consultaglobal

“The offshoring of innovation has both “push” and“pull” factors that act to implement change, with positive and negative mitigating factors”.

“Push” factors for western companies include an increasingly severe talent shortage, competitive pressures, and experience with offshore companies who are increasingly capable of sourcing global talent.

“Pull” factors include local grants and incentives for companies, incentives for highly skilled nationals to return home, and the experience of service providers to work better with traditional organizations”.

“Positive mitigating factors that affect offshoring can include advances in ICT [information and communication technologies] and Internet technologies, along with improving standardization policies”.

“Negative mitigating factors include language and cultural differences, wage inflation and turnover, and infrastructure deficiencies”.

2008 Global R&D Report, sponsored by Battelle and R&D Magazine.

Global R&D spending surpassed $1 trillion back in 2006. That figure includes private and public sectors, including university research. In many countries, the forecast for 2008 shows investment levels above inflation rates, which implies R&D growth going beyond just keeping up with rising costs triggered by monetary policies. 

In 2008, The United States will account for 30% of global R&D spending, followed by Europe and China with 24% and 18% respectively. Earlier in the year I reported about a study naming Japan the most innovative country while another one mentioned Denmark as the new the innovation leader, both of them clearly located in the upper right quadrant of the below chart. Over the year there has also been some stipulation on whether the E.U. is catching up with U.S. in innovation and if major patent reform in the US might further advance the country’s leadership.

Emerging markets are also driving innovations, specially India and China, two countries delivering scientists and engineers at a rapid pace. While some analyst express concerns about the trade-offs between quantity (e.g. number of graduates) and quality (e.g. education and skill levels) their governments are committed to continue to make significant improvements on both fronts.

Off-shore outsourcing and low cost manufacturing are often mentioned as drivers for both foreign-direct-investment as well as homegrown public and private enterprises in China and India. Nonetheless, since these countries’ own markets continue to develop, there is business interest in having on-site or near-site technical support for manufacturing and distribution facilities. This is supported by the relaxation of policies preventing major foreign ownership and by reduced state intervention, while strengthening intellectual property and financial practices. Still, recurrent issues about intellectual property violations, conforming to local standards, and obscure accounting practices, all of which remain matters of concern for foreign and local investors alike.

If you were interested in a forward looking view on the world’s wealth and population distributions, I would suggest having a look at a couple of charts shown in my post on 2015. I would also recommend watching “do you know the future?“, a video embedded in one of my posts about 2.0 trends. For instance, did you know that China is predicted to be the number one English speaking country in the work? Innovation and cultural differences would be another post of interest.

Click here to read my update for 15 October 2007.

José de Francisco  Newark Airport, 12 October 07  

“The Top 10″ at the time of uploading this article: [1] Mobile Blogging (6): Use Your Phone As A 3G Modem. [2] Project Ergofuturo: ErgoTrans (1991 Product Concept). [3] Mobile Phone Concepts: Egy Studio. [4] Bionics, Biomimetics, Biognosis, Biomimicry, or Bionical Creativity Engineering. [5] Toyota’s Personal Mobility: MWV Concept. [6] Intellectual Property And Innovation In Virtual Worlds. [7] MANet: Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks. [8] Design Concepts: Future Car. [9] Ideagora, a Marketplace for Minds. [10] “Visual Futurist: The Art & Life Of Syd Mead”.