Issues of research and competitive and strategic intelligence

The world of research is changing fast. New fields are driving innovation, such as the Internet of Things and its everyday uses, or artificial intelligence with its applications to autonomous driving or facial search, for example. In this fast-changing context, research must rise to the challenges of digital transformation and technology transfer, taking into account new scientific and industrial collaborations and the opening up of research data.

The potential of French research is real, thanks to the creativity of its researchers and the recognized quality of their expertise, as evidenced by the number of patents filed and the excellence of their scientific publications. France participates in numerous European research programs and inventive technological development programs. Investment policies, cooperative research-industry initiatives and synergies with the defense industry are developed and encouraged. This is generating new modes of commercialization, as well as new issues of intellectual protection and regulation. Greater mobility of researchers between the public and private sectors is an asset.

On a global scale, the United States of America has an extremely prolific research and innovation activity, thanks to a major investment policy and a strong partnership between academia and industry. China invests massively and encourages university research to become the world leader. It is now one of the twenty most innovative countries in the world, with Switzerland in the lead, followed by the Netherlands and Sweden, the USA in 6th place and France in 15th. The epicenter of this innovation is shifting to Asia (China, South Korea, Japan), which is moving from industrial production to a consumer- and service-oriented economy.

In the context of globalization, the European Union still leads the world in many fields (aeronautics, particle physics, etc.). Western countries are champions of economic competitiveness, but Asian countries are champions of sustainable innovation, which aims to minimize negative impacts on ecosystems.

Research governance strongly encourages scientific establishments to take economic and strategic intelligence into account. Indeed, innovation requires collaborative openness and multiple exchanges, such as between companies and firms or between companies and laboratories. But it also needs to protect innovative know-how and forward-looking research. Innovative sectors are subject to targeted attacks through legal disputes or attempts to capture information, the consequences of which can include loss of control over technologies, reduced competitiveness or loss of confidence with partners, not to mention job destruction, etc.

This article presents the international...