Global patent applications jumped by 11 percent in 2013, while patents granted rose by a more modest 4 percent in the top five worldwide patent offices. The 2013 data was recently released by IP5, a cooperative effort of the European, Japanese, South Korean, Chinese and U.S. patent organizations, which together represent about 80 percent of the world’s patent activity. China has now solidly emerged as the top nation for patent applications and first filings after first taking the lead in 2011. China has also become the top country of origin for global patent filings, with the U.S.

One of the few surveys based on the international collection of primary data on individual entrepreneurial activities, the sixteenth annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report was released earlier this month at the annual GEM meeting in Monterrey, Mexico. Across 73 economies representing 72.4 percent of the world’s population and 90 percent of the world’s GDP, more than 206,000 individuals were surveyed for the 2014 report.

In partnership with several major pharmaceutical companies, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Secretary of Health Jeremy Hunt announced the creation of the $100 million Dementia Discovery Fund. The UK government-led venture fund will support innovative research across the globe to help find new ways to prevent and treat dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Private sector partners that already have agreed to invest in the project include Biogen, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly and Pfizer.

Europe is catching up to the United States in areas such as idea creation and risk capital but lacks the means to retain its talent, according to a recent report from authors at the Imperial College Business School in London.

Veolia, The Water Council, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation have reached an agreement to launch the emPowering Opportunities in Water (POW!) program – a two-year national competition to support entrepreneurship and economic development while fostering sustainability efforts in the field of water.

Foreign investors expended $373.4 billion in 2016 to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses — a 15 percent decrease (approximately $66.2 billion) from $439.6 billion in 2015 — according to an infobrief from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Of that $373.4 billion, approximately $5.6 billion was deployed to support the creation of new businesses.

In an attempt to support their respective  innovation economies, several countries have announced new national investment strategies and other entrepreneurial support efforts that help startups access the capital necessary to move their business from an idea to a sustainable businesses. Efforts include a fintech focused-fund in Ireland, expansion of existing programs in two Oceanian countries, and a partnership between two of Asia’s largest economies.

New Zealand

When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released his administration’s proposed 2016 budget in late March, SSTI covered the significant funds it would allocate for science, research, and technology-based economic development, as well as the country’s plan for a national innovation agenda.

Megatrends like ageing societies and digitization are expected to shape future research and development agendas across the globe, according to a recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A broader distribution of science, technology and innovation are expected around the world due to the fast pace of economic development in emerging economies, and global competition for talent and resources will most likely intensify according to the OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2016. Such megatrends, and others highlighted in the report, require policy responses that will likely face major constraints, including high public debt, international security threats, a possible erosion of social cohesion and the rise of influential non-state actors, the report maintains.

U.S. clusters looking to collaborate with European clusters are invited to an event taking place in Washington, D.C., during the TechConnect World Innovation Conference, on May 16, 2017. The seminar and matchmaking event is being organized by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform and BILAT USA 4.0. BILAT USA 4.0 seeks to support transatlantic cluster cooperation for strategic business partnerships and enhance, support and further develop the research and innovation cooperation between the European Union and the U.S.

U.S. companies spent 18 percent of their research and development dollars outside of the United States in 2013, according to data recently released by the NSF. The $73 billion in foreign R&D is concentrated in the information industry, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and automobiles and parts. Those four industries accounted for 52 percent of all foreign R&D performance by U.S.

In an effort to incentivize large-scale industry partnerships, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada will invest up to C$950 million (US$708.5 million) between 2017 and 2022 in superclusters as part of the nation’s Innovation and Skills Plan.

Through a partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the government of Ontario is launching the Cluster Development Seed Fund, offering grants of up to $100,000 to support cluster initiatives. The funds are part of the Partnerships for Jobs and Growth Act, passed in 2014 by the Ontario government.

As globalization transforms national R&D funding priorities and increase the demand for top S&T, nations are shifting their national R&D strategies toward initiatives intended to attract top scientists from other countries. These attraction efforts have a specific focus on repatriating top researchers by offering them access to the funds necessary to build world class facilities. In addition to large national commitments, foundations also have announced efforts to attract researchers by providing grant funding to support R&D projects and build facilities.

A recently released report finds evidence that Canada’s tech sector – when properly defined – plays an important role in the nation’s economy. In The State of Canada’s Tech Sector, authors Creig Lamb and Matthew Seddon develop a definition of the tech sector based on those industries employing an oversized share of technology occupations. Ultimately, they suggest that the sector is responsible for $117 billion (88.9 billion USD) in economic output, roughly on par with finance and insurance and construction as a percent of total GDP (7.1 percent).

The European Union (EU) will commit €240 million (approximately 265 million USD) to create a nonprofit Research and Innovation Institute in Greece that will fund research and innovation to support the country’s efforts to pull it out of prolonged recession and create new high-paying jobs, according to the University World News.