Innovation Capabilities
Innovation ecosystems are like bands: they start with a few key players, each bringing their own specialized skills. The most sophisticated ecosystems evolve into symphonic orchestras, where a diverse set of highly specialized players work in harmony to create complex outputs that only a few can replicate.
Up-and-coming ecosystems are still in the process of finding their style. Strategically picking which instruments to add can help them, little by little, play this beautiful music too.
The technological advancements achieved during the last few decades, including breakthroughs in communication and digital infrastructure, have simplified the global exchange of ideas and technologies. Despite this, why do innovation ecosystems differ so much in their income levels? The answer lies in their innovation capabilities—the ability of an ecosystem to deliver competitive outputs in a field of the innovation process.
Innovation capabilities rely on the ability to absorb, apply, and adapt knowledge. These skills, expertise, and insights are often deeply embedded within the workforce and culture of a region, making them difficult to replicate elsewhere. These factors shape how innovation ecosystems evolve and respond to new opportunities, giving some regions a distinct advantage in certain fields.
Featured
Making innovation policy work for development
The 2024 edition of the World Intellectual Property Report highlights the positive impact of innovation and industrial policy on helping to leverage the existing capabilities of a country or region.
Innovation capabilities insights
Find out more through our innovation capabilities insights.
How can innovation capabilities help policymaking?
Measuring and understanding these innovation capabilities can allow policymakers to identify and support the unique potential within their ecosystems.
IMAGE: Getty Images/anyaberkut
Unfolding the capability path
Examining the evolution of the ecosystem’s capabilities can help identify if the path to development is on the right track.
IMAGE: Getty Images/anilakkus
Assess current capabilities
Ecosystems can understand which of their capabilities are the most precious and look into ways of nurturing them.
IMAGE: GettY Images/vgajic
Find new opportunities
Prioritize where to look for new, promising innovation capabilities that unlock their unique potential.
Why map innovation capabilities?
Recently, there has been a resurgence of industrial policies at a global level. In this new wave, governments are increasingly making critical decisions in the fields of science, technology, and innovation policy, which affect resource allocation decisions by various public and private actors within different innovation ecosystems.
There is growing consensus that decisions should not be made in isolation and through centralized ("top-down") approaches, but rather by considering the local capabilities and needs of innovation ecosystems. Instead of replicating successful industries from other regions, approaches like smart specialization emphasize the need for policies grounded in local diagnostics and knowledge, leveraging each region's existing skills and, above all, addressing its specific challenges
Bottom-up approaches that use data to measure capabilities can inform policies that are aligned with local realities, fostering a more inclusive and effective innovation ecosystem.
Where to find resources?
Explore essential resources that drive research in innovation capabilities.
IMAGE: Getty Images/Fernando Rincon
Literature
Curated list of publications and reports that provide evidence that supports data driven innovation policymaking.
IMAGE: Getty Images/Isara Methong
Datasets
Access innovation capability indicators and apply them to your research.
IMAGE: Getty Images/lucadp
Codes
Implement, refine and expand innovation capability methodologies through open-source code.
IMAGE: Getty Images/peppo
Visualizations
Browse through a selection of interactive visualizations and discover insights.