Digital village construction and national innovation systems: coordinated development dynamics

This study develops a unified theoretical framework to evaluate the development of China’s digital village construction and its integration with the national innovation system. By constructing a comprehensive evaluation system and utilizing dynamic and static weighting methods along with a physical coupling model, the study assesses the coordinated development levels of digital villages and the innovation system from 2010 –2022. The results show that the coupling and coordination between the digital villages and the national innovation system have significantly improved across most provinces, with economically developed eastern regions demonstrating higher coupling levels than central and western regions. Key drivers of this coordination include urbanization, industrialization, digitalization, marketization, and globalization, which contribute to regional development by improving access to technology, optimizing resource allocation, and strengthening policy support and international cooperation.