Spatial-temporal evolution of technology flows in China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region: Patent transfer networks 2003-2021.

This paper presents new evidence on knowledge flows in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of China, involving 43 cities (districts) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, based on the invention patent transfer data from the State Intellectual Property Office of China. First, the characteristics of technology flows in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are analyzed in terms of changes in the number of flows, types of flowing subjects and spatial distribution characteristics. Then, a multi-level patent technology flow network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was constructed, and the structural characteristics and node characteristics of each level network were explored separately. The key findings of the study are as follows. (1) The number of patented technology flows has been growing over time, showing obvious phase characteristics during the study period. As a whole, the intra-city (district) technology flow in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is higher than the inter-city (district). (2) The multi-level patent technology flow network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region shows dynamic characteristics, with more and more mobile subjects participating in the patent technology flow network, some network nodes becoming closer to each other, and the trend of small group technology flow increasing significantly. (3) Enterprises are the core hub of the patent technology flow network in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Individual invention patent technology transfer also occupies a high proportion and the participation of universities and colleges in the patent technology flow network in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is gradually increasing. (4) Over time, the flow of patent technology in the 43 cities (districts) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has gradually become active and no longer relies excessively on a particular city (district) for patent technology transfer.

Visualising quantum innovation: A regional case study.

At the beginning of this century, the advent of a second generation of 'quantum technologies' was announced together with its revolutionary potential to change existing information technologies. Despite the rapidly increasing paid to quantum technological development, there has been little attention paid to the specific characteristics or relationships within emerging quantum ecosystems. The aim of this study is to visualize the innovation structures and relationships that are emerging to shape these technological developments. As these structures typically depend on specific regional features, we have specifically focused on the Spanish case, as it is potentially indicative of the differences between European innovation models and other regional patterns. This objective was achieved by researching the funding network of the ecosystem, collected from a systematic review of various official sources and relevant previous literature. The resulting dataset was framed using the Innovation Ecosystem model and broken down through network analysis theory, as well as characterized through descriptive statistics. This framework identified the significant role that projects play in European scientific and technological innovation, which work as hubs to concentrate resources and incentive cooperation between actors. This is relevant because current work on quantum technologies neglects their importance, as their analysis focuses on the quantity of institutions rather than their relations. Moreover, this paper points out the prominence of public funding to drive quantum innovation, largely stemming from the European Commission. This is another key mechanism that is missed by the existing literature. Finally, it also sheds light on the recipients of this funding, who are mostly research centres. These results allow us to conceptualize the Spanish quantum ecosystem and offer the opportunity for comparative studies with other quantum technologies ecosystems.

Foreign executives, digital transformation, and innovation performance: Evidence from Chinese-listed firms.

This study investigates the effect of foreign executives on firms' innovation performance and the mediation role of digital transformation in Chinese-listed firms from 2011 to 2021. Our findings indicate that the presence of foreign executives in top management teams promotes firms' innovation performance by enhancing digital transformation. Further analyses show that foreign executives contribute significantly to improving firms' radical innovation performance rather than incremental innovation performance. We also examine the moderating effect of negative performance feedback and financing constraints between foreign executives and innovation performance, finding that foreign executives can promote innovation performance particularly in firms with negative performance feedback and weak financing constraints.

How to achieve high-quality development of SRDI enterprises-A study of the TOE framework-based configuration.

The high-quality development of SRDI enterprises is crucial for China to overcome critical technological bottlenecks and thereby achieve technological independence and strength. However, the factors driving the high-quality development of SRDI enterprises are not isolated elements, but rather a complex system of interconnected antecedents. This study employs the TOE framework and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) with 141 Chinese SRDI "little giant" listed companies as samples to explore how various factors contribute to their high-quality development. The findings indicate: (1) No single factor is necessary for SRDI enterprises' high-quality development. (2) It is the synergy of multiple factors, in various combinations, that drives their high-quality development. (3) Technological innovation plays a key role in these pathways; SRDI enterprises should leverage their resources and capabilities for a synergistic technology-organization-environment match, selecting the most suitable development path. The results of this study not only enrich our understanding of the factors influencing SRDI enterprises' high-quality development but also offer insights for both the enterprises and government policy-making.

Can digital economy foster synergistic increases in green innovation and corporate value? Evidence from China.

