Knowledge Production on Fourth Industrial Revolution in the ECOWAS Region in Africa: A Scientometric Analysis

The study measured the trend of research output relating to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) in the ECOWAS region in Africa. It examined the year wise growth, the breadth of collaboration and impact of collaboration on the productivity of research compared to the world’s average. The study reports the findings of a scientometric study of 4IR knowledge production culled from the broad field of specialization in computer science research in all ECOWAS states. This data was extracted from the Scopus Database using “SciVal” an online analytic tool that allows visualization of research, benchmarking for comparison and analysis of strategic partnerships (collaborations) among actors in a research system. The analysis from the study provided information on volume and growth of knowledge supply on 4IR. It also provided information on the breadth of collaboration by ECOWAS member states on 4IR and the impact of the collaboration on research productivity of the ECOWAS region.

Keywords: Collaborative research, ECOWAS region, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Knowledge supply, research productivity.