Introduction to the Special Issue on National Innovation System in East Asia and ASEAN Countries

Asia’s economy is believed to be expanding at the quickest rate in the globe. Asia was responsible for 57% of the growth in the global GDP between 2015 and 2021. Moreover, Asia accounted about 42% of global GDP in 2021, more than any other region.¹ It solidified its position as a significant player in global economy. Then, which factor has contributed most to the growth? The rapid economic growth is often attributed by scholars in the field of innovation studies to technological innovation and the systemic features associated with innovation activities.

In particular, the national innovation system or NIS is one of the pillars underpinning innovation studies.² This concept is referred to as “the network of institutions whose activities and interactions initiate, import, modify, and diffuse new technologies”.³ Being different from western countries, what features distinguish the national innovation systems in Asia? Researchers point to a number of issues, including a lack of R&D funding, human and natural resources, and strained ties among the system’s innovation actors.

In spite of growing attentions, East Asia and South East Asia have underrepresented in the scholarly community of national innovation systems, compared to industrialized regions like the US and Europe. Furthermore, compared to other regions, East Asia and South East Asia lack the number of comprehensive scientometric research. Does this field have any distinctive quantitative characteristics? This question inspires the development of new, upcoming research. Thus, under the framework of the national innovation system, ASIP (Asian Society of Innovation and Policy) retains regional researchers to conduct scientometric analysis.

Given the aforementioned, the ASIP-hosted conference in 2023 marked the start of this special issue. The national innovation system’s approach tends to frequently rely on qualitative research methods like case studies. Thus, this special issue complement the NIS approach since it uses extensive quantitative techniques like scientometrics (e.g. bibliometrics, patent analysis, altmetrics, etc.,). Based on these methods, evidence-based policy recommendations can make the goals of the policy more palatable to a wider spectrum of policy practitioners. Furthermore, scientometric studies would provide a comprehensive picture of the innovation system in this region and enhance the dynamics and structure of the system in these nations. Additionally, it would aid in comprehending the diversities and idiosyncrasies in these countries’ innovation systems.

The following describes the features of this special issue in terms of the contexts, innovation subjects, and methodologies. First, this special issue’s front section includes pieces discussing East Asian nations including Taiwan and Korea as well as the relationship between the ASEAN countries and China, Korea, and the United States. Articles about different subjects in ASEAN nations come next. Second, this special issue identifies a number of topics with national innovation systems (such as research funding, collaboration, open access, SDGs, and entrepreneurship) as well as with particular tech fields (such as AI, batteries, open access, and fintech). We also provide diagnostics on innovation systems and a comprehensive review of the literature on East Asian innovation studies. Thirdly, the majority of the papers in this special issue use a variety of scientometric approaches, including text analysis, network analysis, patent analysis, and bibliometrics. Furthermore, several studies use conventional methods like benchmarking and the Gini coefficient.

This special issue hopes to encourage the academic conversation on scientometric research on national innovation systems in Asia and ASEAN countries. I am so pleased to announce these original and unique researches. Enjoy the excitement of discovering new knowledge on ourselves in this special issue with us.