How to Evaluate the Strengths of an Innovation Ecosystem

30 نوفمبر 2024

#
IMAGE: LOREM IPSUM
Ecosystems can understand which of their actual capabilities are the most precious and look into ways of nurturing them.

نوفمبر 2024 ・ minutes reading time

Identifying the strengths of an innovation ecosystem requires analyzing the complexity and diversity of its capabilities across sectors. From primary industries to advanced technological fields, each capability reflects a different level of expertise and infrastructure. By assessing where an ecosystem excels—whether in science, technology, or manufacturing—stakeholders can prioritize key areas for development. Understanding these strengths allows for targeted investments in innovation, fostering growth in the areas that offer the greatest potential for long-term success.

Complex capabilities highly rewarding

As countries become more diversified in general their capabilities become less common across other countries. However, rare capabilities are not necessarily complex. Some capabilities may be rare because they are not attractive enough to acquire or because they are located in specific places in the world. Complex capabilities are those that everybody wants but few know how to develop. This is the case of, for example, audiovisual, electronics and semiconductor technologies. These capabilities appear exclusively in diversified countries that have managed to collect know-how across different dimensions.

Each country has a different set of these innovation capabilities, and looking into the complexity of each can help them identify which of their strengths has more potential to drive economic development. For instance, the Republic of Korea demonstrates a broad range of innovation capabilities, excelling in complex fields such as semiconductors, ICTs, and audiovisual technologies, with leading companies like Samsung and LG showcasing its strengths. In contrast, Egypt's innovation capabilities, are more limited and concentrated in less complex domains, primarily agrifood, mineral fuels, manufacturing, and chemicals. Egypt's most complex strengths lie in the scientific dimension (chemistry, biology, and engineering), with few technological capabilities.

How to nurture complex capabilities

Capabilities connect to each other according to their complementarity. This proximity can be measured by looking at how often these innovation capabilities co occur in the same ecosystem. In this sense, innovation capabilities can be like a network connecting similar forms of knowledge.

To nurture complex capabilities, it is important to develop new complementary capabilities. Ecosystems with expertise in a certain field are more likely to successfully enter new related fields while also preserving the capabilities they already possess. By maintaining these existing related capabilities, innovation ecosystems are more likely to retain and further develop even the most complex ones. On the opposite end, innovation ecosystems often lose those capabilities that are isolated from their related skills.

In this scenario, public policies play a vital role in strengthening complex capabilities. Governments can target related fields by offering incentives like R&D subsidies and tax credits, encouraging companies to direct their innovation efforts toward complementary activities. Additionally, policies that promote cross-disciplinary research and foster partnerships between businesses and universities can accelerate the exchange of knowledge and skills across related sectors, further enhancing innovation and capability-building.

Related stories

The World of Innovation Capabilities

How Can Scrabble Guide Policymaking?

Related publications

WIPR 2024: Making Innovation Policy Work for Development

Can we map innovation capabilities?

Disclaimer: The short posts and articles included in the Innovation Economics Themes Series typically report on research in progress and are circulated in a timely manner for discussion and comment. The views expressed in them are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of WIPO or its Member States. ​​​​​​​

Related stories

Cultivating Innovation: How AgTech Can Transform Latin America

Innovation in agriculture is central to cultivating the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) bioeconomy sector, helping boost the region's resilience and reduce poverty rates.

Which are the World’s most Complex Capabilities?

In the rapidly evolving landscape of innovation, understanding which capabilities are the most complex can reveal the strategic advantages and potential growth pathways for economies worldwide.

How can an ecosystem find innovation opportunities?

By identifying their capabilities, innovation ecosystems can find where to look for new areas to develop and prioritize the most promising ones.