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Revisiting the concept of Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) for its relevance to health innovation and neglected tropical diseases and for the prevention and control of epidemics

Author

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  • Alexandre Guimarães Vasconcellos
  • Bruna de Paula Fonseca e Fonseca
  • Carlos Medicis Morel
Abstract
Introduction: Countries have traditionally been split into two major groups: developed or industrialized (“the North”) and developing or underdeveloped (“the South”). Several authors and organizations have challenged this classification to recognize countries that have reached an intermediate stage of social and economic development. As proposed by Morel and collaborators in 2005, the concept of Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) defines a group of nations with impactful scientific programs. Here, IDCs are reexamined by a variety of metrics to highlight their role in health innovation through research and development (R&D) programs on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that also positively impact epidemic preparedness. Results: To address the global changes due to expanding globalization we updated the original indicator of the number of USPTO patents deposited by individual countries per GDP and per capita to the number of international patents applications, related to applicant residence and deposited under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) per GNI (or GDP) and per capita. A comparison of the originally described ranking of top innovative countries to those in the present study revealed new members that updated the list of IDCs and showed a prominent role now played by China. Discussion and conclusions: Different techniques can be used to evaluate and measure innovative performance of countries. Country rankings published by traditional indexes, such as the Bloomberg Innovation Index (BII) and the Global Innovation Index (GII), only include high income economies among the top 20 performers. This is in sharp contrast to our approach, which identified 8-9 IDCs among the first 25 with China occupying the top position. Through an analysis of the pros and cons of the different methodologies, the IDC concept challenges more conventional approaches to address and estimate the innovative capacity of countries. Author summary: Splitting countries into two groups—rich and poor; developed (the “North”) and developing (the “South”); leaders and followers—appears to us to be progressively more simplistic, unrealistic and a heritage from colonial times. Triggered by the first wave of globalization, the share of world income going to today’s wealthy nations soared from twenty to almost seventy percent between 1820 and 1990, a fact that supported and strengthened this dichotomic vision; however, the new globalization driven by information technology has propelled the rapid industrialization of several developing nations and simultaneous deindustrialization of developed nations, a phenomenon that has not yet been fully understood nor reflected in traditional economic indexes and analyses. In this article we revisit the 2005 concept of Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) that points to the underrepresentation of IDCs in well-known innovation indexes and country ranks. Our analysis clearly shows a prominent role for IDCs in health innovation, research and development on NTDs and in epidemics preparedness, prevention and control.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandre Guimarães Vasconcellos & Bruna de Paula Fonseca e Fonseca & Carlos Medicis Morel, 2018. "Revisiting the concept of Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) for its relevance to health innovation and neglected tropical diseases and for the prevention and control of epidemics," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pntd00:0006469
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006469
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Alexandre Guimarães Vasconcellos & Carlos Medicis Morel, 2012. "Enabling Policy Planning and Innovation Management through Patent Information and Co-Authorship Network Analyses: A Study of Tuberculosis in Brazil," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(10), pages 1-10, October.
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    1. Cornelius O. Okorie & Christopha C. Arua & Felix M. Nwankwo, 2023. "Nigerian State and Rent-Dependent Economy: An Exposition of Vision 2020 Policy Strategies for Future Sustainable Development," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(3), pages 1330-1345, March.
    2. Paola Perez-Aleman & Tommaso Ferretti, 2023. "Creating innovation capabilities for improving global health: Inventing technology for neglected tropical diseases in Brazil," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 84-114, March.
    3. Danilo Silva Carvalho & Lucas Lopes Felipe & Priscila Costa Albuquerque & Fabio Zicker & Bruna de Paula Fonseca, 2023. "Leadership and international collaboration on COVID-19 research: reducing the North–South divide?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4689-4705, August.

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