Innovation Governance Policies

Our new report, with the European Innovation Council, on corporate venturing ecosystems—how policymakers can better support corporate-scaleup collaboration in EU deep-tech. 1) The pain point: While 71% of corporates plan to increase deep-tech collaboration, nearly 69% of corporate–scaleup partnerships fail to deliver expected results. Evidence suggests two persistent structural barriers in Europe: • A corporate culture gap: misaligned KPIs, complex procurement processes, and slow pilot implementation. • A MEMs resource gap: short-term performance pressures, limited resources, and the absence of dedicated innovation teams. 2) The questions: This report draws on 49 international experts, EU and non-EU examples, and workshops in Riga and Munich, jointly with the EIC and EIT, to answer: • How to better support the innovation and commercial collaboration? • Where policymakers and stakeholders disagree on the bottlenecks? • Which policy levers matter most for corporates, investors, and scaleups? • What lessons can be drawn from other regions? • How can the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy be better operationalized across Member States? 3) What’s next: • Presenting it in Paris (March 18) at the EIC Scaling Club Growth Forum. • This is 1 of 3 reports to be released over the next 30 days—stay tuned. Thanks to the co-authors, collaborators, contributing experts, consortium partners, the European Innovation Council, and IESE Business School's Scaleup Institute for your support.

Today we published the WIPO Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, our flagship publication on the state of innovation worldwide. It covers 139 economies with 78 indicators, going beyond intellectual property filings to use economic, social and cultural metrics to capture a fuller picture of a country’s innovation ecosystem – its ability to translate ideas into reality. The GII is a tool to help policymakers, leaders and others to do a deep dive into the state of their country’s innovation ecosystem and find the right policies, programs and practices to support innovators and creators. The latest data shows a broadly positive picture at the global level, including a record $1.3 trillion dollars in corporate R&D spending and an almost 8% rise in venture capital values. Supercomputing continued to forge ahead, powering advances in AI. Genome sequencing costs continued to fall, opening possibilities for personalized medicine. People have become increasingly open to adopting new technologies, with more connectivity, more automation and new forms of health solutions on the rise. Falling costs encourage the take-up of new technology, and 2024 saw a 20% drop in electric battery prices and an 11% drop in the cost of genome sequencing, for example. These all point to an innovation engine that is still humming along. But the fuel that powers this engine is not as abundant as before. Although corporate R&D spending reached new heights, the pace of growth slowed down to just 1% in real terms, the slowest since 2010. Although VC deals rose in value, this centered around a few mega-investments in AI, while the total deal count fell for a third year. The takeaway is clear: innovation needs to continue to be nurtured. Like an engine, it needs to be maintained, supported and updated in order to run at maximum speed. It’s interesting to see in this year’s edition that these policies are paying off for many emerging economies that continue to climb the innovation ladder. Middle-income economies like China, India, Türkiye, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Morocco and Albania are all within the GII top 70, following a decade long trend of improving their innovation performance. Since 2019, others such as Brazil and Mauritius have been among the fastest innovation climbers. Moreover, economies such as Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Malawi outperform on innovation relative to their level of development. I hope you will find the GII’s metrics and insights useful in knowing how better to support innovators, creators and entrepreneurs in your communities, and to build even more vibrant innovation ecosystems. More: https://lnkd.in/ebtKSyDa #WIPO #GlobalInnovationIndex

