Preparing the Ground for 2024: A Thematic Recap of the Latest Deep Tech Trends - Part 1
Preparing the Ground for 2024: A Thematic Recap of the Latest Deep Tech Trends - Part 1
2023 in Review - Highlighting the Industrial and Technological Shifts
The innovation landscape in 2023 was all about dynamism and rapid changes, making the start of this 2024 a prime time to circle back to some key data and trends.
As we step into this year, we've focused our efforts on crafting a targeted analysis to examine key events within the context of the technological and industrial transition of 2023, aiming to provide a robust foundation to navigate the challenges and opportunities that 2024 is set to throw our way.
With this goal in mind, we've taken a thematic lens to scan the 2023 horizon, focusing on some key sectors, selected based on comprehensive industry reports and discussions with influential experts in the Deeptech scene.
We have decided to cluster our first five thematic areas in this way: Energy & Climate, AI & Robotics, Semiconductors & Quantum Computing, Space Industry, and Food & Water Tech.
The goal is to offer a thematic recap of the past year's highlights, establishing a foundation for the exciting year ahead.
Ready to go?
2023: A Year of Innovation Resilience
Throughout 2023, technological and industrial innovation experienced a period of intense evolution, marked by breakthrough moments and new challenges.
Despite economic pressures, a certain volatility in public markets, and a scarcity of liquidity in private capital markets, we've seen an unprecedented push toward the adoption and development of advanced technologies.
AI remained the undisputed protagonist, catalyzing investments and debates on a global scale, while Deep Tech startups captured attention for their innovative and competitive solutions, capable of addressing complex problems in key sectors like energy, health, and sustainability.
2023 also witnessed a significant shift in companies' attitudes towards innovation.
During the financial crisis of 2009, only 58% of companies planned to increase spending on innovation, and nearly 15% expected to reduce it. However, in 2023, a growing number of companies began to recognize the benefits of innovation, with 79% placing it among their top three priorities, a 15 percentage point increase from 2009. Remarkably, 66% of companies expect to increase their spending on innovation, with 42% anticipating an increase of more than 10%. This trend occurs despite the uncertain economic landscape, suggesting a strong expectation that companies will ramp up spending on key innovation enablers, even in the face of a potential economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions continued to escalate, raising questions about the future of globalization and its ability to reduce global poverty.
In this context, sustainable and inclusive growth became more urgent, prompting organizations to restructure for the digital era and to reconsider their approach to talent and inclusivity. This required, in some cases, a complete transformation of businesses, especially in relation to the energy transition, an increasingly pressing issue.
Furthermore, by tracking patents, we can gain a macroscopic view of how innovations have been distributed across industrial sectors and regions.
It's clear that the pharmaceutical sector is leading the way in innovation in the Americas, followed by information technologies. This underscores a trend