The rapid evolution of the digital economy has significantly accelerated progress towards achieving green and sustainable processes, particularly in the field of green production. While existing research has delved into the effects of the digital economy on Green Innovation (GI) and the consequences of digital transformation on Corporate Value (CV), there remains a notable gap in the literature regarding the potential for synergistic enhancements in firms' GI&CV through the ongoing digital revolution. This study utilizes an evolutionary game model and employs system dynamics methods to simulate the dynamic evolution trajectory of the influence of the digital economy on the synergy between GI&CV. Subsequently, it empirically assesses the interconnected synergies between GI&CV using a dataset comprising information from Chinese listed firms spanning from 2011 to 2020, examining the impact of the digital economy on these synergies. Moreover, the study delves into the analysis of the transmission mechanism and conducts an extended investigation to further explore this phenomenon. The findings of this paper including: (1) The digital economy acts as a driving force behind the synergistic enhancement of firm GI&CV. Moreover, this effect is further augmented by governmental environmental regulation and green subsidy policies. (2) Drawing upon the information asymmetry theory and the resource-based theory, the regional marketization level and firms' digital transformation play intermediary roles. (3) The heterogeneity test indicate that firms situated in eastern regions and those classified as non-heavily polluted benefitted to a greater extent. This study sheds light on the incentive implications of digital economy for the synergistic upgrading of GI&CV, thereby extending the breadth of study on the consequences of digital economy. Moreover, it offers actionable suggestions for enterprises to leverage digital economy development towards achieving a synergistic improvement of GI&CV.

Turning inward in difficulties: R&D human resource slack, technological diversification, and independent innovation.

Independent innovation emphasizes the self-reliance and control of all key links. Slack resources within an organization, especially for innovation, are the critical resources that are controllable for independent innovation. However, existing research still lacks evidence on the areas of slack innovation resources and independent innovation for deeper exploration. This research addresses this gap by providing an empirical analysis of the relationship between R&D human resource slack and firms' independent innovation. Based on the unbalanced panel data of China's listed manufacturing firms for eleven years, this research explores the effects of R&D human resource slack on firms' independent innovation, the mediating mechanism of technological diversification, and the boundary effects of top management team functional heterogeneity. The results reveal that R&D human resource slack positively affects firms' independent innovation; R&D human resource slack can promote firms' independent innovation through related technological diversification, while the mediating effect of unrelated technological diversification is not statistically significant; the top management team functional heterogeneity strengthens the positive impact of R&D human resource slack on firm independent innovation.

Impact of digital technology innovation on carbon intensity: evidence from China's manufacturing A-share listed enterprises.

Current studies do not provide a consensus on whether digital technology innovation can reduce enterprise carbon intensity despite the rise of the digital economy. This paper examines the role and influence pathway of digital technology innovation on enterprise carbon intensity using data from A-share listed enterprises in China's manufacturing industry from 2012 to 2021. The findings indicate that (1) digital technology innovation has been found to significantly reduce enterprise carbon intensity, as confirmed by numerous robustness and endogeneity tests. However, its inhibitory effect on carbon intensity shows a marginal decreasing trend. (2) In the heterogeneity analysis, it was found that digital technology innovation significantly reduces the carbon intensity of consuming coal, coke, kerosene, and diesel. From various perspectives, including enterprise, industry, and external environment, there are significant differences in the carbon reduction effects of digital technology innovation. (3) The analysis of impact paths reveals that digital technology innovation can affect enterprise carbon intensity through three paths: improving productivity, enhancing green innovation efficiency, and adjusting energy consumption. (4) Upon further analysis, it was discovered that the spillover effect of digital technology innovation is more pronounced in the industry cohort of enterprises. Additionally, digital technology innovation plays a positive role in enhancing enterprise ESG performance. The paper's findings offer empirical evidence and decision-making references for the government to develop reasonable policies for reducing carbon emissions, promoting green and low-carbon enterprise transformation, and actively and steadily achieving the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

Can digital transformation promote green innovation in enterprises? the moderating effect of heterogeneous environmental regulations.

Currently, digital transformation is having various impacts on enterprises around the world, including the green innovation. However, the current literature on the relationship between digitalization and green innovation in enterprises is scarce. What is the relationship between them, and whether heterogeneous environmental regulation has mediating effects, are questions that are worth exploring. Using a sample of listed manufacturing enterprises in China, this paper empirically tests the impact of digital transformation on enterprise green innovation. The results show that: (1) Digital transformation has a significant positive impact on green innovation, including green innovation output and green innovation capability. (2) Diverse environmental regulation may have mediating effects of digital transformation's influence on green innovation. (3) After a number of robustness tests, the conclusions are still valid. This paper can provide a reference for developing green development strategies for manufacturing enterprises.

