Unfolding the innovation system for the development of countries: coevolution of Science, Technology and Production

摘要

We show that the space in which scientific, technological and economicdevelopments interplay with each other can be mathematically shaped usingpioneering multilayer network and complexity techniques. We build thetri-layered network of human activities (scientific production, patenting, andindustrial production) and study the interactions among them, also taking intoaccount the possible time delays. Within this construction we can identifywhich capabilities and prerequisites are needed to be competitive in a givenactivity, and even measure how much time is needed to transform, for instance,the technological know-how into economic wealth and scientific innovation,being able to make predictions with a very long time horizon. Quiteunexpectedly, we find empirical evidence that the naive knowledge flow fromscience, to patents, to products is not supported by data, being insteadtechnology the best predictor for industrial and scientific production for thenext decades.