The report explores the need for innovation policies to focus on developing innovation capabilities. It offers a new methodological framework, complemented by three industry case studies – agriculture technology, motorcycle and video games – in Brazil, Finland, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Poland and the United States.
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Executive summary: Making innovation policy work for development
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Image: WIPO 1 Economic development, economic complexity and industrial policy
Economic growth depends on sustained technological development, but capabilities can vary across the world from one region to another. In theory, technological knowledge could easily be shared and reproduced, but in practice it is not so straightforward. This chapter introduces the concept of economic complexity and explains how policymakers can facilitate knowledge diffusion to promote industrial growth.
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Image: WIPO 2 Innovation capabilities as a guide for successful policy design
The World Intellectual Property Report reveals a novel method that economies can implement to measure and leverage their innovation capabilities, assessing their scientific, technological and productive know-how. It also explores the concept of innovation complexity and the principle of relatedness to evaluate know-how.
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Image: WIPO 3 The importance of local capabilities in AgTech specialization
Agriculture plays a vital role for society as the global population relies on this industry for food, nutrition and to address sustainability concerns. Innovation in agriculture varies depending on the context of the country, including its agroecological conditions. This chapter highlights the role of the public sector in building innovative capabilities in agriculture, and illustrates how Brazil, Kenya and the US have successfully specialized in specific AgTech fields.
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Image: WIPO 4 The evolution of the motorcycle industry from golden age to green revolution
The shift from combustion motorcycles to electric motorcycles has been driven by historical technological progress. The motorcycle industry draws on capabilities similar to those needed in the automobile and aviation industries, providing sources of innovation and inspiration. This chapter analyses how national technological advancements in India, Italy and Japan have shaped the direction of innovation in the motorcycle industry.
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Image: WIPO 5 Leveraging local know-how to develop video game hubs
The video game industry is a thriving creative sector, generating USD 184 billion in 2023. It is intertwined with other industrial sectors such as computing and entertainment, sharing similar capabilities. However, video game hubs have clustered in certain parts of the world. This chapter looks at how Finland, Japan, Poland and the US, four video game innovation hubs, have leveraged their local capabilities to develop video game industries.
- Bibliography
- Acronyms
- Glossary
- Technical notes
- Copyright notice