Embracing the digital revolution: Examining the relationship between ICT adoption and carbon emissions in the Persian Gulf.

In this digital age, promoting economic development through technology innovation and adoption has become a pressing matter, contributing to increased productivity and, in turn, carbon emissions. Consequently, this study employs a novel technique (Newey-West Standard Error Method, Technology Adaptation Model) to quantify information and communication technology (ICT) adoption rates as a proxy indicator for evaluating the Persian Gulf economy's technology development. Moreover, this study investigates the evidence of the environmental Kuznets curve, with trade openness, technological adoption, and innovation as sustainable development controls. The findings reveal that two of three technological innovation instruments, fixed telephone, and internet subscriptions, increase carbon emissions. In contrast, mobile cellular subscriptions simultaneously reduce carbon emissions in the Persian Gulf. Furthermore, measures of technology adoption, high-technology exports, and electricity use contribute to the increase in carbon emissions. Trade openness also raises carbon emissions in the Persian Gulf. These findings suggest that policymakers must develop technological innovation and adoption strategies that effectively promote a greener environment.

Barriers to and facilitators of paediatric medical device innovation: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: The development of paediatric medical devices continues to lag adult medical devices and contributes to issues of inequity, safety, quality and patient outcomes. New legislation and funding mechanisms have been introduced over the past two decades, but the gap remains. Clinical trials have been identified as a pain point, but components of effective clinical research infrastructure are poorly understood. As part of a multimodal research strategy, the Pediatric Device Consortia (PDC) will conduct a scoping review to better understand infrastructural barriers to and facilitators of paediatric medical device clinical research identified in the health sciences literature. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The following databases will be included for this review: Medline, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, Web of Science and IEEE Xplore. Additional grey literature will be sought out through Google Scholar and reviewing the citations of included studies. Included studies will discuss medical devices according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration classification, focus on the paediatric population (ages 0-21 years) and involve human premarket or postmarket research. All study types that were published in 2007-present in English, Spanish, French or Italian will be included. Using Covidence web-based software, two independent reviewers will screen the resulting titles, abstracts and the full text of potential studies. Conflicts will be resolved by the primary investigator during both phases. REDCap will be used for quantitative and qualitative data charting, generating data tables and narrative synthesis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This research did not require research ethics board consideration as it does not involve human participants and all data will be collected from published literature. We will share our findings through peer-reviewed manuscripts, clinical and research conference presentations and professional networks available to the PDC. STUDY REGISTRATION: Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/k72bn).

Academic freedom and innovation.

Academic freedom is a critical norm of science. Despite the widely postulated importance of academic freedom, the literature attests to a dearth of research on the topic. Specifically, we know little about how academic freedom relates to indicators of societal progress, such as innovation. We address this research gap by empirically assessing the impact of academic freedom on the quantity (patent applications) and quality (patent citations) of innovation output using a comprehensive sample of 157 countries over the 1900-2015 period. We find that improving academic freedom by one standard deviation increases patent applications by 41% and forward citations by 29%. The results are robust across a range of different specifications. Our findings constitute an alarming plea to policymakers: global academic freedom has declined over the past decade for the first time in the last century and our estimates suggest that this decline poses a substantial threat to the innovation output of countries in terms of both quantity and quality.

The new framework of innovation biosphere for analysing innovation policies facing COVID-19 grand challenge.

BACKGROUND: Facing global grand challenges such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) require the participation of various actors in different sectors and systematically directing their innovative efforts. Considering the complexity, non-linear dynamics, and global extent of the COVID-19 challenge, developing and applying a multi-level, resilient, and systematic innovative framework is vital. Therefore, this study aims to apply the "innovation biosphere" framework inspired by ecological studies for examining and analysing the management dimensions of COVID-19. METHODS: In this research, based on a deductive-inductive approach, the case study methodology is used. In accordance with this strategy, the innovation biosphere metaphor is considered as the basic framework (deductive approach) and subsequently the grand challenge of COVID-19 (inductive approach) is analysed at three levels: micro, meso and macro. RESULTS: The research findings verify the correspondence between what happened in the management of COVID-19 and the proposed framework of innovation biosphere. In other words, the findings of the research show that the effect of global cooperation, role-playing and co-evolution of different actors and subsystems in facing the grand challenge of COVID-19 under an ecosystemic and eco-innovation approach has been evident. These events subsequently led to the cessation of the pandemic after about four years. CONCLUSIONS: The main policy implications include the role of self-organization, the capability of global value networks, mission orientation, and co-evolution between actors as the contributions of innovation biosphere framework for managing grand health challenges, and global cohesion, oligopoly market, supporting local innovations, the critical role of basic research, and deregulation as the contributions of the COVID-19 case study for enhancing the innovation biosphere metaphor.

