Publications
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The impact of the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard in Science and Policy
Understanding the flow of knowledge between scientific research and policymaking is increasingly important. This study examines the influence of the… Show more EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, which has been active at the science-policy interface since 2004. We analyse citation trends in scientific publications and policy documents to assess the Scoreboard’s usage, impact, and reach. Our findings indicate that the Scoreboard is cited more frequently in policy documents, though academic interest is growing. Policy documents cite the Scoreboard more quickly, reflecting its immediate relevance for policy actors, while scientific publications take longer to cite it and utilise its data. Papers citing the Scoreboard tend to have a higher citation impact than average, underscoring its significance in a broad set of research fields. In our citation content analysis, we find that "insight" citations are more common than "data" citations. However, papers combining patent data and Scoreboard tend to receive more citations, highlighting the value of integrating R&D data with other relevant variables to better understand the innovation process. Additionally, we show that the Scoreboard has influenced EU policy discourse to address the need for structural changes towards high R&D intensity sectors, and showing EU’s strengths in green innovation. Show less
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PDF Corporate Venture Capital in the Automotive Sector
The ongoing transformation of the automotive sector is in part driven by factors such as the unrelenting onslaught of electric/hybrid… Show more powertrain technologies, in-vehicle and networked software applications, rising demand for electric vehicles, and the emergence of new entrants like Tesla and others notably in China. The response of automotive firms to these challenges includes, inter alia, Open Innovation (OI) tools and strategies of which Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) is one element. CVC investments by large automotive companies are globally spread, but there is a clear concentration of these investments in the US, particularly in California. The vast majority of CVC investments in startups are made in conjunction with other co-investors, reflecting the high-risk nature of the innovative technologies being developed. Newcomers to the automotive industry, such as Tesla and BYD, are primarily beneficiaries of venture capital financing, including corporate VC, rather than themselves engaging in venture financing. Despite a drop in CVC in 2023, the rising trend in automotive CVC may return over the medium to long term, driven by increasing startup activity in automotive-relevant areas. Show less
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PDF Assessing Open Strategic Autonomy
The objective of this report is to help increase the EU's open strategic autonomy (OSA) by providing data that help… Show more monitor and take steps to achieve OSA in the innovation and production domains. The report operationalises the concept and provides empirical insights into the current situation. It finds that the EU’s digital sector has obvious vulnerabilities that impair its OSA, most prominently in the areas of artificial intelligence and big data. Other areas of innovation also display some vulnerabilities, but which less obviously impair Europe's OSA, at least on the surface. In addition to pure economic dependencies, the changing geopolitical landscape has increased potential vulnerabilities stemming from international collaboration on innovation. Accordingly, increased attention should be paid to latent risks that might produce non-obvious or indirect innovation and production dependency relations in the future. In this respect, the role of the US is particularly critical, as US technologies and firms play a substantial role in innovation processes in Europe. Show less
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A resilient, competitive and fair EU: Industrial Innovation for Open Strategic Autonomy
This article gives a short EU policy contextualisation of “Industrial innovation for Open Strategic Autonomy – leaving no one and… Show more no place behind’’ followed by a digest of the results of CONCORDi 2023 conference (Oct. 24-26, 2023) on the same subject. It focusses on policy relevance, drawing on new scientific evidence, insights and recommendations highlighting some of the policy challenges ahead. The content of this document – original for its comprehensive and new science-to-policy handling of the topic - reinforces the messages related to Open Strategic Autonomy of recent Communications of the Commission.Main highlights arising from this Brief are: 1) Industrial Innovation as a pillar of industrial policy is central to achieving Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA); 2) In pursuing OSA, social and territorial cohesion should be integrated into industrial innovation policy; 3) Institutional capacities as well as quality and good governance are crucial to OSA; 4) More research and cooperation between practitioners and scientists is needed to underpin and monitor OSA. Show less
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Industrial Innovation for Open Strategic Autonomy - leaving no one and no place behind
This working paper sets the scene and provides background information on 'Industrial Innovation for Open Strategic Autonomy”, the main focus… Show more of the 9th edition of the European Conference on Corporate R&D and Innovation (CONCORDi 2023), as well as introduces scientific contributions that will be presented at the conference. It thus aims to stimulate fruitful discussion between academia, experts and policy-makers at the conference, identifying potential policy initiatives and areas where additional research and evidence are needed. Show less
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PDF "Digital and green transitions: handling the economic and social challenges" (2023) Special Issue in Industry and Innovation. Volume 30, 2023 - Issue 7. September 2023
