Innovate or die: manufacturers outshine banks in innovation – report

In response, companies are increasingly looking to launch physical innovation centers in major global technology hubs such as Silicon Valley to leverage an ecosystem of startups, venture capitalists, accelerators, vendors and academic institutions.

These are the findings of the global report “The Innovation Game: Why and How Businesses are Investing in Innovation Centers” by Altimeter Group and Capgemini Consulting, the global strategy and transformation consulting arm of the Capgemini Group.

The results also indicate that, in terms of innovation, manufacturing is a clear leader at 58%, but despite facing increasing pressures from digital disruptions, financial services lag at only 28%. Also, key findings of the new study reveal a varied approach to innovation centres, in terms of locations, focus areas and governance models:

· 38% of the leading 200 companies have set up innovation centres in a global tech hub
· The US and Europe have the largest share with 29% of total innovation centres respectively followed by Asia at 25%
· Silicon Valley is the most attractive area to locate an innovation centre for leading organisations – 61% of companies have established one or more centres in the Valley. But many more hubs are emerging – the top 10 cities in our analysis represent only 35% of total innovation centres
· The most popular areas of research for innovation centres remain well-established technologies such as mobility (63%) and big data/analytics (51%)
· Less mature technologies, including 3D printing (5%), virtual reality (13%) and robotics (13%), are currently less of a research priority
· Innovation centres help to accelerate the generation and implementation of new ideas, attract talent, drive employee engagement, and establish partnerships with startups

However, while innovation centres are receiving substantial investments from many global organisations and some are seeing significant benefits, establishing a successful centre is proving a challenge - the report quotes a seasoned innovation expert as saying that 80-90 percent of these centres fail.