TY - JOUR A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, Knut T1 - The effects of hydrogen research and innovation on international hydrogen trade N2 - Climate change and the pressure to decarbonize, as well as energy security concerns, have drawn the attention of policymakers and the industry to hydrogen energy. To ad-vance the hydrogen economy at a global scale, research and innovation progress is of significant importance, among others. However, previous studies have provided only lim-ited quantitative evidence of the effects of research and innovation on the formation of a global hydrogen market. Instead, they postulate rather than empirically support this rela-tionship. Therefore, this study analyzes the effects of research and innovation measured by scientific publications, patents, and standards on bilateral hydrogen trade flows for 32 countries between 1995 and 2019 in a gravity model of trade, using regression analyses and Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimation. The main results of the PPML estimation show that research and innovation progress is indeed associated with increased trade, especially with patenting and (international) standardization enhancing hydrogen export volumes. As policy implications, we derive that increased public R&D funding can help increase the competitiveness of hydrogen energy and boost market growth, along with infrastructure support and harmonized standards and regulations. KW - Hydrogen supply KW - Global hydrogen market KW - Research and innovation KW - Push and pull effects KW - Hydrogen policies PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-594875 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113974 SN - 0301-4215 VL - 186 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-59487 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weiss, Daniel A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, Knut T1 - Exploring the fuel-cell technological innovation system: Technology interactions in the mobility sector N2 - With the rise of alternative sustainable powertrain technologies, the mobility paradigm has undergone fundamental changes in recent years. In the wake of the ongoing transition of the road-vehicle sector, fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) have received increased political attention. However, they constitute only a tiny fraction of total road vehicles nowadays and still face competition from other powertrain technologies. Therefore, this study specifically focuses on how the focal technological innovation system of FCVs is influenced by the emerging electric vehicles (EVs) and established internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) as its context structures. To this end, our time-series vector error correction models analyze the short- and long-run causalities between our focal TIS and its context structures. Using publications, patents, and standards as quantitative TIS indicators, we analyze the modes of technology interaction between FCVs and EVs and FCVs and ICEVs to determine the life-cycle phase of our focal FCV-TIS in more depth. Our results demonstrate that the FCV-TIS is in its formative phase based on the dominance of the EV and ICEV context structures. As policy implications, we derive application-sensitive technology policies that combine the benefits of each mobility technology toward the sustainable transition of the mobility sector. KW - Technological innovation system (TIS) KW - Technology interaction KW - TIS-context relations KW - Fuel-cell vehicles KW - Electric vehicles KW - Internal combustion engine vehicles PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626599 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2024.101107 SN - 2590-1982 VL - 25 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-62659 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - Knowledge and technology transfer via publications, patents, standards: Exploring the hydrogen technological innovation system N2 - Clean technologies play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the climate. Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier and fuel that can be used in many applications. We explore the global hydrogen technological innovation system (TIS) by analyzing the three knowledge and technology transfer channels of publications, patents, and standards. Since the adoption of hydrogen technologies requires trust in their safety,this study specifically also focuses on hydrogen safety. Our results show that general and hydrogen safety research has increased significantly while patenting experienced stagnation. An analysis of the non-patent literature in safety patents shows little recognition of scientific publications. Similarly, publications are underrepresented in the analyzed 75 international hydrogen and fuel cell standards. This limited transfer of knowledge from published research to standards points to the necessity for greater involvement of researchers in standardization. We further derive implications for the hydrogen TIS and recommendations for a better and more impactful alignment of the three transfer channels. KW - Technological innovation system KW - Hydrogen safety KW - Knowledge and technology transfer KW - Publications KW - Patents KW - Standards PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-564250 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122201 SN - 0040-1625 VL - 187 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-56425 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on accredited conformity assessment bodies: insights from a multinational study N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic posed new and manifold challenges to organizations and their operations worldwide. Conformity assessment bodies (CABs), such as testing or medical laboratories, certification, and inspection bodies, were also affected by the associated disruptions. Their role in this crisis is highly relevant, as CABs are essential pillars of the quality infrastructure: their activities ensure that products and services meet requirements as defined in standards and regulations, thereby contributing to their safety and reliability. The question arises of how CABs and their operations were affected by the pandemic and how they responded. To this end, we present the results of an international survey of 986 CABs of all types in Germany, the UK, Italy, and New Zealand. Overall, CABs reported, on average, a reduction in demand for their services during the pandemic, facing restrictions in all countries. In addition, the pandemic had an overall negative impact on the CABs’ investment and