Detecting and Visualizing the Communities of Innovation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration Based on the Patent Cooperation Network

For a deep understanding of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) collaborative innovation, we detected and visualized the communities of innovation in BTH Urban Agglomeration based on the patent cooperation network. China Patent Database was connected with Business Registration Database and the Tianyan Check to achieve the geographical information of organizational innovators. Spinglass algorithm was applied and ultimately 12 communities of innovation were detected. Based on the different structure characteristics, we further clustered the 12 communities into four typical structures that are hierarchical, single-center, polycentric, and flat structures. The hierarchical structure is usually large in scale and the cooperative intensity is relatively high. Single-center structure has a center with a high proportion of centrality and the cooperative intensity is relatively low. Polycentric structure has multiple centers with similar proportions of centrality. Flat structure is usually small in scale and has no obvious network center. In the patent cooperative network of BTH Urban Agglomeration, universities and state-owned enterprises occupied the centers and acted important roles to connect other organizations. Some communities of innovation showed significant industry characteristics, mainly involving six industry fields that are electric power, construction, petroleum, metallurgy and materials, municipal transportation, and railway. From the geographical perspective, some communities manifested local attributes and some demonstrated cooperation between regions. Beijing was the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei patent cooperation network. Compared with the pair of Beijing-Tianjin and the pair of Beijing-Hebei, Tianjin and Hebei were not closely connected. In the future, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaborative innovation should strengthen cooperation between Tianjin and Hebei.