In an era of increasing global challenges, two paradigmatic shifts – the digital and green transitions – have gained traction… Show more due to their potential impacts on industrial ecosystems and societal inequalities. Termed the ‘twin transition’, these shifts underscore the synergies between technological advancements and environmental sustainability. Highlighting its importance in post-COVID-19 recovery, the special issue examines the twin transition’s potential to drive industrial innovation and affect social, economic, and geographical inequalities. The seven articles in this special issue explore the impact of the twin transition on corporate innovation strategies and investment, alongside the economic, social, and geographical implications. Key findings underscore the need for diversified technological investments, especially in AI, and enhanced digital infrastructures. Policy recommendations advocate for aiding firms lagging in digitalisation and developing region-specific innovation policies. The research sets a roadmap for future inquiries into the interplay of digital and green transition, broader economic impacts, and policy-driven strategies. Show less
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PDF Walking the Green Line: Government Sponsored R&D and Clean Technologies
The study analyses whether government sponsored R&D induces the development of clean technologies with a high impact on subsequent technological… Show more development. The analysis uses information on USPTO patents granted between 2005 and 2015 and combines different methods to control for possible sorting of projects into public funding and for non-random (public) treatment. We also assess the distributional effect of government sponsored R&D. Results show that patents from public funded projects have a significantly higher impact and that this is particularly true for highly cited patents, thus supporting a role for technology-push policies in determining a clean technological transition. Show less
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PDF The 2022 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment Trends
This report presents the results of the 2022 survey of the top 1 000 EU companies by R&D investment in 2020,… Show more conducted between June and September 2022. The survey is intended to provide insights into the research and development activities of the R&D investors listed in the 2021 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (Scoreboard 2021). The objective of this survey is to gather future expectations for R&D investment and gain first-hand information on barriers and drivers and the role of various activities that influence the level and direction of R&D investment. The survey addresses financing and collaboration, technology transfer and open innovation, and the effects of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. The response rate stood at 12%. The number of responses increased by 31.5% compared to the previous year, and the respondents accounted for over 26% of the R&D investment of the top 1 000 EU corporate investors in R&D. The results show a strong recovery in R&D investment after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the respondents expect this positive development to continue in 2022 and 2023. The main drivers of R&D investment are environmental sustainability and digitalisation. The respondents’ capital investment is largely driven by technologies to reduce emissions and to adapt to Industry 4.0. The survey thus confirms that innovative EU companies are actively helping to meet the targets set out in the European Green Deal and the green and digital transformation (the Twin Transition). Show less
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Exploratory study understanding the SDG alignment along research activities and technological innovation of Scoreboard companies
This study work aims at improving the GLORIA project’s understanding of the alignment between private firms’ research, development & technological… Show more innovation (RD&TI) activities and SDGs. To accomplish such a goal, textual descriptions of single RD&TI records produced by the companies featured in the scoreboard will be analysed by means of different Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques and classified in accordance with potential SDG of interest. Specifically, patent descriptions, publication abstracts and summaries of research projects funded by the European commission via the H2020 Framework Programme are analysed (see chapter 2. Data Sources) and linked with potential SDGs of concern by means of keyword-based and Deep Learning textual classifiers. Show less
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PDF Top EU R&D investors in the global economy - Benchmarking technological capabilities in the health industry
This report analyses the health industry through the lens of the top 2,500 corporate R&D investors worldwide, coupling R&D and… Show more patent analysis to provide new evidence on the EU specificities with respect to other main economic areas. During the last 10 years R&D investments in the biotech sector have increased by a factor of 3.6, increasing its prominence in the health industry. However, biotech and pharma companies present similar technological portfolios, whit pharma companies owning more biotechnology patents. Focusing too much on the lack of EU biotech companies among top corporate R&D investors might overemphasize a potential gap with the US in the development of biotechnologies. In this work we identify a set of technologies related to immunology, immunotherapy, bioinformatics and combinatorial chemistry – Immuno+ technologies – and show that these are complex and increasingly pervasive. The gap with the US is large and a sense of urgency would help the EU jump into this new technological wave. The key question for EU policy makers is how to foster the overall development of the health and biotech innovation system in the EU. Understanding where, how and what type of research is performed in the EU compared to other economic areas is of great importance. This report provides insights that can support the ongoing revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation on medicines for human use. However, more evidence is needed to evaluate and implement the new healthcare industrial and innovation policies in the years to come. Disentangling the role played by large R&D investors in the EU innovation system and the interactions between private and public research activities seems to be particularly relevant as concerns the health industry. Show less