The world’s largest science and technology cluster is the Tokyo/Yokohama STC. “Global Innovation Index”: China and the United States lead Economic Development
The world’s largest science and technology clusters (STCs) are located in China and the United States, while some developing economies are actively increasing their innovation activities, according to a preliminary release of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Global Innovation Index report.
The preliminary version of the Global Innovation Index, released ahead of the full report’s release on September 26, ranks the top 100 science and technology clusters based on patent filings and scientific publications. The index’s authors find that seven of the top 10 clusters are in Asia and three are in the United States.
The Tokyo/Yokohama STC in Japan is the world’s largest science and technology cluster, followed by Shenzhen/Hong Kong/Guangzhou in China. Beijing/Yokohama in China moved up one place from last year to third place. In sixth place is the San Jose/San Francisco cluster from the United States.
China leads the top 100 clusters for the second year in a row (26), followed by the United States with 20 clusters.
Progress in Middle-Income Countries
While the rankings for the top ten S&T clusters changed little, a different picture emerges when looking at the top 100. The greatest S&T progress was seen in middle-income countries, and the sharpest growth in S&T performance was seen in Chinese clusters. Cairo S&T (Egypt, with an 11 percent increase in S&T activity) showed the highest growth rate among middle-income economies, followed by Chennai, India, and Istanbul, Turkey.
In contrast, clusters in high-income countries generally grew more slowly than S&T clusters in middle-income economies, with 37 of 63 clusters experiencing declines in S&T activity. Most North American and European clusters lost their previous positions in the ranking.
Leaders by Region
The largest European cluster is STC Paris, France – 12th place.
The Russian Federation with STC Moscow took 31st place in the list.
STC Tehran from Iran was in 38th place.
The only scientific and technological cluster from Latin America in the ranking of 100 leading STCs was the cluster Sao Paulo, Brazil, ranked 73rd.
The only other cluster from Africa in the top 100 was Cairo, Egypt (95th).