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The Impact of Publications, Patents, and Standards on International Trade - The Case of Hydrogen
(2022)
Hydrogen as a clean energy carrier has received increased attention due to climate change and the need to introduce new, low-emissions technologies to the market. However, the drivers of increased hydrogen use have been barely explored. Therefore, this research paper investigates the impacts of publications, patents, and standards on international hydrogen trade, an established technology diffusion channel. In a fixed-effects (FE) regression model covering 37 countries between 1995 and 2020, we demonstrate that publications, patents, and standards are associated with increased levels of hydrogen exports and imports. Furthermore, we test the technology gap theory and explore the meaning of our empirical results for the hydrogen technological innovation system (TIS). Among others, we show that publications, patents, and standards can contribute to a more developed hydrogen TIS.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Conformity Assessment: Insights from a Multinational Study
(2021)
The COVID-19 pandemic has 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, are also affected by the associated disruptions. Their situation 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. Considering the roles and functions of CABs in economy, health, and innovation, the question arises 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 negative development of demand during the pandemic, facing restrictions in all countries. In addition, the pandemic had overall negative impact on the CABs’ investment and innovation activities. However, investments in digital infrastructure were increased as countermeasure, with CABs reporting an increased need for digitalization. Resources relevant to organizational resilience were available to different extents, affecting the speed of response to the challenges of the pandemic. The paper highlights and discusses results from in-depth analyses, which are relevant for policy makers and industry alike.
Climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions pose tremendous challenges to policymakers, the economy, and society. In this context, the development of clean, low-emission technologies plays a crucial role in mitigating the negative impact of fossil fuels on the climate. Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier and fuel that, thanks to its versatility, can be used in many applications. However, the adoption of hydrogen technology requires sufficient trust in its safety. To proxy the development of hydrogen safety innovations, we provide an analysis along the three knowledge and technology transfer channels of publications, patents, and standards. Our results show that research on hydrogen safety has increased significantly in the last decades, with hydrogen safety patents experiencing a general upward trend between 1980 and 2020, just recently decreasing. However, an analysis of almost 100 international hydrogen and fuel cell standards shows only a small number of references to scientific publications. This apparently limited transfer of knowledge from publications points to the need to optimize the coordination of the three knowledge and technology transfer channels for the future development of hydrogen technology. Based on the exploration of this gap, we recommend that research on the three channels for hydrogen be intensified and that the impact of hydrogen safety technology research and development on their diffusion be investigated.
The services of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) are essential to provide for trust in and safety of digital products and services by demonstrating that requirements from standards are met. Thus, it is vital that CABs are ready to fulfil their tasks also in the digital transformation, having the necessary capabilities and resources. Our study is the first to comprehensively assess the digital maturity in the CA industry and to provide some insights into the readiness of the industry to support and at the same time benefit from the digital age. To this end, we developed and implemented a digital maturity model tailored to the CA industry. In this paper, we present first results from our survey among 354 accredited CABs in Germany. With our research we contribute to better understand the digital transformation and maturation of CABs along distinctive stages. The findings suggest that the transformation process in the CA industry is just at the beginning, with the majority of CABs still in early stages of digital maturity. Also, only a few of them already exploit the latest digital technologies and applications like artificial intelligence, blockchain or big data analytics. Nevertheless, CABs regard digitalization as a big
opportunity – for themselves and their industry.
Against the backdrop of the sustainability transition of economies worldwide, decarbonizing road traffic is high on the agenda. This has focused the interest of policymakers and automobile manufacturers on sustainable, zero-emission powertrain technologies. Among these technologies, hydrogen fuel cell (FC) vehicles have a positive climate impact, given that their hydrogen is produced from renewable energy. However, FC vehicles have not yet gained significant market shares. Therefore, based on the technological innovation systems (TIS) approach, this study analyzes how FC vehicles are influenced by EVs and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles as their context structures. To operationalize the technology relations between our focal FC-TIS and its context structures, we use the sum of international publications, patents filed at the European Patent Office, and international ISO and IEC standards as indicators for each technology. Our results show that the FC-TIS is dominated by its context structures, especially regarding commercially relevant patents and international standards. Therefore, we conclude that the FC-TIS is in its formative life-cycle phase and identify the need for intensified patenting and standardization in relation to the competing EVs and ICE vehicles.