Han Woo Park

A Comparison of the Knowledge-Based Innovation Systems in the Economies of South Korea and the Netherlands Using Triple Helix Indicators

SummaryThis paper elaborates on the Triple Helix model for measuring the emergence of a knowledge base of socio-economic systems. The ‘knowledge infrastructure’ is measured using multiple indicators: webometric, scientometric, and technometric. The paper employs this triangulation strategy to examine the current state of the innovation systems of South Korea and the Netherlands. These indicators are thereafter used for the evaluation of the systemness in configurations of university-industry-government relations. South Korea is becoming somewhat stronger than the Netherlands in terms of scientific and technological outputs and in terms of the knowledge-based dynamics; South Korea’s portfolio is more traditional than that of the Netherlands. For example, research and patenting in the biomedical sector is underdeveloped. In terms of the Internet-economy, the Netherlands seem oriented towards global trends more than South Korea; this may be due to the high component of services in the Dutch economy.

Has globalization strengthened South Korea's national research system? National and international dynamics of the Triple Helix of scientific co-authorship relationships in South Korea

We trace the structural patterns of co-authorship between Korean researchers at three institutional types (university, government, and industry) and their international partners in terms of the mutual information generated in these relations. Data were collected from the Web of Science during the period 1968–2009. The traditional Triple-Helix indicator was modified to measure the evolving network of co-authorship relations. The results show that international co-authorship relations have varied considerably over time and with changes in government policies, but most relations have become stable since the early 2000s. In other words, the national publication system of Korea has gained some synergy from R&D internationalization during the 1990s, but the development seems to stagnate particularly at the national level: whereas both university and industrial collaborations are internationalized, the cross-connection within Korea has steadily eroded.

Measuring Twitter-based political participation and deliberation in the South Korean context by using social network and Triple Helix indicators

This study investigates the role of Twitter in political deliberation and participation by analyzing the ways in which South Korean politicians use Twitter. In addition, the study examines the rise of Twitter as user-generated communication system for political participation and deliberation by using the Triple Helix indicators. For this, we considered five prominent politicians, each belonging to one of four political parties, by using data collected in June 2010. The results suggest that non-mainstream, resource-deficient politicians are more likely to take advantage of Twitter’s potential as an alternative means of political participation and that a small number of Twitter users lead political discourse in the Twittersphere. We also examined the occurrence and co-occurrence of politicians’ names in Twitter posts, and then calculate entropy values for trilateral relationships. The results suggest that the level of political deliberation, expressed in terms of the level of balance in the communication system, is higher when politicians with different political orientations form the trilateral relationships.

The structure of international internet hyperlinks and bilateral bandwidth

Using network analysis, this article examines the structure of the international Internet as a global communication system. The number of inter-domain hyperlinks embedded in web-sites for 47 nations were gathered using Alta Vista. Data were also obtained on the bandwidth connections among 63 nations. The results indicate that theU.s. is most central nation in the hyperlink network, followed by the Australia,U.k., China and Japan. Most peripheral are Uruguay, Luxemburg,Uae., and Thailand. A cluster analysis found a single group centered about theU.s. The analysis of the bandwidth network revealed that theU.s. is the most central nation, followed by theU.k., Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. Most peripheral are Iceland, Lithuania, and Morocco. This network had three groupings, 1) the English-speaking countries with Scandinavia, Belgium, The Netherlands, and East Asia, 2) South America, and 3) Franco-German Europe. The correlation between the two networks indicates that the physical infrastructure is an important determinant of hyperlink communication. However, it is not the only determinant, others may be cultural or linguistic. The results are discussed in terms of world system theory, the evolution of Internet and globalization.RésuméEn utilisant l’analyse des réseaux, l’article examine la structure de l’internet international en tant que système mondial de communication. Les hyperliens interdomaines insérés dans des sites sur la toile de 47 pays ont été comptés en utilisant Alta Vista. Les données ont aussi été obtenues sur la largeur de bande des connexions entre 63 pays. Les résultats indiquent que les Etats-Unis constituent le pays le plus central du réseau d’hyperliens, suivi par l’Australie, le Royaume-Uni, la Chine et le Japon. L’Uruguay, le Luxembourg, les Emirats arabes unis et la Thaïlande sont les plus périphériques. Une analyse d’amas révèle un seul groupe centré autour des États-Unis. L’analyse du réseau de largeurs de bande montre que les Etats-Unis constituent le pays le plus central, suivi par le Royaume-Uni, l’Allemagne, Hong-Kong, Singapour et le Japon. Les plus périphériques sont l’Islande, la Lituanie et le Maroc. Ce réseau comprend trois groupements : les pays de langue anglaise associés à la Scandinavie, la Belgique, les Pays-bas et l’Asie du Sud-Est ; l’Amérique du Sud ; l’Europe franco-allemande. La corrélation entre les deux réseaux montre que l’infrastructure physique détermine de façon importante le communication par hyperliens. Ce n’est toutefois pas le seul déterminant, d’autres sont culturels ou linguistiques. La discussion des résultats fait intervenir la théorie des systèmes mondiaux, l’évolution de l’internet et la mondialisation.