Australia II: A Case Study in Engineering Ethics.

Australia II became the first foreign yacht to win the America's Cup in 1983. The boat had a revolutionary wing keel and a better underwater hull form. In official documents, Ben Lexcen is credited with the design. He is also listed as the sole inventor of the wing keel in a patent application submitted on February 5, 1982. However, as reported in New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, and Professional Boatbuilder, the wing keel was in fact designed by engineer Peter van Oossanen at the Netherlands Ship Model Basin in Wageningen, assisted by Dr. Joop Slooff at the National Aerospace Laboratory in Amsterdam. Based on telexes, letters, drawings, and other documents preserved in his personal archive, this paper presents van Oossanen's account of how the revolutionary wing keel was designed. This is followed by an ethical analysis by Martin Peterson, in which he applies the American NSPE and Dutch KIVI codes of ethics to the information provided by van Oossanen. The NSPE and KIVI codes give conflicting advice about the case, and it is not obvious which document is most relevant. This impasse is resolved by applying a method of applied ethics in which similarity-based reasoning is extended to cases that are not fully similar. The key idea, presented in Peterson's book The Ethics of Technology (Peterson, The ethics of technology: A geometric analysis of five moral principles, Oxford University Press, 2017), is to use moral paradigm cases as reference points for constructing a "moral map".

Impact of carbon emission trading system on green technology innovation of energy enterprises in China.

China proposed establishing a carbon emission trading market in its 12th Five-Year Plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through market mechanisms, promote the development of science and technology and help China become an environment-friendly country. To examine the impact of carbon emission trading on green technology innovation in Chinese energy enterprises, data from 1993 to 2020 were collected from 494 A-share-listed energy enterprises. Enterprises located in the pilot area of carbon emissions trading were assigned to the treatment group, while those in the non-pilot area were assigned to the control group. The propensity-score-matching method was utilized to match the treatment group with the control group, and the resulting samples were used as the actual sample data. The difference-in-differences method was then employed to assess the net impact of carbon emission trading and investigate its effect on green technology innovation in energy enterprises. This empirical study suggested that carbon emission trading has a positive impact on green technology innovation in energy enterprises, particularly state-owned ones. Larger enterprises are more willing to engage in green technological innovation than small enterprises. Furthermore, when faced with a carbon emission trading system, 'mature' companies tend to pay more attention to green technology innovation than younger enterprises do. This study puts forward policy measures for establishing a national-level carbon emission market in China in the future.

Impact of R&D innovation and political background on corporate growth: A study based on private listed companies in China.

Based on a review of related concepts and theories this study investigates the different impacts of research and development (R&D) innovation and political background on corporate growth in a particular context. Unlike other studies, we integrate these two factors. We empirically analyze 6079 sets of data from 1292 A-share private manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2019. The results show that these factors directly impact corporate growth and have heterogeneous effects at different enterprise growth levels. We find the effect of R&D innovation on corporate growth is more pronounced for young firms. These findings highlight the need for firms to adjust their investments in R&D innovation and political backgrounds at different stages of development to adapt to different markets and political environments.

Consumers' risk perception, market demand, and firm innovation: Evidence from China.

Major product safety incidents often cause widespread concern among consumers, and these product safety incidents will stimulate consumers' psychology, change their risk perception, and affect the demand for products and services of risk consumers. The change in consumer demand will eventually lead to a change in firm innovation decisions. Using Chinese firm-level data, this paper employs the news reporting of the Bawang event as a quasi-natural experiment to study the impact of risk perception changes on innovation. The empirical results of this study show that increasing consumers' risk perception caused by the negative news coverage of defective products motivates firms to increase their innovation. The effects are heterogeneous, where firms with private ownership and in developed regions are more likely to increase innovation activities. This study suggests that the relationship between consumers' risk perception and firm innovation is primarily driven by market demand. Moreover, the positive effects of risk perception on innovation are more prominent for downstream firms and those having a smaller technological distance.