We have just released first edition of WIPO's 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 (ICO) - a new annual report offering data-driven insights into how countries can better develop and connect their innovation capabilities. Developed by World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO Intellectual Property Organization in partnership with Harvard's Growth Lab, the report analyzes 2.5 billion data points across 193 economies. The central message of the report is that innovation success depends not only on individual strengths, but on how science, technology, entrepreneurship and production interact as an ecosystem. Key findings include: •   The world can use the existing innovation capabilities more efficiently: By better leveraging existing capabilities, countries could generate up to 26% more technologies, 15% more entrepreneurial innovations and 12% more scientific discoveries each year. •   Most economies have not yet developed complex technological capabilities: Technological capabilities in patents are among the most demanding to develop, yet also the most rewarding. Less than 5% of the countries have succeeded in building them. •   Developing more complex innovation capabilities is critical for long-term success: Each year, only one in three countries upgrades its capabilities towards rarer and more-rewarding fields of innovation. The ICO adds a new layer to the WIPO flagship the Global Innovation Index, to understand where countries are performing well, where gaps remain and how they can build on existing strengths. In the coming months, we will release country-level data to help you better understand how individual economies are performing and how they can further improve by better leveraging and connecting the capabilities they already have to boost technological, entrepreneurial and scientific innovation. Explore the ICO to see how countries are building stronger innovation ecosystems: https://lnkd.in/ekD-GBAy Many thanks to all our WIPO colleagues and the Harvard Growth Lab led by Ricardo Hausmann for their outstanding work on this first edition. #InnovationEcosystem #InnovationPolicy #GlobalInnovation #WIPO

Earlier today the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves outlined her growth strategy for the UK, presenting a vision for turning the country into "Europe's Silicon Valley." But to create genuine innovation ecosystems, we need to understand what made Silicon Valley successful in the first place. It wasn't just about reducing barriers - it was about decades of strategic (entrepreneurial) public investments actively shaping and creating markets. The UK has historically underinvested compared to its peers. Public investment has averaged just 2.6% of GDP over the last 25 years versus the G7 average of 3.5% and OECD average of 3.7%. While the UK has now reached the OECD average of 2.7% for gross domestic expenditure on R&D, the UK can and must do better to emulate Silicon Valley’s success. Tax breaks alone aren't enough - currently, the UK provides about twice as much tax relief as direct funding for business R&D. Recent lessons from the US demonstrate that public funding can be made conditional on business investment in areas like R&D, helping to de-financialize businesses that attempt to reap profits without real investment. But without the right institutions, it will be hard for the UK to compete with the US and China. We have relatively weak public financial institutions - nowhere near the scale of Brazil's BNDES or Germany's KfW (see my paper with Laurie Macfarlane below). Compare Germany's Fraunhofer system (€3.4bn/year, 32,000 staff, 76 centers) with the UK Catapult network (£1.6bn over 5 years). Real innovation ecosystems need sustained funding and institutional networks that connect research to markets. An entrepreneurial state isn't about top-down direction - it's about dynamic networks catalyzing innovation across entire value chains. ---- 🔗 The Entrepreneurial State: https://lnkd.in/eR_8pxiH 🔗 Industrial Policy with Conditionalities: https://lnkd.in/e-PrNF47 🔗 Mission-oriented development banks: https://lnkd.in/eEKrNcSC 🔗 Mission-oriented Industrial Strategy: https://lnkd.in/eHDNeiNu 🔗 Mission-oriented Policy Hub: https://lnkd.in/ePZtUTKg

How are geopolitics reshaping science, technology and innovation? The new OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2025, released today, provides key insights. The report examines a range of topics from transforming science systems, to technology convergence to strategic foresight. One of the key issues: how research and innovation are increasingly viewed through an economic security lens as governments seek to protect critical technologies and national interests. The report finds: ·     A tenfold increase in research security policies since 2018, rising from 25 such policies to 250 worldwide. ·     A tripling of countries implementing research security measures, expanding from 12 to 41. ·     A leveling-off of international scientific collaboration, as measured by the share of internationally co-authored publications, after rising steadily for decades. ·     Shifting research priorities, with public R&D spending on energy and defence increasing around 75% over the past decade, nearly twice the rate of growth of overall R&D spending. The path ahead lies in finding the right balance between research security and openness: protect sensitive knowledge, while enabling needed collaboration and trust. Achieving that right policy mix will be key to shared progress on critical issues from boosting productivity to tackling climate change, improving health and driving digital transformation. The report is available free and in full here: https://lnkd.in/ergRdTaA The associated press release is available here: https://lnkd.in/etcQFXEx Congratulations to Michael Keenan, alessandra colecchia, and the whole STI Outlook team at OECD - OCDE  