innovation activities. However, investments in digital infrastructure were increased as a countermeasure, with CABs reporting a higher need for digitalization. The paper highlights and discusses results from in-depth analyses relevant to policymakers and industry alike. KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Conformity assessment KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Corona KW - Covid-19 KW - Resilience PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-556396 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-022-01514-x SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-55639 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Oh, Hyochan A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - Pathways to the hydrogen economy: A multidimensional analysis of the technological innovation systems of Germany and South Korea N2 - The global trend towards decarbonization and the demand for energy security have put hydrogen energy into the spotlight of industry, politics, and societies. Numerous governments worldwide are adopting policies and strategies to facilitate the transition towards hydrogen-based economies. To assess the determinants of such transition, this study presents a comparative analysis of the technological innovation systems (TISs) for hydrogen technologies in Germany and South Korea, both recognized as global frontrunners in advancing and implementing hydrogen-based solutions. By providing a multidimensional assessment of pathways to the hydrogen economy, our analysis introduces two novel and crucial elements to the TIS analysis: (i) We integrate the concept of ‘quality infrastructure’ given the relevance of safety and quality assurance for technology adoption and social acceptance, and (ii) we emphasize the social perspective within the hydrogen TIS. To this end, we conducted 24 semi-structured expert interviews, applying qualitative open coding to analyze the data. Our results indicate that the hydrogen TISs in both countries have undergone significant developments across various dimensions. However, several barriers still hinder the further realization of a hydrogen economy. Based on our findings, we propose policy implications that can facilitate informed policy decisions for a successful hydrogen transition. KW - Hydrogen economy KW - Technological innovation system KW - Quality infrastructure KW - Multidimensional technology adoption KW - Social acceptance PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-593312 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.08.286 IS - Volume 49, Part D SP - 405 EP - 421 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-59331 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Technology adoption and digital maturity in the conformity assessment industry: Empirical evidence from an international study N2 - Technological innovation and digitalization are transforming industries and organizations worldwide. Digital Maturity Models often serve as a reference point to monitor the digitalization progression through prescribed stages. Yet, little is still understood about (i) how a digital maturity model should be designed and deployed in a specific industry setting and (ii) the association between digital maturity and technology adoption. Building on extant literature and extensive interviews with industry experts, we first develop a digital maturity model in the context of the conformity assessment industry (a globally regulated industry responsible for assessing compliance of organizations with standards and regulations). Second, we implement the model and conduct a survey across 1447 organizations in 15 countries. Our findings reveal that the digital transformation journey of the industry progresses along five stages of maturity (with most organizations in the early/ intermediate stages of digital maturity) with distinctive patterns of technical and managerial practices across all stages. Adoption of technologies is (unsurprisingly) associated with higher digital maturity levels - albeit that association does not hold for complex technologies (such as Blockchain) and is impacted by country specifics (measured by the Digital Skills Gap Index). Our study provides insights into digital maturity and the adoption of technologies in an institutional environment that is highly regulated and conservative, in which high integrity of service provision is primary, and digitalization is a secondary focus of organizations. KW - Digital Maturity KW - Standardisation KW - Digital Maturity Scores KW - Technology Adoption KW - Digital Technologies PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601930 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102564 SN - 0160-791X VL - 77 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-60193 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Quality assurance in supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic: Empirical evidence on organisational resilience of conformity assessment bodies N2 - Global supply chains rely on the compliance and safety of their products, processes, and facilities. These vital services (often referred to as ‘quality assurance’ or ‘conformity assessment’ services) are provided by Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). This empirical study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CABs as well as their response to the resulting challenges. Data was gathered through an online survey among all accredited CABs in Germany, which resulted in 555 valid responses. Taking a resilience perspective, we reveal that CABs were hit hard by the disruptions caused by the pandemic, albeit to different degrees, in part due to their type of services, size, and sectors served. Furthermore, we find that contingency plans do not directly cushion order declines (as the main indicator of the economic impact of the pandemic) but rather indirectly through helping CABs respond more quickly, which in turn mitigates their order declines. However, our results show that contingency plans can also have adverse effects if they hinder flexible reaction to the crisis. The findings of our study help managers and policymakers learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the resilience of the conformity assessment sector and quality assurance in the event of future crises. KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Organizational resilience KW - COVID-19 KW - Conformity assessment PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2022.2078189 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Taylor & Francis AN - OPUS4-55066 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -