Technological pervasiveness and variety of innovators in Green ICT: A patent-based analysis

Many eco-innovations have been linked to technical change in the ICT domain. Leveraging the distinc-tive features of general purpose technologies, ICT have the potential to steer green growth and to helpdecouple this growth from ecological damage. The paper aims to shed light on innovation dynamics inthis emerging sector by investigating the patterns of innovation in the green ICT domains using grantedEPO patent data from 1986 to 2006. By means of a network analysis, it identifies existing green ICTdomains and examines the characteristics of innovative activity in these domains, focusing in particularon growth and technological pervasiveness, as well as on the variety of innovators. Results indicate thatthe innovative activity in green ICT domains is characterised by high growth and high levels of techno-logical pervasiveness, considerable entry of new innovators and a variety of actors – with a prevalenceof large ICT firms and universities. However, the analysis highlights the existence of three different clus-ters – emerging fields, established fields and mature fields – that are defined by different structures ofinnovative activities and by different technological opportunities