Innovation

• [New] The mature physics basis for net-energy tokamaks, recent technological innovations, and a burgeoning $2 billion-dollar industry have opened the door for the US to build a fusion pilot plant by the 2040s.
• [New] UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has selected six projects across the UK that will receive a share of £8m in funding to drive progress towards creating the world's first net-zero emissions industrial zone by 2040.
• [New] The Black Country is one of seven strategic industrial clusters across the UK being supported by BEIS and Innovate UK to decarbonise by 2040.
• [New] The automotive landscape faces existential disruption over the next 5-7 years as governments around the world target regulations to achieve carbon neutrality.
• [New] The National Space Plan for 2020-2025 represents the Czech Republic's strategy to further develop space related technologies in industry and academia and to play a more active and visible role within the international community in space and related areas.
• Global spending on AI will double in the next four years, reaching $110 billion in 2024, as companies see an opportunity to boost innovation, improve customer service and automate routine tasks so their employees can focus on more strategic work.
• Biden will invest $400 billion over ten years, as one part of a broad mobilization of public investment, in clean energy and innovation.
• The push across Asia to achieve carbon neutrality - Japan and South Korea are aiming for 2050, with China a decade later - is also a catalyst for innovation.
• India will look to be more innovative in its approach to garner additional investments worth Rs1.75 lakh crore for having 35 GW of renewable power generation capacity in 2021 to meet the ambitious target of 175 GW of clean energy capacity by 2022.
• Good intentions aside, without support from a fully functioning IP system, do not expect America's workers to be in a position to cash in on research and startups or to challenge China's stated goal to dominate in areas of innovation and technology by 2025.
• The EIB's 25-year EUR 21 million financing will further strengthen the academic and scientific excellence of the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca and demonstrates how visionary higher-education investment can both enhance education, research and innovation, and improve energy efficiency.
• With the world's demand for meat projected to double by 2050, cultured meat offers an innovative alternative that will provide nutritional security, drastically reduce carbon emissions, and increase food safety worldwide.
• With an investment of 350 million euros, the Electric Versatility Platform will play a key role in Mercedes-Benz Vans' plans for emission-free transportation, and will offer optimal solutions, including for the U.S. and Canada.
• With innovation and technical progress, In-Orbit services are the object of a renewed interest and could reach a higher level of technological readiness in the coming years.
• Cities that learn, understand and invest in technology will be the cities of the future, and Las Vegas is at the forefront of innovation.
• Germany, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom have a history of driving innovation on a major scale and may accelerate the commercialization of AI solutions.
• A new executive order from the Trump administration that slashes Medicare payments to hospitals and physicians for certain medicines will hurt patients' access to care and financially stress already overburdened hospitals and innovation-based pharmaceutical companies.
• Top 10 Emerging Jobs in the Future (2030-2050): With the constant innovation and major strides being made in technology, a large part of the U.S. and the world workforce will have to retrain for new jobs that will arise.
• As the world faces increasing environmental challenges, Carleton University has a key role to play in providing innovation, talent and leadership that will lead to meaningful change.
• A decade's worth of digital transformation occurred within the space of a few months during 2020, with organisations now presented with a slew of innovative products and services that will underpin their rapid adaption as the digital revolution advances.
• Achieving the necessary 11.7% per year global decarbonisation rate this decade will require wholescale transformation of every sector of the global economy, unprecedented innovation, and committed leadership.
• The initiative, co-led by the GAVI vaccine alliance, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), said it aimed to deliver 1.3 billion doses of approved vaccines in 2021 to 92 eligible low- and middle-income economies.

Last updated: 10 January 2021