In general, the purpose of this project is to promote the generation of quality scientific and technological knowledge aimed at solving some specific challenges of our society in the field of ecological and digital transition. This proposal is a knowledge generation project, which is part of thematic priority 4 contemplated in the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2021-2023 (PEICTI). The proposal is novel since the generation and diffusion patterns of digital eco-technologies are practically unknown. Nothing is known about the knowledge necessary to produce them, how they are diffused or what their environmental or economic impacts are. Therefore, this project contributes to providing scientific knowledge that supports the development of policies for the ecological transition.

The methodology to achieve the objectives comprises several steps: in the first step, we collect data on digital eco-patents contained in patent applications to the European Patent Office (EPO- European Patent Office), United States Patent and Trademark Office. States (USPTO) and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) included in the EPO Worldwide Patent Satistical Database (Patstat). In a second step, in order to identify the gender of inventors, the initial information is crossed with that contained in the Gender Inference Table prepared by the International Patent Office of the United Kingdom, and with other data sources to incorporate environmental and economic information. Finally, environmental and economic impact of the knowledge acquisition and dissemination processes is modeled using econometric methods.