On global diffusion of electrical and electronics engineering research #x2014; An extensive quantitative analysis of IEEE publications (1980#x2013;2008)

Abstract

To provide further insight into globalization of research and development (R&D) activities, this study examines the nature of electrical and electronics (E&E) and information communication technology (ICT) research, and identifies the global shifts that have occurred in publication activities under the assumption of a definite correlation between research activities and publication activities. This study analyzed the technical and publication activities of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE), the largest professional engineering association and the most influential academic publisher in engineering. We first constructed an original comprehensive database of periodical (journal and magazine) articles and conference proceedings published by IEEE between 1980 and 2008, which comprised approximately 355,000 periodical articles and 1.14 million conference proceedings. We analyzed the transitions in technical innovations from two perspectives: (1) trends within individual countries, specifically those within the country represented by the first author listed in each IEEE publication, and (2) trends within specialized fields represented in IEEE societies and technical councils. The number of published periodical articles increased fourfold between 1980 and 2008, while that of published conference proceedings increased more than tenfold since 1988. In particular, the number of conference proceedings published by China has increased dramatically since 2002, even exceeding the number published by the U.S. in 2008. As technologically emerging countries have increasingly contributed to article production, IEEE has increasingly moved away from its U.S.-centered origins to literally become the "electrical and electronics association of the world." The proportion of articles published by authors in North America, Europe, and East Asia has become increasingly balanced, leading to the formation of a tri-polar structure of IEEE technological activities. Within this structure, North America focuses on the field of ICT, Europe focuses on the fields of ICT and E&E, and East Asia focuses on the field of E&E. This comprehensive analysis of IEEE publications over a period of almost 30 years revealed that with the emergence of more active international competition, glocalization is occurring among the publications and research activities of IEEE, and that the nature of E&E and ICT research is under a system in which the U.S. sets an agenda for technical innovation that stimulates research activities in each country.