We analyse the effects of geopolitical tensions on international research and innovation collaborations. We find that belonging to different geopolitical blocs significantly reduces the likelihood of collaboration, and this association is even more pronounced in critical technologies.

We provide an overview of the Hausmann-Hidalgo economic complexity framework, covering its foundational concepts, empirical applications, policy uses, and directions for future research. We aim to equip readers with a basic understanding of this framework and to help them navigate the vast literature. We argue that the Hausmann-Hidalgo economic complexity serves as a flexible framework for understanding the dynamics of knowledge diversification across multiple economic domains and provides a starting point for the design of place-based policies.

We adapt a Capability Maturity Model to assess the innovation capacity and international engagement of universities with engineering programs across the Americas, validating its research and technology dimensions with publication, citation, patent, and collaboration data from OpenAlex and Espacenet. Most institutions cluster at intermediate maturity levels, indicating standardized processes without data-driven innovation management, and suggesting the binding constraint is the quality and impact of research rather than its absence.

We examine how countries can use existing scientific and productive capabilities to unlock untapped technological potential. By analyzing linkages between trade, science, and technology, we introduce an indicator that assesses future technological growth. This framework helps policymakers strengthen innovation ecosystems and support sustainable technological development.

Technical report outlining the methodology for the 2026 WIPO Innovation Capabilities Outlook, detailing the data sources, clustering procedures, and complexity metrics used to evaluate scientific, technological, entrepreneurial, and industrial capabilities across countries. It explains how indicators such as relatedness, complexity, and diversification potential are computed to assess innovation ecosystems worldwide.

This book chapter examines two opposing forces in knowledge production: geographical spread and spatial concentration. Using patent and publication data, it shows that while knowledge activities have expanded globally beyond traditional hubs, they remain concentrated within countries in specific hotspots with high connectivity both nationally and internationally, raising important distributional concerns.

We examine how innovation policies can better address development challenges by focusing on countries' existing capabilities and the complex and tacit nature of knowledge. We argue that effective policies should be place-based and multidimensional, rather than imitating solutions from elsewhere, to support sustainable economic growth.

We analyze global innovation patterns using data on scientific publications, patents, and trade, finding that economic complexity in each of these domains is closely linked to future growth, patenting, and publishing. Our results show that a country's embedded capabilities shape both its future diversification opportunities and the path-dependent nature of innovation.

We measure innovation capabilities across science, technology, and production, using data from publications, patents, and trade. Our results reveal that higher innovation complexity is linked to economic growth and that existing capabilities predict future innovation, emphasizing the need for nuanced policy indicators and strategies.

This chapter analyzes global innovation clusters using geo-localized patent and publication data, emphasizing the impact of high-skilled migrants. It finds that migration-driven personal connections are often as important as, or more important than, organizational collaborations in cluster success.

This paper uses global patent and publication data to show that knowledge production has expanded to more countries beyond traditional innovation hubs, driven in part by the rise of Global Innovation Networks. However, within countries, knowledge activities remain concentrated in a few hotspots, leading to greater connectivity among these areas and potential distributional challenges.

The first edition of WIPO's flagship report on innovation capabilities, mapping the scientific, technological, and productive capabilities of countries and their potential for diversification. The methodology behind the report is documented in the accompanying Technical Notes.

An interactive platform that lets users explore the scientific, technological, productive, and entrepreneurial capabilities of countries, based on publication, patent, trade and trademark data.

An interactive platform built on complexity and relatedness indicators, helping innovation ecosystems assess their current strengths and identify feasible directions for diversification.

Does the adoption of AI in research democratize global collaboration networks, or does it reinforce existing inequalities? Using OpenAlex articles published between 1990 and 2024, we classify papers according to whether they rely on AI-based methods, on other methods, or on none, and we track how the geographic concentration of co-authorship evolves. We find that collaborations in AI-based research have become less concentrated globally, pointing to a potential democratizing force. Yet most collaborations still take place within a single country, so spatial inequalities may persist.

We examine the educational backgrounds and career trajectories of U.S. faculty from 1880 to 1990, to understand the reliance of U.S. universities on foreign-educated and foreign-born faculty. Our findings reveal that over a century, U.S. universities transitioned from relying U.S.-born, foreign-educated to foreign-born, U.S.-educated faculty.

A paper describing stylized facts and listing potential research avenues for geographic content metrics. It extracts geographic content from titles and abstracts using NLP models.

We study how migration changes the geographic focus of research by Colombian scientists. We find that scientists who initially studied Colombia begin to study other countries after leaving Colombia.

We study how technologies combine in a single individual and in collectives of individuals and firms. We find that although a single individual combines a median of two technologies, and a country combines 155, both produce a similar number of technology-technology combinations. However, the strength and significance of these associations are highly heterogeneous.

We study the historical origins of current prestige hierarchies and patterns of inequality in US faculty hiring. We find that, since 1880, the supply (education) of US faculty has been highly concentrated in a few universities. Prestige hierarchies have remained persistent, even though the most prestigious universities in 1880 differ from those of today.

A paper proposing an empirical methodology to map the linkages between science, technology, and production capabilities. Our findings reveal that having strong scientific and production capabilities in cross-related domains predicts subsequent technological development.

An open-access directory mapping Colombian researchers worldwide, combining an interactive map, ORCID-based profiles, and co-authorship networks. A volunteer initiative that reimplements an earlier project led by Julian Prieto, Mónica Medina, Ana Saborio, and Esmeralda Bermeo.