The Analysis of the National Innovation System of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has a comprehensive and coherent innovation system producing significant outcomes. However, as with every system, continuous improvement is required to optimize system performance. This chapter analyzes KSA’s innovation system based on the 2018 Global Innovation Index indicators among 127 countries. The chapter identifies the highlighted performance areas of the system and its market failures. In turn, the systemic analysis of the country’s NIS reveals the strong interactions but also the system’s failures, proposing a set of action policies to be undertaken that will generate a significant improvement over the expected results of the system. The main system failures identified are the low knowledge diffusion or knowledge spillover effects and the minimal access to equity funding for startups, or the absence of a risk capital culture. However, the country’s innovation system is coherent, presenting strong interaction linkages between the research, innovation, and commercialization node. It presents a remarkable improvement since 2011, presenting an above-average performance in terms of allocated resources for research and innovation.

Citation

Zygiaris, S. (2022), "The Analysis of the National Innovation System of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", Sindakis, S. and Aggarwal, S. (Ed.) Entrepreneurial Rise in the Middle East and North Africa: The Influence of Quadruple Helix on Technological Innovation (Advanced Strategies in Entrepreneurship, Education and Ecology), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 233-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-517-220221014