What are the world’s leading innovation ecosystems?

The most well-known worldwide, and the cradle of technological innovation, is the Silicon Valley. This ecosystem, intrinsically linked to the city in which it was born, San Francisco, has become the cradle of entrepreneurship; the whole city is committed to nurturing this innovative breeding ground. To understand the relevance of this ecosystem: in 2020, of the more than 100 companies that have reached a valuation of over $1 billion this year, 28 of them achieved the unicorn status in October and November. Well-known by everyone, some of the companies that originate from this ecosystem include Adobe Systems, Apple Inc; Facebook and Google.

Another innovative enclave is Tel Aviv, where Silicon Wadi was born. This Israeli city has become the second entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world after Silicon Valley. In this ecosystem, the main challenge is internationalisation: Israel is a country with a small local market, so start-ups are usually established with a global vision.  WAZE, for example, is a map, navigation and traffic application that allows thousands of drivers to save time and money by providing real-time information on the state of the roads. The reasons for Israel’s success: a firm commitment to the creation of incubator programmes since 1991; innovative universities that promote entrepreneurship through courses for entrepreneurs, sessions with investors to encourage the financing of new companies, the international business week, etc. The result: Israel is the country that invests the most globally in research and development in relation to its GDP and is the third country with the most companies listed on Nasdaq, after the United States and China. Israel also has the highest density of start-ups in the world.

Asian innovation ecosystems threaten American hegemony

South Korea has achieved world leadership in innovation in 2021, according to Bloomberg’s ranking. This first place is mainly due to an increase in patent activity, in which South Korea ranks first, along with good results in R&D and manufacturing. However, its start-up ecosystem, which is less than 20 years old, has become one of the strongest in the world. For the past few years, more than $500 million has been earmarked per year for funding late-stage start-ups. There is a lot of potential in Blockchain, Fintech, Biotech, IoT and South Korean entertainment, which are key growth sectors in South Korea. This phenomenon has struck a chord particularly with young people, who increasingly wish to become entrepreneurs. Looking at the start-up scene, we can highlight some of them, such as: Morai, Cochl, Finda and Linkflow.

If we talk about Asian innovation, we cannot fail to mention China, which is strongly committed to innovation. Zhongguancun, a technology centre located in the Haidian district of Beijing, was born in the 1980s. It was created by Chen Chunxian, a physicist who brought the idea with him after visiting Silicon Valley in 1979. Some of the companies that can be found here include Lenovo, the computer giant that bought IBM in 2005.

If we take a closer look at innovation in Asia, we cannot fail to mention China, which is strongly committed to innovation. Zhongguancun, a technology centre located in the Haidian district of Beijing, was founded in the 1980s. It was created by Chen Chunxian, a physicist who brought the idea with him after visiting Silicon Valley in 1979. Some of the companies that can be found there include Lenovo, the computer giant that bought IBM in 2005.

India hosts the Electronics City, an industrial centre focused on electronics, located in the Indian towns of Konappana Agrahara and Doddathogur. Some of the companies found there are Hewlett Packard and Infosys.

Europe joins the innovation race

In London, there is the Knowledge Quarter, a consortium of over 100 academic, large and small, cultural, research, scientific and media organisations,: the British Library, Google, the Wellcome Trust to Arts Catalyst, Scriberia and the Wiener Library. The Knowledge Quarter focuses on support for innovation, collaboration and knowledge exchange. We have fostered connections to achieve productive partnerships, fruitful networks and creative collaborations.

Another very active innovation ecosystem that can be found in Europe is the High-Tech campus Eindhoven:  it was born in 196, and is recognised as the “smartest square kilometre” in Europe. This campus is built around an ecosystem of 235 companies with a range of application fields  12,000 innovators, researchers and engineers that create the technologies and business of tomorrow. Each company at High Tech Campus Eindhoven shares a common goal: developing new technologies and applications that help solve social problems and challenges, and successfully bringing them to the market.

In Spain, we can find Barcelona, where there is a competitive environment that makes it one of the most dynamic and attractive ecosystems in Europe, formed by the interaction of investors, accelerators, incubators and talent. In Barcelona alone, there are over 1,500 start-ups and according to The Global Start-up Ecosystem Report, in 2020, it ranked 6th among emerging ecosystems. One example is SciTech DiploHub, the Barcelona Science and Technology Diplomacy Hub, a nonprofit public-private partnership backed by leading research centres, universities, non-profits, start-ups, corporations and public institutions.

Emerging ecosystems: Africa and South America wake up.

Decreasing the cost of access to technology has led to the democratisation of knowledge, which is no longer exclusive to large organisations, but also to small teams with a disruptive idea, located anywhere in the world. Interesting start-ups have emerged in countries such as Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda. In the south of Chile, there is a project that will transform part of the city of Concepción, into a type of Silicon Valley; and in Mexico, one project aims to transform an area of the city of Jalisco into the Mexican Silicon Valley.