Assessing the impact of innovation on Egypt’s economic growth during crisis and major events

This paper aims to analyze and track the impact of innovation on economic growth in Egypt in light of the crises, risks, and events that Egypt went through from 2011 to 2020. It also aims to identify the innovation indicators that most impacted economic growth during the study years. The study examines how innovation acts as a catalyst for economic development in light of political, social and economic turmoil, including economic reforms and external shocks in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution. The research relied on a field study of the innovation and entrepreneurship community in Egypt through a survey conducted on partners and beneficiaries of the National Technology Incubators Program "INTILAC", which is one of the programs of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, which supports innovators, entrepreneurs and start-ups whose ideas are based on an innovative and technological component. The research uses the STEEP (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental and Political) analysis framework to identify the obstacles and crises that Egypt went through and that had a comprehensive impact on innovation activity. The results showed a significant and direct impact of innovation on the growth of per capita GDP annually during the study years in the short and long term. The study relied on 5 sub-indicators representing innovation, namely the index of the percentage of spending on research and development as a percentage of GDP, the index of the size of the local market and market development, the index of the number of peer-reviewed scientific articles published in journals, the index of the percentage of high-tech exports from total manufactured exports, and the index of the number of patent applications for residents, versus the index of the growth rate in per capita GDP annually as an expression of economic growth. The study concludes with recommendations to strengthen the relationship between innovation and economic growth, which contributes to building a more flexible and competitive Egyptian economy.