Decomposing social and semantic networks in emerging “big data” research

This paper examines the structural patterns of networks of internationally co-authored SCI papers in the domain of research driven by big data and provides an empirical analysis of semantic patterns of paper titles. The results based on data collected from the DVD version of the 2011 SCI database identify the U.S. as the most central country, followed by the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, and Spain, in that order. However, some countries (e.g., Portugal) with low degree centrality occupied relatively central positions in terms of betweenness centrality. The results of the semantic network analysis suggest that internationally co-authored papers tend to focus on primary technologies, particularly in terms of programming and related database issues. The results show that a combination of words and locations can provide a richer representation of an emerging field of science than the sum of the two separate representations.

Sociology of Hyperlink Networks of Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Twitter: A Case Study of South Korea

This article illustrates the structural changes in hyperlink networks from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and describes Web 1.0 using hyperlink data obtained from websites of South Korean National Assembly members between 2000 and 2001. The websites were sparsely knitted and formed a hub-spike network. Hyperlinks were created to enhance the interface and navigation ability of websites. The article also examines how hyperlink patterns began to change in 2005 and 2006 when Web 2.0 (blogs) was introduced. A key difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 was that the Assembly members were relatively well connected in the blogosphere. Furthermore, prominent Web 1.0 hubs with many links tended to disappear, but butterfly networks based on political homophily emerged. Finally, the hyperlink network of Twitter, a recent Web 2.0 application, is examined. Twitter’s network diagram shows that online social ties between politicians are becoming denser.

The Continuing Growth of Global Cooperation Networks in Research: A Conundrum for National Governments

Global collaboration continues to grow as a share of all scientific cooperation, measured as coauthorships of peer-reviewed, published papers. The percent of all scientific papers that are internationally coauthored has more than doubled in 20 years, and they account for all the growth in output among the scientifically advanced countries. Emerging countries, particularly China, have increased their participation in global science, in part by doubling their spending on R&D; they are increasingly likely to appear as partners on internationally coauthored scientific papers. Given the growth of connections at the international level, it is helpful to examine the phenomenon as a communications network and to consider the network as a new organization on the world stage that adds to and complements national systems. When examined as interconnections across the globe over two decades, a global network has grown denser but not more clustered, meaning there are many more connections but they are not grouping into exclusive ‘cliques’. This suggests that power relationships are not reproducing those of the political system. The network has features an open system, attracting productive scientists to participate in international projects. National governments could gain efficiencies and influence by developing policies and strategies designed to maximize network benefits—a model different from those designed for national systems.

Government organizations' innovative use of the Internet: The case of the Twitter activity of South Korea's Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Noting the government’s role in diffusing information across various sectors of society, this study analyzes the Twitter activity of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MFAFF), one of Korea’s government organizations. From a broad perspective, this study provides a better understanding of innovation activity mediated by social media—particularly the government’s Twitter activity, a topic that has not been addressed by previous webometric research on Triple Helix relationships—by employing social network analysis and content analysis. The results indicate some limitations of the MFAFF’s activity on Twitter as a mutual communication channel, although Twitter has the potential to facilitate risk management. Further, based on the MFAFF’s confined use of its Twitter account, the results suggest that its Twitter account can be an effective information distribution channel, indicating Twitter’s value as a communication tool for innovation activity through social media. This study provides an empirical analysis of the government’s Twitter activity and contributes to the literature by providing an in-depth understanding of the Triple Helix relationship on the Web.

Knowledge linkage structures in communication studies using citation analysis among communication journals

This research analyzes a “who cites whom” matrix in terms of aggregated journal-journal citations to determine the location of communication studies on the academic spectrum. Using the Journal of Communication as the seed journal, the 2006 data in the Journal Citation Reports are used to map communication studies. The results show that social and experimental psychology journals are the most frequently used sources of information in this field. In addition, several journals devoted to the use and effects of media and advertising are weakly integrated into the larger communication research community, whereas communication studies are dominated by American journals.

The e-government research domain: A triple helix network analysis of collaboration at the regional, country, and institutional levels

Abstract This study introduces a hybrid approach (i.e., a social network analysis technique and triple helix indicators) to study certain aspects of the e-government (EG) domain that would otherwise remain hidden when using conventional analytic tools. Particularly, we provide network analysis of the EG research domain by focusing on the network collaboration between regions, nations and institutions. We collected and analyzed 1091 scholarly papers which were classified as being about “e-government” by the Web of Science database. The results indicate that hybrid method can be used to understand certain network-level structures and patterns in the EG domain which are beyond the scope of the predominantly-used systematic literature review (SLR) method. Particularly, the hybrid method is useful in understanding collaboration patterns between countries, institutions and regions in the EG domain, identifying key players by studying their network properties (i.e., degree centralities); and in understanding the pattern of relations among universities, industries, and government. The implications of these results in terms of research and practice, and study limitations are discussed.