What does it take to top the world’s most innovative country rankings? Some countries have done it time and again. Here are the learnings. Produced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Global Innovation Index 2025 tracks the performance of 139 economies across R&D, technology, investment, and impact. These are my key takeaways. 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: • Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States remain the global innovation leaders. • China makes it into the top 10 for the first time, leading globally in patent filings and ranking 2nd in R&D spending. • Middle-income economies are steadily rising — India, Türkiye, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Morocco have climbed consistently since 2013. • Innovation investment is slowing — global R&D growth is at its weakest level since 2010, and venture capital remains concentrated in the U.S. and AI-related sectors. • Technology progress is strong, adoption is catching up — rapid gains in green supercomputing, battery costs, and renewables alongside a more incremental uptake of 5G and electric vehicles. • Innovation continues to deliver social and economic benefits — productivity, health, and poverty indicators are improving even as climate pressures grow. • Innovation hubs are shifting — Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou, Tokyo–Yokohama, and Seoul lead globally, while new clusters are emerging in Bengaluru, Cairo, and Mexico City. • Rwanda, India, Viet Nam, and Morocco outperform their income levels, showing that strong policy and focus can drive innovation anywhere. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹: • Invest consistently in R&D and education, keeping research and talent development a priority even in slower growth periods. • Build strong bridges between business, academia, and government, ensuring that discoveries move quickly from research to the market. • Protect and enable innovation through robust IP frameworks, regulatory clarity, and pro-competition policies. • Build connected ecosystems — linking startups, corporates, and universities to share knowledge and scale faster. • Prioritize frontier technologies such as AI, clean energy, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing to shape the next wave of growth. • Promote international cooperation, using global partnerships to expand reach and speed up progress. • Keep a long-term view, emphasizing resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability over short-term gains. Source: WIPO, Graphic source: The Economist, WIPO 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/dkqhnxdg

Recently, the European Commission published the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), providing a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of EU Member States, neighbouring European countries, and selected global competitors. EIS helps countries reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of their national innovation systems and identify challenges that need to be addressed.  The scoreboard is based on indicators covering economy, business and entrepreneurship, innovation profiles, governance and policy framework, employment, digitalisation, and more. Based on these indicators, EU countries are categorised in four innovation groups: 🔵Innovation leaders (performance is above 125% of the EU average): Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland. 🔵Strong innovators (between 100% and 125% of the EU average): Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, France, Estonia.   🔵Moderate innovators (between 70% and 100% of the EU average): Malta, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Lithuania, Czechia, Greece, Croatia.   🔵Emerging innovators (below 70% of the EU average): Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Other key findings: #EUInnovation performance increased by 12.6% since 2018. Over this period, all EU Member States have increased their innovation performance but on a different pace. For example, between 2024 and 2025, the national innovation performance increased in 13 Member States during this period, while declined in 14. At the same time, there’s no significant change to the EU innovation performance since 2024 – actually, there’s a slight decline of 0.4% Sweden regains its position as the most innovative EU country, ahead of Denmark which led the ranking from 2020 to 2024. Switzerland continues to be the most innovative country in Europe. South Korea remains the most innovative global competitor in 2025. Compared to last year, China has overtaken the EU and United States and is now sharing the second place with Canada.

"This paper explores the potential of dynamic, collaborative public-private governance to foster safe innovation. Drawing from primary research, including interviews with tech industry leaders, U.S. Members of Congress, and staff, and an analysis of 150 AI-related bills introduced by the 118th U.S. Congress, this work identifies emerging areas of alignment between policymakers and industry stakeholders. It also highlights opportunities for a unified national approach, despite the challenges of a fragmented legislative environment. The authors propose a dynamic governance approach that brings government and industry together while combining the foresight of ex-ante measures with the adaptability needed to respond to technological advancements. Coupled with existing ex-post mechanisms, the Dynamic Governance Model creates a comprehensive framework to promote competition, innovation, and accountability. It represents a policy-agnostic extra-regulatory framework, including a public-private partnership for standards setting and a market-based ecosystem for audit and compliance. Ultimately, this governance approach can provide regulatory clarity and predictability, fostering an environment where businesses and innovation thrive while mitigating the risks inherent to AI’s transformative power" Paulo Carvao Slavina Ancheva Yam Atir Shaurya Jeloka Brian Zhou

