A number of academic studies have suggested that in science-driven business sectors, being part of both scientific and commercial networks is crucial to driving innovation. A forthcoming paper in Research Policy, titled “Innovation as Co-Evolution of Scientific and Technological Networks,” makes a detailed examination of how the two worlds overlap and interact. The paper is by Fiona Murray, an assistant professor of management at MIT's Sloan School of Management. The study implies that the scope and nature of the interface can have a strong influence on the innovation process.Murray's methodology begins by examining a single patented idea in the burgeoning biotechnology field of tissue engineering, then she uses simple patent analysis to create a map of the people and institutions that contributed to the idea. Each patent lists not only the ideas the inventor claims to be new, but also “prior art,” patented ideas that the inventor has built his or her work upon, and “forward citations,” later inventions built on the ideas in the current patent. The patent also cites some of the relevant scientific literature that underpins the commercial work. The study encompassed the detailed analysis of 158 papers and 76 patents, supplemented by in-depth interviews.
