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Science-technology-industry correlative indicators for policy targeting on emerging technologies: exploring the core competencies and promising industries of aspirant economies

Scientometrics volume 111, pages 841–867 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper seeks to contemplate a sequence of steps in connecting the fields of science, technology and industrial products. A method for linking different classifications (WoS–IPC–ISIC concordance) is proposed. The ensuing concordance tables inherit the roots of Grupp’s perspective on science, technology, product and market. The study contextualized the linking process as it can be instrumental for policy planning and technology targeting. The presented method allows us to postulate the potential development of technology in science and industrial products. The proposed method and organized concordance tables are intended as a guiding tool for policy makers to study the prospects of a technology or industry of interest. Two perceived high potential technologies—traditional medicine and ICT—that were sought by two aspirant economies—Hong Kong and Malaysia—are considered as case studies for the proposed method. The selected cases provide us the context of what technological research is being pursued for both fundamental knowledge and new industries. They enable us to understand the context of policy planning and targeting for sectoral and regional innovation systems. While we note the constraints of using joint-publishing and joint-patenting data to study the core competencies of developing economies and their potential for development, we realize that the proposed method enables us to highlight the gaps between science and technology and the core competencies of the selected economies, as well as their prospects in terms of technology and product development. The findings provide useful policy implications for further development of the respective cases.

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Source: Adapted from Gittelman (2016, p. 1572)

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Notes

  1. Note that there are other non-bibliometric approaches (e.g. exploring the kind of university-industry joint research activities/investment, or understanding the type of exports from trade data) used to study the core competencies and capabilities of different kinds of scientific and technological systems (see Porter et al. 2005, Wong et al. 2013, 2015a).

  2. Routinized joint publishing and joint patenting activities between industrial players, university scientists and researchers from public research institutions is common in the context of industrialized countries (Tijssen et al. 2009; Wong and Singh 2013; Shiu et al. 2014).

  3. See CWTS Leiden ranking on impact and collaboration at www.leidenranking.com/ranking/2015.

  4. From specifying and selecting the data sources, search and retrieval, followed by basic and deep analyses, to interpretation and utilization of the indicators.

  5. This includes R&D program management, mergers and acquisitions, new product management, intellectual asset management, technical human resources management, foresight and forecasting, and strategic planning. While there are massive studies on S&T related matrices and indices, there are few attempts to utilize it to study the core competencies of innovation systems and pinpoint the prospects of innovation.

  6. Such level of development is evident in the case of ITRI’s R&D program for entrepreneurial activities in Hsinchu Science Park. ITRI managed to spin off two capable semiconductor firms—UMC and TSMC—in the 1980 s. UMC and TSMC excelled in semiconductor fabrication businesses and spun off new firms that were capable of defining new niches in the global technological value chain (such as MediaTek in system-on-chip for optical devices and chip solutions, and GUC in system-on-chip design foundry). The multiplier effect is explained in Wong et al. (2015b).

  7. MIMOS is active in patenting, though its agenda as a research institute means that most inventions are aimed at technology licensing by both local and foreign firms. Thus, it pursues an aggressive patent filing strategy in order to protect its inventions and encourage industrial adoption.

  8. Those who perform academic publishing would anticipate that their findings would lead to certain applications or solutions for specific problem.

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Acknowledgements

The authors is grateful to referees and editor for their help comments and suggestions that led to improvement of the paper. Funding from University of Malaya (RU003-2016) in supporting this project is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Chan-Yuan Wong & Hon-Ngen Fung

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  1. Chan-Yuan Wong
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  2. Hon-Ngen Fung
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Correspondence to Chan-Yuan Wong.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Coarse science-technology concordance
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Wong, CY., Fung, HN. Science-technology-industry correlative indicators for policy targeting on emerging technologies: exploring the core competencies and promising industries of aspirant economies. Scientometrics 111, 841–867 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-017-2319-9

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Keywords

  • Concordance
  • Core competencies
  • Theory-driven search
  • Experiential-driven search
  • Biotechnology of Hong Kong
  • ICT Bridging Institute of Malaysia