ODI-FDI Share Swap is now permitted ! In an important amendment, Ministry of Finance notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2024 on 16 August 2024 to streamline Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Overseas Investment (OI) regulations. 1. Cross-Border share swaps: Earlier, in a non-cash transaction involving share swap, issuance of shares by an Indian company to a non-resident/ foreign entity against acquisition of shares of an overseas company owned by such foreign seller was not permitted. Now, by Insertion of new rule 9A, Indian companies are allowed to issue or transfer equity instruments in exchange for foreign company equity instruments. This is one of the most significant amendment facilitating FDI and ODI exchanges and enhancing cross-border mergers and acquisitions. 2. Downstream Investments: The amendments clarify the treatment of downstream investments by Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)-owned entities, aligning them with Non-Resident Indian (NRI)-owned entities. 3. The definition of "Control" has been harmonized with the Companies Act, 2013. 4. The definition of a "startup company" has been updated to refer to a private company identified as a startup under specific government notifications. 5. Foreign Portfolio Investments Liberalised: Now the requirement of the government approval is pegged to the sectoral or statutory cap and is not limited to 49%, provided that such investment does not result in transfer of ownership and/ or control of the resident Indian company from resident Indian citizens to non-residents. 6. Sectoral caps and entry routes are introduced for specific activities, such as White Label ATM Operations (WLAO), which can have 100% foreign direct investment under the automatic route subject to Reserve Bank of India guidelines. #FEMA #FDI #ODI #RBI #NonDebtInstruments #Crossborder #Indiainc

More than ever, national innovation capability should be assessed by forward momentum over where you are now. There are many nations that need to take concerted action to move ahead as global innovation accelerates. Fastest momentum from those already well evolved: ➡️China ➡️Hong Kong ➡️Saudi Arabia ➡️United States Fastest momentum in less advanced nations: ➡️Uzbekistan ➡️Armenia ➡️Vietnam ➡️Indonesia Slowest momentum from current leaders: ➡️Sweden ➡️Canada ➡️Australia ➡️Austria The Digital Evolution Index is the fifth one created by The Fletcher School at Tufts University VIA. A few of the interesting examples of nations driving innovation momentum: ↗️China: Innovating around constraints China is building momentum by coordinating government and industry, expanding data centers quickly, using large data pools, growing AI talent, and emphasizing open-source AI. Limited compute has pushed China toward efficiency and system-wide coordination. ↗️Singapore: Turning hub status into digital advantage Singapore is extending its role as a trade and finance hub into the digital economy. It is combining strong infrastructure, government-led transformation, private-sector execution, and relationships across the U.S., China, Europe, and ASEAN. ↗️India: Building public rails for private growth India’s momentum comes from digital public infrastructure, especially UPI, which gives companies a shared payments backbone to build on. This lowers friction, expands demand, and lets players like Reliance Jio bundle data, payments, services, and partnerships into a broader ecosystem. ↗️Estonia: Making government the digital platform Estonia shows how a small nation can accelerate by making identity, company registration, and data exchange digital by default. Its e-government foundations have supported entrepreneurship, cross-border business, cybersecurity, blockchain, and AI activity. ↗️Indonesia and Vietnam: Scaling through super apps Indonesia and Vietnam are gaining momentum through mobile-first ecosystems built around ride-hailing, food delivery, wallets, logistics, and payments. GoTo and Grab show how local platforms can become growth engines by deepening everyday digital use across ASEAN. There is no one path, every nation is unique. But the risks of complacency are very high for many nations as the pace of innovation accelerates.