The development of humankind has always been spurred by changes in technology, and due to advancements of state-of-the-art technologies (like AI, Big Data, IoT, blockchain, 3D printing, gene editing, etc.), it is becoming more and more rapid. According to data presented at this year’s UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), all of the frontier technologies at the moment present a market worth 350 billion dollars, with a potential to grow by 2025 to a staggering 3,2 trillion dollars.
In the past two years, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, and the need of firms around the globe to adjust to the changed working conditions, innovations in the field of digitalization have also accelerated. Many of the leading countries in the world saw an opportunity in the abrupt reduction of human activity. They all put additional effort into tackling some of the most important economic and societal issues, such as taking additional steps towards carbon neutrality.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, in collaboration with the Portland Institute and other corporate partners, annually measures innovation performance based on innovation inputs (R&D spending, infrastructure, and regulatory environment for example), innovation outputs (intellectual property, etc.), and creates the Global Innovation Index. They have done this since 2007 and this year they emphasized that the pandemic had a complex impact on innovation.
This year’s GII finds the innovative sectors of the world economy at a crossroads. On the one hand, science and innovation investments continued to surge in 2021, performing firmly even at the height of a once in a century pandemic. International patent filings, R&D expenditure, scientific publications, and other key innovation metrics also all showed continued growth, says Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Of course, since these developments are uneven around the world, some countries come out as global innovation leaders.
Read more here to discover Top 10 most innovative countries in the world (2023 update)
