ICT-specialised economies, with a strong orientation towards Manufacturing. Finally, we discuss selected results of our analysis and conclude the paper with tentative policy implications for the EU

A framework for assessing innovation collaboration partners and its application to BRICs

We develop a framework for assessing innovation collaboration partners. Based on the studies explaining the internationalisation of inventive activity, we identify four elements relevant as drivers of innovation collaboration. These elements include inventive capacity, technological specialization patterns, openness to international innovation collaboration and economic potential of technology. In order to make the framework operational, we propose a set of patent-based indicators that capture the relevant elements. This way the proposed framework serves as a tool to both assess the potential of inventive collaboration and to anticipate benefits of such collaboration. In a second step, we apply the framework to analyse the attractiveness of BRIC countries as potential partners for innovation collaboration. Our analysis shows that BRICs do not only differ in terms of inventive performance, but also in terms of the openness to international collaboration or the economic potential of technology developed by these countries.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

International Protection of ICT Intellectual Property and Internationalization of ICT R&D

This report looks at foreign ICT patent filings and the dynamics of ICT R&D internationalisation. The number of foreign ICT patent applications is increasing. This process is, however, restricted to a few countries. Applicants from Japan, the US and South Korea file the most foreign patent applications. A very high level of concentration can also be observed for the destination of foreign patent filings. The main destinations of international ICT patent filings are the USPTO, EPO and the Chinese Patent Office. Although Europe represents an important source of innovation and an attractive technology market, European technology owners are relatively inactive in protecting their IP in foreign markets. Considering ICT R&D internationalisation, its level is also increasing. In this context, the emerging roles of Asian countries, such as South Korea, China and India, are of particular interest. Today, Asia is the biggest partner of the US in technological collaboration. In contrast, although European inventors are very attractive as a technology development partners for foreign partners, they are less successful in sourcing technology from abroad to complement and combine with their own domestic resources.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Key Findings and Implications of the European ICT Poles of Excellence Project

Synthesis oif main findings of the EIPE study and policy implications that can be derived, for the 2009 Communication implementation on ICT RD as well as for EU policies in generalJRC.J.3-Information Societ

The Global R&D Network. A network analysis of international R&D centres

A firm's decision to establish an R&D centre in a specific location creates externalities affecting other firms and, thus, a random distribution of location choices is unlikely. Expecting that the global distribution of R&D centres fulfils the criteria of a complex network, we apply social network analysis to study the locations of international R&D centres and the relationships between the countries owning and hosting them. We analyse the characteristics of the global R&D network and identify its core members. Further, we include network indices in an empirical analysis of the R&D internationalisation determinants. We find that a country's position in the network, which does not necessarily coincide with its geographical or cultural proximity to other countries, has a significant impact on the formation and intensity of R&D linkages between countries. We provide policy implications addressing the challenges emerging from the increasing internationalisation and network of R&D.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

The Startup Europe Ecosystem. Analysis of the Startup Europe projects and of their beneficiaries

In 2015 the European Commission (EC) DG CNECT launched the 2nd edition of the Startup Europe (SE) initiative under the Horizon 2020 EU Research and Innovation programme. This initiative coordinated the efforts of six distinct projects (Digistart, Welcome, ePlus, Startup Scaleup, Twist and Startup Europe Partnership) that connected just as many European entrepreneurial ecosystems. This report provides the theoretical framework to analyse the policy support to entrepreneurship and evidence on the nearly 700 startups participating in the SE projects. This exercise also helps to collect relevant insights about the effectiveness of the matching between the SE offerings and the needs of startups.JRC.B.6-Digital Econom

Competition and Innovation: ICT- and non-ICT-enabled Product and Process Innovations

The reason for contradictory predictions of the models studying the impact of competi¬tion on innovation is the varying assumptions with respect to competition or innovation type. Thus, we study how the impact of competition changes with different types of innova¬tive Output. In particular, we distinguish between non-ICT - and ICT-enabled product and process innovations. To allow for such flexibility, we apply Bayesian inference techniques and use direct measures of innovative that control for the heterogeneity of innovation Output. Our analysis provides evidence that supports the hypothesis that the effect of market com¬petition on innovation is not alike for all types of innovation. We observe an inverse U-shape relationship between competition and non-ICT-enabled and a clear U-shape dependency for ICT-enabled innovations. However, the results become considerably weaker, once industry effects are taken into account. Thus, although the impact of competition on innovation varies with the type of innovation, other factors seem to have a stronger impact on the incentives to innovate.Competition, innovation, Information and communication technologies

The Role of Project Coordinators in European Commission Framework Programme Projects

Programme Research and Innovation projects, a purposeful sample of European Framework Programme (FP) Project Coordinators (PC). The objective is to identify the practices and activities of PCs leading EU FP projects and to understand their impact on innovation outcomes. The survey findings confirm the lynchpin role of PCs in the European FP R&I projects. Their role clearly extends significantly beyond that identified in the Horizon 2020 User Guide which sees the PC as “the main contact point between the consortium and the Commission for a particular grant”. The PC is far more than simply “the proposal initiator in the submission phase” but taking account of their prime role in project conceptualisation and consortia formation, the PC is in effect the principal translator of the EC funded research programme and responsible for how the majority of the European research budget is invested. Identifying the PC as a scientific entrepreneur significantly changes how the PC role is viewed. Recognising the PC as a scientific entrepreneur means their engagement with the PC during the project should be less about monitoring and oversight during project implementation, and more about providing the entrepreneur with support

Competition and Innovation: ICT- and non-ICT-enabled Product and Process Innovations

The reason for contradictory predictions of the models studying the impact of competi¬tion on innovation is the varying assumptions with respect to competition or innovation type. Thus, we study how the impact of competition changes with different types of innova¬tive Output. In particular, we distinguish between non-ICT - and ICT-enabled product and process innovations. To allow for such flexibility, we apply Bayesian inference techniques and use direct measures of innovative that control for the heterogeneity of innovation Output. Our analysis provides evidence that supports the hypothesis that the effect of market com¬petition on innovation is not alike for all types of innovation. We observe an inverse U-shape relationship between competition and non-ICT-enabled and a clear U-shape dependency for ICT-enabled innovations. However, the results become considerably weaker, once industry effects are taken into account. Thus, although the impact of competition on innovation varies with the type of innovation, other factors seem to have a stronger impact on the incentives to innovate.Competition, innovation, Information and communication technologies

Choice Internal report I-5: Clustering for Success: Cluster to establish EU-China

A lot of work has been done which highlights the important role clustering plays in the establishment of EU-China collaborative activities in ICT R&D&I. This report reviews much of this work and in doing so provides an overview of different approaches to clustering that have been taken and their effectiveness. The review addresses the European ICT Poles of Excellence, clustering in ICT in China, cross-sector clustering in the EU, regional clustering in the EU, individual ‘broadband’ links, national SME clustering in the EU, and business to business clustering. Conclusions are presented and recommendations made which are targeted at organisations interested in establishing collaborative ICT R&D&I activities with China