Asia stands tall, regains top status as innovator

Asia regained its status as an innovation hub in 2017 after a brief lapse into second place behind North America in the previous year.

That's according to a report released on Jan 26 by Clarivate Analytics, formerly the intellectual property and science business of Thomson Reuters.

The 2017 Top 100 Global Innovators report shows that the number of top 100 innovators from Asia increased over 15 percent from 39 the previous year to 45, followed by North America with 36 companies and Europe with 19 groups.

Asia has taken the lead in three of the last four years, confirming the region's status as the global innovation powerhouse.

Clarivate Analytics has issued the annual report since 2011.

It selects the world's most dynamic innovative organizations by examining their research capacity, IP protection and commercial performance, especially the volume of patents and the commercialization rate of patents, as well as globalization and influence.

Daniel Videtto, head of Clarivate Analytics' IP and standards business, said the world is undergoing major economic reform, and a major motivator for corporate leaders during this transformational turmoil is innovation.

Innovation can help companies to increase their competitiveness and create sustainable economic development, to promote social progress and improve the quality of people's lives, Videtto said.

The latest report noted that Asia's top 100 companies have outperformed the top 100 as a whole on all metrics, indicating they are producing higher-quality innovation, commercializing that innovation more globally and creating more influential innovation than both the remaining top 100 global innovators and other organizations outside the list.

Organizations on the 2017 list are from 12 countries and regions.

Of these, 85 also made the list in 2016, and six companies - Facebook, Hon Hai, Fuji Electric, Molex, Nichia and Western Digital - appeared on the list for the first time since the program began.

The Chinese mainland featured on the list again, with one standout performer - telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies. Huawei also made the list in 2014 and 2016 and the report said the group showed an improved performance in globalization in line with its strategy to develop a "global response to global needs".

Huawei was also recognized as a first-tier Chinese innovator in the Clarivate Analytics Chinese Top 100 Innovators report published in November, which found that the combined influence metrics of the top 100 Chinese innovators grew by an impressive 60 percent on the previous year.

Clarivate Analytics recently organized an IP and innovation seminar in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, together with the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office.

At the seminar the 2017 Top 100 Global Innovators report was announced. The event attracted more than 100 participants, including senior officials from the provincial IP office and IP leaders of Guangdong companies.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/01/2018 page17)