Ecosystem of the medical device industry in South Korea: A Network Analysis Approach

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study will determine the major stakeholders and issues by analyzing the ecosystem around the current Korean medical device industry, and examine which policy measures must be taken for the future development of this industry. MethodsA two-mode network analysis was conducted to determine the major stakeholders and the issues of the ecosystem for the medical device industry. Two-mode network analysis is used to determine the relationship of nodes with two different characteristics, instead of a one-mode network that shows only the relationship among the same nodes. ResultsThe government generally took the lead during the 18th National Assembly period, the medical and industrial circles in addition to the government appeared as major agents during the 19th National Assembly period. Meanwhile, agents in other fields aside from government agencies disappeared during the 20th National Assembly period. ConclusionsTherefore, the medical interest groups and medical world, industrial world, and related agencies that have currently disappeared from the 20th National Assembly must return to their active roles; in order to accomplish this, effort must be put forth by the government to bring them to the table for discussions.