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Week of December 29, 2008 - January 4, 2009 |
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The latest edition
of Booz Allen Hamilton’s Global Innovation 1000 was released earlier
this month. The list ranks and assesses the world’s 1000 biggest
corporate research and development (R&D) investors. The globalization of
R&D is the big trend found among this year’s top R&D investors. In fact,
the top eighty US R&D spenders invested $80.1 billion overseas (out of
total spending of $146 billion). US firms are not alone in this trend,
as top European and Japanese R&D spenders also much of their R&D funds
overseas. The top 50 European firms deployed roughly 43 percent of funds
overseas, while Japanese firms spend 56 percent funds outside of Japan.
While the traditional R&D leaders are moving much R&D offshore, the
pattern is not simply one of outsourcing to other locations. A wider
circulation of R&D is happening, as US, Europe, and Japan invest
overseas, but also attract incoming R&D dollars, too. In fact, forty
percent of corporate R&D spending in the US is generated from firms
headquartered elsewhere. Overall, the Global Innovation 1000 now spend
an average of 55 percent of their R&D funds in other countries. The
globalization of R&D has now become the norm for the world’s most
innovative firms. |
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The National Venture Capital Association
(NVCA) has released its annual predictions for the venture capital
industry in 2009, and the findings should not come as a big surprise.
Venture capitalists (VCs) expect 2009 to be a difficult year. A large
majority predicts a slowdown in investments across almost all markets
and sectors, and a continued weakness in exit markets. It’s going to be
a tough year for both entrepreneurs and investors, as surveyed VCs
believe that firms will be challenged to raise money and VC firms will
be challenged to raise funds from institutional investors. Is there any
good news? VCs do expect a big upturn in 2010. Let’s hope they’re right. |
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Emerging Economy Entrepreneur Predictions Endeavor, a leading
non-profit that support high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging economies,
has recently asked its partner companies for their views on where the
global economy is heading. Like angels, venture capitalists and many
others, they are feeling fairly pessimistic. The surveyed entrepreneurs
are already feeling the credit crunch in the form of lost sales, higher
input costs, and more difficulty in accessing finance. Overall,
fifty-five percent of Endeavor entrepreneurs expect to have more
difficulty obtaining funding in 2009. Nonetheless, like many
entrepreneurs, the surveyed group is pessimistic about economic
conditions, but optimistic about their own companies. As a group, the
surveyed entrepreneurs predict 31% growth in 2009—thanks in part to
increased buyouts and acquisitions and better access to talent. |
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Great Britain’s Department of
Innovation, Universities, and Skills has taken a close look at Britain’s
innovation performance in its newly released Annual Innovation Report
2008. This first annual report follows up on the British government’s
Innovation Nation White Paper published in March 2008 and the Sainsbury
review of science and innovation published in 2007. If you want to
understand the state of innovation policy in Britain, this report is a
good place to start. It benchmarks Britain’s innovation performance, and
also tracks progress in meeting the goals set out in the initial
Innovation Nation strategy. Most of the recommendations are still being
implemented. Recently announced programs include £5 million Innovation
Research Center that will conduct research on pressing innovation
issues, as well as new strategies to generate new business opportunities
that link innovative small businesses to pressing government agency
challenges. Two recently announced competitions will focus on reducing
military dependence on fossil fuels and combating infections in health
care facilities. |
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The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship is an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving entrepreneurship around the world. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online. |
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National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
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stories © 2008 The Public Forum Institute
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