Understanding the Dynamic Convergence Phenomenon from the Perspective of Diversity and Persistence: A Cross-Sector Comparative Analysis between the United States and South Korea.

Frank van Rijnsoever,Oh-jin Kwon,We Shim,Keun-hwan Kim,Yeong-ho Moon

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159249

Frank van Rijnsoever, Oh-jin Kwon + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159249

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Abstract

This study was designed to improve the explanation for the behavior of the phenomenon of technology convergence. The concepts and measurements of diversity and persistence, as inherent attributes of the phenomenon, were elaborated by reviewing different theories. Diversity was examined by analyzing the degree of capability to absorb heterogeneous technologies, while persistence was investigated by analyzing the degree of continuity in the usage of cumulated technologies. With these two dimensions, an analytic framework was proposed to compare the differences and dynamic patterns of convergence competence by countries at the technology sector level. Three major technology sectors in the United States and South Korea, namely, information and communication technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, were explored to explicitly illustrate the differences in technology convergence competence. The results show that although Korea has narrowed the differences of capabilities for technology convergence compared to the US, Korea not only has to continuously pursue the improvement of specialization for all three sectors, but also has to encourage the exploitation of different technology fields. The suggested framework and indicators allow for monitoring of the dynamic patterns of a technology sector and identifying the sources of the gaps. Thus, the framework and indicators are able to ensure the purpose of government innovation policy and to provide strategic directions for redistributing the proper combination of sources to accomplish technology convergence.

Highlights

The phenomenon of convergence has been interpreted as a confluence process through merging hitherto separated industries, generally triggered by new science discoveries and technological developments, which remove entry barriers across the industries and set in motion evolutionary development with a broader impact on global economics [1]
Where A is technology that cites technology i; t is the time period; n is the number of technologies (IPCs); piAt is the proportion of citations of technology A to technology i at time period t; MiAt is the number of times technology A cites technology i at time period t in three-dimensional occurrence matrix M; and dij is the distance between technologies i and j
We undertook a comparative analysis of the correlations between other well-established diversity indexes, such as the variety, Shannon index, and Simpson index, and the two indicators (Rao-Stirling diversity and persistence), which can be found in S1 File

Summary

Introduction

The phenomenon of convergence has been interpreted as a confluence process through merging hitherto separated industries, generally triggered by new science discoveries and technological developments, which remove entry barriers across the industries and set in motion evolutionary development with a broader impact on global economics [1]. The growing importance of technology convergence has been reflected in the extant literature that addresses the benefits and impact of convergence [2, 4,5] Despite this increasing interest, prior studies focused on the technological developments [6,7], management practice [1, 5, 8], and new business opportunities [9,10,11] that stem from newly converging industries. Prior studies focused on the technological developments [6,7], management practice [1, 5, 8], and new business opportunities [9,10,11] that stem from newly converging industries These studies appear to have been analyzed with little attention to an in-depth examination of the inherent nature of technology convergence. Addressing such a requirement can provide the primary basis for comparing the differences in the degree of technological convergence across countries, enabling identification of the reasons for the gap in technological convergence and suggesting appropriate strategies to bridge the gap

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