The Information Technology and Information Foundation recently released a report on the sources of technological innovation. The quick summary is over the last few decades the major sources of technology innovation has shifted from large corporations working on their own to companies of varying sizes - including an increasing number of small businesses - working collaboratively with government agencies, universities and other companies.
The report looks at the sources of the innovations that made R&D Magazine's annual Top 100 Innovations list over the last 40 years. As the report chart below shows, the share of innovations on this list sourced from Fortune 500 firms has fallen substantially.
Taking the place of large corporations working on their own are interorganizational teams comprised of large and small businesses as well as universities, non-profits and government agenices. Key quote from the report: "...approximately two-thirds of the award-winning innovations involve some kind of interorganizational collaboration..."
Small businesses are also much more likely to create to award winning innovations today than in the past. The Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR) was created in the 1980s to ensure that small businesses receive some of the federal funding earmarked for research and innovation. Based on the number of SBIR award winners, the program has been successful.
Comments