Exploration and future trends on spatial correlation of green innovation efficiency in strategic emerging industries under the digital economy: A social network analysis.

With digital technological change and the increasing frequency of interregional innovation links, the spatial correlation and diversity of strategic emerging industries' green innovation efficiency (SEI-GIE) need to be explored in depth. This paper innovatively constructs the SEI-GIE input-output index system under digital economy. The proposed grey model FINGBM(1,1) with ω-order accumulation and weighted initial value optimization realizes effective prediction of 7 input-output indicators of 30 provinces in China from 2021 to 2025. Super-SBM-DEA, gravity model, and social network analysis are applied to explore spatial network structure's dynamic process of SEI-GIE from 12th to 14th Five-Year-Plan period (2011-2025). Empirical results show that (1) Under the effect of digital economy, the SEI-GIE in China generally shows a U-shaped fluctuation trend, in which the growth trend in the central region is obvious, and the western region shows significant fluctuations. (2) The spatial correlation network of SEI-GIE presents a complex and stable center-periphery circle. Particularly, the overall increase in network efficiency highlights the strong small-world characteristics. (3) Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu have always been in the leading core position, with strong influence and control; And Tianjin's core position in the network will decline. Additionally, Guangxi and Chongqing have great potential, but Guangdong needs to strengthen its radiation effect. (4) Block model shows that plate-I (Beijing, Tianjin) receive spatial spillovers from others, while plates-III,IV have significant spillover effects. This study provides theoretical reference for policymakers from a network perspective to promote development of China's SEI-GIE.

Time-varying causality relationships between trade openness, technological innovation, industrialization, financial development, and carbon emissions in Thailand.

Over the last twenty years, there has been swift growth in industrialization and technological advancements, driving economic progress. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that these sectors will bring about environmental shifts. Thus far, endeavors have been undertaken to assess the influence of industrialization and technological advancements on environmental deterioration. Additionally, the extensive discussion surrounding the impact of financial development, trade openness, and technological innovation on the environment has not yielded conclusive empirical findings. Studies often operate under the assumption of symmetric relationships, potentially leading to biased results. Adding to the discussion on the drivers of carbon neutrality, the time-dependent effects of critical aspects such as financial development and technological innovation should inform meaningful policies for environmental management. This article explores the time-varying causal association between trade openness, industrialization, financial development, technological innovation, and CO2 emissions in Thailand using novel time-varying Granger causality tests. The time-varying causality outcomes demonstrate that the associations change significantly over time, in contrast to the results of Toda-Yamamoto causality. Overall, there exists a bidirectional relationship between industrialization, financial development, trade openness, technological innovation, and CO2 emissions over different time sequences. These outcomes have implications for both policy and research.

Cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the next decade: Predicting and shaping the impact of technological innovations.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiac arrest (CA) is the third leading cause of death, with persistently low survival rates despite medical advancements. This article evaluates the potential of emerging technologies to enhance CA management over the next decade, using predictions from the AI tools ChatGPT-4 and Gemini Advanced. METHODS: We conducted an exploratory literature review to envision the future of cardiopulmonary arrest (CA) management. Utilizing ChatGPT-4 and Gemini Advanced, we predicted implementation timelines for innovations in early recognition, CPR, defibrillation, and post-resuscitation care. We also consulted the AI to assess the consistency and reproducibility of the predictions. RESULTS: We extrapolate that healthcare may embrace new technologies, such as comprehensive monitoring of vital signs to activate the emergency system (wireless detectors, smart speakers, and wearable devices), use new innovative early CPR and early AED devices (robot CPR, wearable AEDs, and immersive reality), and post-resuscitation care monitoring (brain-computer interface). These technologies could enhance timely life-saving interventions for cardiac arrest. However, there are many ethical and practical challenges, particularly in maintaining patient privacy and equity. The two AI tools made different predictions, with a horizon for implementation ranging between three and eight years. CONCLUSION: Integrating advanced monitoring technologies and AI-driven tools offers hope in improving CA management. A balanced approach involving rigorous scientific validation and ethical oversight is necessary. Collaboration among technologists, medical professionals, ethicists, and policymakers is crucial to use these innovations ethically to reduce CA incidence and enhance outcomes. Further research is needed to enhance the reliability of AI predictive capabilities.