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Quarterly research and innovation literature review: The geopolitics of R&I

Details

Publication date
26 April 2022
Author
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Related department
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation

Description

Although innovative firms are typically better equipped to withstand the pressure of highly integrated global markets, the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing uncertainties deriving from sudden changes in the geopolitical context (such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict) revealed several vulnerabilities for policymakers to tackle.

The globalisation process has enhanced the interlinkages across global value chains (GVCs), bringing about several benefits (such as the exploitation of the comparative advantage of international trades) as well as a number of new challenges (such as eased translation of local shocks into global shocks).

In this regard, innovation is not only linked to economic issues. Emerging technologies are becoming a key determinant of international cooperation and competition, also impacting geopolitical relationships. Developing new and more sophisticated technologies is increasingly intertwined with the concepts of resilience and technological sovereignty, calling for new reflections on the role that R&I policy can play in determining interdependencies across countries.

Against this backdrop, EU R&I policy needs to incorporate a new dimension, related to foreign and security issues.

This literature review looks into the interlinkages between innovation and the international context, from both empirical and theoretical perspectives.

The selected papers cover a broad range of topics, from the changes occurred in GVCs and innovation processes, theoretical discussions underpinning the future of globalisation, to the geopolitical repercussions of the EU policy agenda.

Contributors: Valentina Di Girolamo, Alessio Mitra, Océane Peiffer-Smadja and Julien Ravet.

Files

  • 26 APRIL 2022
Quarterly research and innovation literature review (Issue 2022/Q1)