Conceptualization of technological authority from technological catch-up perspective; Indicators, requirements and policy solutions

Technology authority has been mentioned explicitly and implicitly and with different expressions in the laws and science and technology documents of the country for many years. However, so far, no special theoretical effort has been made to conceptualize and clarify the different dimensions of this concept. In this regard, in this research, the identification of indicators and criteria, requirements, and policy solutions for the realization of technological supremacy has been addressed by exploiting the theoretical foundations and background of technological catch-up. In other words, this article tries to shed light on the issue of technological authority by using the theoretical background of technological catch-up and taking advantage of the theoretical developments made in that field to advance the goals of this research. The reason for using the concept and theory of technological catch-up in this research is that reaching technological authority in itself is a kind of catch-up with leaders and leading players in the field of technology, getting close to them, reaching their place, and in some cases leaving them behind. The last case is referred to as the "catch-up cycle" or "transition to industry leadership". The current research is applied research from the point of view of objective and qualitative research from the perspective of the approach, which was conducted to identify the indicators and criteria of technological authority and the requirements and solutions for its realization. From the point of view of the data collection method, the data of this research was obtained from two sources: First, the focus group with the presence of seven experts in the field of science and technology policy with the title of "Technological authority: from idea to practice". Second, the focus group with the presence of eight experts in the field of science and technology policy and industrial policy with the title of "Technology authority with the approach of economic complexity". Data analysis is also done by thematic analysis method. Thematic analysis is a method to determine, analyze, and express the patterns and themes hidden in the data and has been used by various experts in recent years to analyze policy and management issues. The findings of this research show that international patent registration, sales of technology and technical know-how, and the number of leading companies in the field of technology at the international level can be suitable criteria and indicators for measuring the realization of technological supremacy. Also, paying attention to the requirements of realizing technological supremacy in various fields, especially economic, social, cultural, institutional, and political, focusing on the necessity of being present in regional and global value chains, strengthening legal infrastructures, and taking advantage of windows of opportunity is necessary. In addition, formulating a suitable policy mix including objective and synergistic policy tools to achieve technological supremacy with an emphasis on human capital development policies, financing, social foundation, networking, and ecosystem development, strengthening international interactions, stimulating the demand side, and encouraging large companies to play a stronger role in the development of technology and innovation can be effective. As policy implications derived from the findings of this research, some policy recommendations are presented to policymakers, legislators, and activists in the field of governance of science, technology, and innovation: First, the definition of specific, quantitative, transparent, and measurable indicators and criteria for monitoring the realization of technological authority with an emphasis on international patent registration, sale, and export of technology and technical know-how, the number of leading companies in the field of technology at the international level, the number of technology standards compiled by the country's companies and research institutes and the country's ranking in global indices such as the Global Innovation Index (GII) and the Technology Complexity Index. Second, paying attention to the requirements and duties of realizing technological authority in various fields, especially economic, social, cultural, institutional, and political, focusing on the necessity of presence in regional and global value chains, international interactions, and cooperation in the field of development and commercialization. of technology, strengthening the legal infrastructure, taking advantage of the windows of opportunity, providing financial resources to support research and technology, paying attention to the necessity of forming and developing technological and innovation ecosystems, suitable and favorable political, social, and cultural context, national and international vision, coherence and integration in the national system of innovation and correct logic in prioritizing and targeting the fields of technology. Third, developing a suitable policy mix that includes synergistic policy goals and tools to achieve technological authority with an emphasis on education policies, preservation and development of human capital, financing policies and investment in research and technology, policies for improvement of legal infrastructure improvement, selective policies and technology prioritization, policies to promote social capital and increase social participation, networking policies and development of innovation ecosystems, policies to strengthen international interactions, policies to stimulate the demand side and policies to encourage large companies to play a stronger role in the development of technology and innovation.