Technical systems and cross-sector knowledge diffusion: an illustration with drones

ABSTRACT

If cumulativeness is one feature of knowledge as economic good [Foray, D. 2006. The Economics of Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press], one may wonder why knowledge produced in a given sector does not result in several applications thorough the whole economy. Therefore it is important to understand the dynamics of knowledge that helps a given piece of knowledge to overcome sectorial silos and become more transversal. Here, focusing on Drones, patents analysis reveals how different technical systems use or do not use the same knowledge to solve identical issues or needs. This paper offers three major advantages. First, it allows distinguishing between component knowledge linked with technological bricks and architectural knowledge linked with system integration. Second, it opens new possibilities to measure the transversality of knowledge or its duality (beyond the debates in defense economics). And finally, it offers the opportunity to empirically analyse duality using patent databases.

KEYWORDS:

• Technical system
• patent
• duality
• coherence
• drones
• capabilities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr François-Xavier Meunier Post-doctoral researcher ENSTA ParisTech Graduate from Paris 1 Panthen Sorbonne (2013), PhD in economics from Paris 1 Panthen Sorbonne (2017), François-Xavier Meunier is post-doctoral researcher in economics in ENSTA ParisTech.

His research is both theoretical and applied, and focuses on industrial economics, innovation economics and geographic economics. In his PhD thesis, he studied the technological dynamics within defense industries in order to better understand their relations with the civil sectors. The work carried out in collaboration with other researchers, concentrate on technological diffusion more broadly from the angle of technical systems, territories and inter-industrial relations.

Recently, as part of his post-doctoral research, he devoted his work to analyse the link between science and technology during the innovation process in defense industries in relation with the French patent office.

Renaud Bellais Associate researcher, ENSTA Bretagne Institutional advisor to the CEO, MBDA. Graduate from Institut d'Études Politiques de Lille (1994), PhD in economics from Université du Littoral (1998) and accredited research director (‘HDR’) from Université Grenoble-Alpes (2004), Renaud Bellais is an associate researcher in economics at ENSTA Bretagne and a member of CESICE research unit, Université Grenoble Alpes.

After being lecturer at Université du Littoral (1998–2000), he spent four years as project leader in the strategic studies team of the French defence procurement agency (DGA/CHEAr/DRS). From 2004 to 2017, he worked for Airbus in various positions at HQ and Astrium, its space division, being eventually appointed as chief economist – public affairs. He joined MBDA, the European leader of missile systems, in December 2017 as an institutional advisor to the CEO.

Renaud Bellais has also teaching commitments in defense economics (University Paris 2, French Army Academy), innovation economics (University Paris 1, ENSTA Bretagne) and international economics (IRIS).

Notes

1 A patent is classified in different technological classes. Each one of them can be considered as a specific field ok knowledge. In this article, the International Patent Classification (IPC) with 4 digits is used.