New scoreboard for research and innovation

By Geoff Maslen. Although research efforts by universities and private organisations are increasing across the globe, most research remains highly concentrated in a small number of US universities, according to a just-published OECD study that uses a new measure of research impact. Across disciplines, however, "a more diverse picture emerges".
The report, Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2011: Innovation and growth in knowledge economies, uses what it says is a new indicator of research impact "measured by normalised citations to academic publications across all disciplines".
Using this system, the report's authors say 40 of the world top 50 research universities are located in America, with some excelling in a wide range of disciplines. "Stanford University features among the top 50 for all 16 subject areas, and 17 other US universities feature in the top 50 in at least 10 scientific fields," the report states. But it also notes that "a more diverse picture emerges on a subject-by-subject basis with the US accounting for less than 25 of the top 50 universities in social sciences", a field in which the United Kingdom excels.
A chart in the report shows that although the US holds the dominant position in 11 of the subject fields, it falls away sharply in agriculture, earth and environmental sciences, pharmacology and the social sciences. "Universities producing the top-rated publications in earth sciences, environmental science and pharmaceutics are more evenly spread across the OECD economies," the report says, adding that those in Asia are starting to emerge as leading research institutions. China, for example, has six universities in the top 50 in pharmacology, toxicology and pharmaceutics while the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is among the top in computer science, engineering and chemistry.
But although China has the second largest number of scientific publications after the US, the degree of scientific collaboration and the impact of its research are among the lowest. The OECD 'scoreboard' tracks trends in science, technology and industry as a way of understanding how innovation is evolving, and how countries are positioning themselves in the global knowledge economy. The report includes more than 180 internationally comparable quality indicators, including where jobs have been lost, top manufacturers, direct foreign investment and industrial diversification, along with a broad range of statistics for other major economies such as Brazil, China, India and the Russian Federation.
In the introduction, the report says the world's economies are facing some extraordinary challenges. The effects of the economic downturn are still being felt, with national debt levels rising and unemployment remaining high, it says.
 Accompanying this is continued globalisation of economic activities. "Its distinctive features are increasing international trade, deepening economic integration - especially in emerging economies - and greater geographic fragmentation of production processes generating ever more complex global value chains," the report says.
"In this new geography of growth, international competition from new players is eroding the lead of more established economies. Environmental pressures challenge the sustainability of our existing growth models and longer life expectancy is putting a greater strain on the capability of health systems to meet the needs of an ageing population."
It says one way to measure technological innovation is through the commercialisation of inventions as reflected in patenting. While countries 'specialise' in certain economic activities, new OECD indicators based on linking patents with companies' information reveal the benefits of a broad industrial base and a strong university sector for the development of key enabling technologies.
The report's writers argue that innovation will play a major role in lifting economies out of the economic crisis, as well as finding new and sustainable sources of growth and competitiveness. But, if lodging high-quality patents is any indication of innovation growth, the report says the quality of patent filings has fallen dramatically over the past two decades.
"The rush to protect even minor improvements in products or services is overburdening patent offices. This slows the time to market for true innovations and reduces the potential for breakthrough inventions," the report says, adding that patent quality declined by an average of around 20% between the 1990s and 2000s, a pattern seen in nearly all countries studied.
"Studying patent quality in different sectors has also allowed the OECD to assess which countries are doing best in innovation. The UK, for example, produces semiconductor and environmental technology patents that are above average in quality. Korea has a competitive advantage in ICT-related innovations. And Germany is strong at innovating in solar energy."
The report says patents from inventors in the US, Germany and Japan are the most highly cited, suggesting they are "true innovations" because they are being used by many firms in their products to generate further innovations.
But while these three countries produced about 70% of the top 1% of highly cited patents between 1996 and 2000, their share had fallen to 60% five years later.