Research on Evaluating Development Potential of Core Technology and International Competition Situation: Based on the Analysis of the Medical Equipment Industry

核心技术发展潜力评价及国际竞争态势研判—基于医疗设备产业的分析

Abstract

The emergence of technology monopolies is incessant due to the intensifying global competition in the field of technology. Therefore, the crucial issue for China to overcome technical barriers and enhance its technological competitiveness is to assess the development potential of core technologies and the international competitive landscape. The description of the international competition situation of technology involves two steps: assessing the developmental potential of core technology and evaluating the competitiveness of each country in the technosphere with the great potential for development. The initial step involves acquiring all industry patents from the patent platform in order to select the core technology. The paper screen core patents are then evaluated based on technical and commercial criteria. Subsequently, a network-occurrence relationships of IPCs in these core patents is established, and the IPCs associated with core technologies are selected using centrality measures (degree centrality, closeness centrality, betweenness centrality) and popularity. The potential of core technologies is evaluated by applying the technology life cycle to align the growth of their quantity with the theory of technological system evolution. Consequently, we select core technologies that have not yet reached saturation as those with development potential. The second step involves utilizing five indicators to evaluate the competitiveness of each country in the core technology field with development potential. These indicators include: the number of patents granted to a country, the frequency of citations received by these patents, the inclusion of IPC codes in these patents, the ranking of the country among all patent applicants, and its status within the cooperation network. The paper ultimately employs the aforementioned approach to delineate the competitive landscape of the medical equipment industry. It is found that (1) the IPCs of A61B6/00, A61B90/00, A61B17/34, A61N1/05 and A61M5/172 are recognized as the core technologies with development potential, (2) technologically advanced countries such as the United States, Japan, UK, and Germany hold a technical position with upstream advantages in the supply chain, and (3) China exhibits noticeable deficiencies in the field of potential medical equipment technology. Among them, China ranks fourth in the competitiveness evaluation of research and development of core patented technologies containing core technology IPC number A61B6/00. However, China's competitiveness evaluation is extremely low in the technology containing core technology IPC numbers A61B90/00, A61B17/34, and A61M5/172. The core technology in the technical field represented by IPC classification number A61N1/05 has not been fully mastered by China and requires focused attention. Due to the lack of upstream technology in the industrial chain, China aims to achieve significant breakthroughs within the current competitive technological landscape. To accomplish this, it is imperative for China to explore a development path that aligns with its own technological innovation and identify opportunities for advancements in technologies that have not yet reached saturation point. This will enable China to effectively bridge the technology gap either through comprehensive catch-up or partial domestic substitution. The efficient and sustainable development of China's medical equipment industry requires the integration of targeted investment resources with policy implementation to establish a comprehensive industrial support system.