A Social Network Analysis based approach to deriving knowledge about research scenarios in a set of countries

In this paper, we propose a new Social Network Analysis based approach to providing a multi-dimensional picture of the research scenarios of a set of countries of interest and to detecting possible “research hubs” operating therein. This knowledge allows innovation managers to understand the impact of different socio-economic conditions on the research level of a country. Furthermore, it may help the design of policies for supporting the accumulation of scientific and technological capabilities. In the last part of this paper, we apply our approach to four North African countries (i.e., Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) in such a way as to show its potential.