Two years ago, global research and development (R&D) spending grew by 5.2 percent, significantly faster than global gross domestic product (GDP) growth, after rebounding strongly from the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Venture capital (VC) and the use of intellectual property (IP) were also at an all-time high.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has hit the innovation landscape at a time when innovation was flourishing. And now that global economic growth is expected to fall sharply in 2020, observers wonder if R&D, VC, IP and the political determination to adopt innovation will also slump – freezing innovation finance and slowing humanity’s progress.
Image: Lee Sea Lin, director for innovation at Toppan Ecquaria which has partnered with GovTech to implement facial verification technology, demonstrates the technology on his mobile phone in Singapore. (AFP Photo)
