Social network analysis as an analytical archetype of R&D national networks: Case study in culture collections of Brazil and Japan

The lack of analytical mechanisms of R&D national networks is a significant problem for policy makers. This paper presents an analytical archetype for performance evaluation of national co-authoring networks based on Social Network Analysis parameters. The model evaluates paper co-authoring data of professionals responsible for culture collections in Brazil and Japan. Were identified professionals from the World Federation for Culture Collections data bank and co-authoring identified from international bibliographic databases. The Brazilian network is the focus of the analysis and the Japanese is the reference network. The Research and Development networks in culture collections are fundamental to the performance of the biotechnological innovation chain in areas such as health, agriculture and industry, and thus fundamental to emerging countries such as Brazil. This country has the fifth largest population in the world, being most of this population user of public health services and it has in the agribusiness one of its main sources of wealth. The model allows a performance evaluation of the networks and identifies improvement paths for the Brazilian network. SNA parameters combined with a reference network showed meaningful elements to the understanding of a R&D networks. This proved helpful for the strategic analysis of the network weaknesses and strengths. The model also proposes policy implications for the three analysis of sub-levels, namely cohesion, subgroups and centralization.