Innovation & IP Asset Consulting
Convergence for divergent trends

TOYOTA WILL GO IN SERIES WITH FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY SOONER THAN PLANNED

Tokyo, July 2014: Already  in the upcoming spring, the car manufacturer Toyota wants to sell its fuel cell-car and start exporting to USA and Europe in the summer. The starting price is cheaper than expected at around € 60,000. With extensive subsidies and tax breaks, the Japanese government wants to ensure that the market shares are backed up early and its auto industry stays highly competitive. In parallel, the current high production costs shall be significantly reduced by 2025, as well as the infrastructure being  further defined.  Read the Rest

GERMANY LANDS ON PLACE 3 IN EU INNOVATION RANKINg

In the so-called Performance Innovation Union Scoreboard 2014 for Research and Innovation, Germany still falls in the category of innovation performance well above the EU average, but slips below Sweden and Denmark at rank 3, followed by Finland. Germany’s innovative growth grew strongly while Sweden’s growth rate is almost stagnant. Only in the area of ​​the science, regarding open, excellent and attractive research systems, does Germany fall behind the average. Denmark is here above all others this year’s front-runner.

When Europe is viewed as a whole, Switzerland retains its position as the absolute leader of innovation, and in global terms South Korea, the U.S. and Japan still stand before the EU. While the EU is catching up to the U.S. and Japan, South Korea’s lead stretches even further. In international comparison, the EU, however, is still before Australia and Canada as well as in front of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). However, China is on track to close its gap of 44% of the innovation performance.

Less strong EU Member States must catch up and in a global context, the EU should not remain standing still. Above all, the culture of innovation needs to be further promoted with a focus on networking and entrepreneurship.