The influence of ICT-driven innovation: a comparative study on national innovation efficiency between developed and emerging countries

In the Big Data era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), including the Internet and sensors, digitises physical activity extensively. This leads to the development of ICT Driven Innovation (IDI) which may have a strong influence on National Innovation Efficiency (NIE). The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the impact of IDI on NIE in both advanced and emerging countries. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is employed to obtain the individual score for each country. We focus on comparing IDI between advanced and emerging economies in particular. We believe that IDI is an important reason why the average NIE score is higher in developed countries than in emerging countries. Obviously, developed countries have shown good capabilities in IDI in excess of most emerging countries. This includes but is not limited to R&D expenditure across the ICT industry, ICT patents etc. Several emerging economies received high NIE scores such as China and Brazil, who also have a good performance in IDI. On this basis, we discuss the mechanism of how IDI affects NIE. ICT industry innovation, non-ICT industries innovation, and ICT infrastructure are summarised as the primary factor affecting NIE by IDI. Further empirical research is required in the future.