According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), four of the top five science and technology centers in the world are located in East Asia. One of the centers is in Japan, three in China and the fifth in the United States, according to a preview of the 2022 edition of the WIPO World Innovation Index, which will be officially launched on September 29.

Tokyo-Yokohama heads the ranking of the largest hubs. It is followed by Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou (China and Hong Kong [Chine]), Beijing (China), Seoul (Republic of Korea) and San José-San Francisco (United States).

China has as many major scientific centers as the United States.

“In addition to the long-known centers of excellence in the United States, Europe, Japan and the Republic of Korea, we are seeing new science and technology incubators appear in East Asia, particularly China, but also in other economies. middle-income countries, including Brazil, India, Iran, Turkey and elsewhere,” WIPO Director General Daren Tang said in a statement.

But for the first time, China has as many science and technology centers as the United States, with 21 centers each. According to the Geneva-based UN institution, Germany has 10 poles and Japan five.

The strongest increases in the ranking of the 2022 hubs compared to the previous year were recorded by three Chinese hubs, namely Zhengzhou (+15), Qingdao (+12) and Xiamen (+12). It is followed by Berlin (+4) in Germany, Istanbul (+4) in Türkiye, Kanazawa (+4) in Japan, Ankara (+3) in Türkiye, Daegu (+3) in the Republic of Korea and Mumbai (+3) in India.

San Jose-San Francisco, Boston-Cambridge and New York in the main centers of the United States

The Global Innovation Index annually ranks the innovation capacity of nearly 130 countries and economies around the world. The Global Innovation Index chapter on science and technology hubs surveys the terrain to identify the strongest local concentrations of science and technology development.

In proportion to their population, the Cambridge cluster in the UK and the Eindhoven region in the Netherlands/Belgium are the clusters with the highest science and technology intensity, followed by Daejon in the Republic of Korea, San José-San Francisco and Oxford, UK. .

In the United States, the main poles are San José-San Francisco, Boston-Cambridge and New York. In Europe, the leaders are Paris, London and Cologne.

“Local innovation hubs play a critical role in driving national innovation ecosystems, so by mapping them we can understand where and how innovation happens and promote innovative activity as a powerful catalyst for jobs, investment and growth. growth,” concluded Mr. Tang.