Technology and geography in a paradigm shift: the case of Critical & Conflict Materials in ICT

On the 24th of February, City-REDI held its first external seminar of 2021, featuring Professor Simona Iammarino from the London School of Economics and Political Science. The seminar was called "Technology and geography in a paradigm shift: the case of Critical & Conflict Materials in ICT" and was co-authored by Andreas Diemer, Richard Perkins & Axel Gros. Abstract: Critical row materials – including so-called conflict minerals – (CCMs), their combination, and ultimate use in new types of electronic and electrical products are providing a crucial material infrastructure to the technological paradigm shift from ICTs to AI. Yet, missing from the literature is work that examines how technological change is shaping the demand for these resources, and how the geography of CCM-intensive technologies is associated with that of the sourcing of related material inputs. Using the universe of USPTO patents between 1975 and 2017, the paper combines keyword-occurrence analysis and regression methods to uncover relationships between CCMs and patented technologies. Our explorative analysis shows a significant increase in the overall technological activity related to CCMs; a particularly strong association between ICT technological applications and CCMs; significant spatial disparities between countries/regions where a large amount of CCMs are extracted and the (few) subnational locations where most of the returns to technological innovation are appropriated. Find out more about City-REDI - https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research...