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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of knowledge creation in a key technology field, i.e. information and communication technology (ICT), to determine whether it is driven by domestic firms and inventors, or whether the traction is provided by international connections to global innovation networks. The authors argue that the geographical pattern of international connectivity is characterized by local concentration and strong connections to foreign multinational enterprises, for which a large number of inventors in Spain work.

The analysis was done using data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office database, covering almost 40 years, ranging from 1976 to 2014. The authors used patents in the ICT sector connected to either inventors or organizations located in Spain. The authors analyzed collaboration by the location of both inventors and assignees, and the connections established across borders. Second, the authors assessed the level of concentration and dispersion that characterizes these relationships.

First, the growth of the ICT sector in Spain is strongly driven by linkages with foreign companies, in particular those located in the USA. Second, the interaction of local and international clusters of knowledge generation is a key driver of the ICT sector, which is far from being global. Third, there is a geographic concentration of national/international knowledge sources, which is mediated by the technological strategies of internationalized firms. Therefore, the new information age seems to be highly dependent on the collaboration between individuals and companies through focal local points, and on the prevalence of co-developed international inventions.

Understanding the patterns of ICT-related knowledge creation and its geographical footprint is crucial to foster competitiveness in the digital age. The transition from a paradigm based on tangible assets to one where competitive advantage stems mainly from intangibles, has significant implications for both policy and practice. International collaboration presents opportunities to enhance competitiveness at various levels, be that organizations, regions or countries. To seize these opportunities, it is key to enhance the endogenous capabilities and absorptive capacity of the local players. While patent data captures the output of a national innovation system only partially, it is still a suitable indicator to capture international connectedness. More qualitative-oriented techniques, however, may allow for a better assessment of tacit knowledge flows.

The creation of knowledge in high-tech industries is a key aspect of competitiveness, and it is increasingly supported by collaboration that spans across borders. However, knowledge creation adopts different patterns, depending on the unique characteristics of the country. The authors analyze the case of Spain, a developed economy with pockets of innovation but also significant areas that can be considered “peripheral,” both economically and industrially, when compared to much of Western Europe. This study’s analysis captures the combination of concentration and dispersion in the process of knowledge generation that characterizes the ICT sector in intermediate countries.

In the modern knowledge-intensive economy, a nation’s competitiveness depends on the ability of its constituent firms to innovate. Extant research in national systems of innovation highlights institutions and public policies toward innovation as key determinants that affect firms’ innovation activities. This paper aims to widen the investigation by arguing that co-inventor connectivity allows firms to access the most tacit knowledge within global innovation systems. Therefore, it is one of the key factors that underpin a nation’s ability to develop and sustain its competitiveness.

Using a data set of 406,168 patents from US Patent and Trademark Office during the period of 1975-2004, this study analyzed the Japanese system of innovation through co-inventor networks.

Surprisingly, the authors found that compared to other advanced countries such as Germany and Denmark, the Japanese innovation system is quite closed.

The dimension of tacit knowledge is crucial in the current environment of rapid cycle time, short product lifespans and increasing emphasis on exploratory innovation. Hence the authors speculate that closedness to global innovation systems could be one of the reasons why many of Japan’s traditionally powerful multinational enterprises exhibit weak performance in recent years.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how firms achieve competitiveness by implementing design-driven innovation.

This paper is a detailed longitudinal analysis of the design innovation underpinning the Norwegian furniture industry. Using a data set spanning 40 years (1976-2015) of design patents by both Norwegian firms and inventors, the authors map the coinventor connectivity of the design-innovation clusters of Norway, both within the country and with foreign locations.

Using network analysis, the authors find that most of the rise of co-inventor connectivity within Norwegian furniture industry’s design innovation is occurring within the country. More surprisingly, the leading firms and star inventors are less likely to collaborate internationally, i.e. they are characterized by greater innovative “lock-in”.

The exploration of all the potential reasons for the “lock-in” in design innovation of the Norwegian furniture industry is beyond the scope of this paper. A particularly interesting avenue for future research would be to compare the coinventor connectivity of traditional sectors like furniture with more high technology sectors within Norway.

By assessing a detailed and historical context of the evolution of Norwegian furniture industry, the paper provides a fairly comprehensive study of design innovation as a source of firms’ competitiveness, which has been rarely explored. The authors suggest that innovative “lock-in” may be more likely to arise in the traditional sectors of an economy and the forces may be particularly strong for those firms and individuals that have the highest domestic connectedness and status.