Innovation – ADB – ADBI Innovation and Structural Transformation Database

Innovation: Introduction

Innovation is a multi-faceted process that encompasses activities such as Research and Development (R&D) and learning by doing.
Patents are an indicator for innovation, having the advantage that they are available very widely.
We use patent families as identified by the European Patent Office to measure innovation. Patent families are a group of patent applications that cover a single invention.
In order to avoid low-quality patents, we only use patent families that are applied for in multiple countries or an international patent office.
The database has two main parts: patent flows through GVCs and patenting in Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

Fourth Industrial RevolutionA series of related radical innovative breakthroughs centered around automation and digitization technologies. By applying machine learning and large-scale connectivity, these technologies have a large impact on a broad range of existing fields, such as chemistry and mechanics.
(4IR) refers to the application of digital technologies, automation and artificial intelligence across a range of sectors.
These technologies have a large potential to transform the global economy in the middle to long run future, e.g., by offering options for re-shoring and by their effect on employment and the income distribution.
The database provides indicators for the number of patent families in 4IR, as well as the shares of 4IR patent families in total patenting of an economy.

Technological know-how is embodied in internationally traded products.
Knowledge embodied in intermediate inputs diffuses through GVCs, and knowledge embodied in final products flows directly to the end-users.
These knowledge flows affect the quality and economic value of the output of GVCs and the final products bought in an economy.
The database provides indicators for the knowledge content of the value added of different sectors, of the knowledge intensity of inputs used in GVCs, and of the knowledge intensity of final demand bought in an economy.