Frontier Technology Adoption in Developing Countries: A Measurement Framework and Proposed Questionnaire

The report aims to present a measurement framework for collecting and interpreting information on the adoption of new and emerging technologies by business sector firms in developing countries. Such framework is needed due to the existing data limitations and lack of information on the patterns of adoption and use of frontier technologies in productive sectors in developed and developing countries, which may be very uneven and partial even in the most advanced countries. More information is needed in terms of what sectors are adopting frontier technologies, which parts of different value chains, and what kinds of firms are adopting them and how extensively they are diffused in the economy. Information is also needed about the firms using frontier technologies in terms of such characteristics as their batch size and the standardization of their products. That information is critical to inform STI policies aiming to promote the use, adoption and adaptation of frontier technologies in developing countries.