Measuring innovation in the context of emerging and converging technologies: some methodological reflections

Emerging technologies have been analyzed from the innovation systems theoretical approach. This has meant starting from the premise that the development, use, dissemination and exploitation of technology are similar behaviors that exhibit any other traditional economic sector. However, this omits the fact that emerging technologies have particularities that range from the characteristics of the parties involved, the property rights, the social, technological and institutional dynamics in which they are involved; even the methodological definition of the object of study. This without forgetting the difficulties of access and categorization of information, as in all cases discussed here, emerging technologies cut across many different economic sectors and therefore its use and application diversifies into different process, products and services. This article aims to present a reflection on the possible non-exhaustive methodological alternatives for the study of emerging and/or convergent technologies, such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technologies and genomics, among others, as well as to discuss the relevance of using the framework for the analysis of innovation systems. Without this means discarding its application, but rather establishing complementary schemes that help us have a better understanding of the dynamics and evolution of these technologies.