The small town of Osan in Gyeonggi Province (S. Korea) has been conducting a unique experiment in the field of innovative education for 10 years. An organic system of cooperation involving all citizens is the key to its success.

South Korea has conducted the first test launch of its domestically built rocket, joining the ranks of advanced space-faring nations. South Korea has risen to become the world’s 12th-largest economy and a technologically advanced nation but has lagged in the headline-making world of spaceflight.

South Korea is establishing additional levels of cooperation with Southeast Asia and India in socio-cultural, economic and political terms. These efforts are aimed at realizing the country's potential as a middle Power in the region and diversifying its strategic partnerships.

South Korea has clinched the top spot in Asia in a United Nations agency’s global innovation rankings, coming in fifth globally. Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, was in 10th place last year. In the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index 2021, Korea was ahead of Singapore, Japan and China. It was behind Switzerland, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom is a multi-industry holding comprising assets in power engineering, machine engineering and construction, among others. Its strategy is to develop low-carbon generation, including wind power. As part of the Year of Science and Technology in the Russian Federation, ROSATOM has organized an international forum "Science for Peace and Development".

In our book, much attention is paid to the positive experience of implementing various innovative projects, and one of such successful examples is the Russian company Promobot, a manufacturer of autonomous service robots.

When we wrote about the successes in the field of "green" energy in Russia, we cited the example of the Orsk solar power plant in the Orenburg region and the manufacturer of solar modules, the Hevel Energy Group. Despite the fact that the portion of such energy in our country is still very low, we cannot but rejoice at the new achievements of Russian specialists in this industry.

The reorganization of the RFBR and its coalescence with the RSF is a resonant event, which was presented in the chapter on Russia of the book "Features of the National Innovation Culture". At the time of publication, there were fears in the scientific community that in the absence of healthy competition between foundations and as a monopolist, the Russian Science Foundation would increase the degree of control of scientific research. The Russian Academy of Sciences, in turn, insisted on maintaining the RFBR competitions.

The next unique project which we wrote about in the book "Features of the national innovation culture" is Technopolis GS. It is the largest Russian private innovation radioelectronics cluster, an area with a well-developed creative, social, and engineering infrastructure. 

There are more than 3,800 people in Innopolis every day. 367 companies have been registered, of which 126 are residents and partners of the the Innopolis Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

On November 10, 2021, the official presentation of our book "Features of the national innovation culture" will take place at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Center as part of the XIV St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum.

The book covered the activities of many Russian organizations, and since the beginning of our work on the book, certain events have occurred in the lives of these companies and enterprises.

The Finnish Innovation Index (FII) method is developed by Hanken School of Economics and enables a ranking of the most innovative companies by Finnish consumers, for the first time in 2021.
The FII reveals how consumers see the company’s innovativeness and attractiveness based on their experiences of the company.

Announced at the tail-end of 2020, the construction of Finland’s first-ever quantum computer is now fully underway. The project is a public-private collaboration, with € 20.7 million in funding from The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment having been granted to the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and their co-innovation partner IQM.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will establish two innovation hubs in Finland, the Finnish government announced last month in a press release.
The new centers will focus on innovative financing and the development, testing, and scaling of new solutions in learning.

We have many technological developments that today are an integral part of our lives. It is no coincidence that many of these technological developments and innovations have Sweden as their homeland.

The Joint Innovation Base (officially named “Alibaba Cloud Innovation Center – BMW Startup Garage Joint Innovation Base”) started operations on May 20, 2021 in the Shanghai Jinqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Brad Nelson, a robotics professor in Switzerland, had been planning to install a robotic catheter system in China at one of the world’s largest hospitals when the Covid-19 crisis hit.

Sabine Seufert, Professor of management of educational innovations at the University of St Gallen, first used the humanoid robot on a trial basis in her lectures in 2019. Equipped with artificial intelligence, “Lexi” operates like a chatbot and can carry out simple auxiliary tasks such as a Google search. Today, the University is researching other ways in which the robot can be put to effective use in classes.

Zak Dychtwald, the author of Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World (St. Martin’s Press, 2018) and the founder of Young China Group, considers that China is achieving a new level of global competitiveness, thanks to its hyper-adaptive population.

Almatech – a Swiss company based at EPFL Innovation Park – and e5.lab Inc of Tokyo setup partnership to promote and market the revolutionary zero-emission maritime shuttle ZESST (Zero Emission Speed Shuttle) on the Japanese market.

The national innovation platform Switzerland Innovation is expanding in Eastern Switzerland with its latest addition, the Innovation Park East. On 21 April, the Federal Council has given the thumbs up. The main location is in the immediate vicinity of Empa in St. Gallen.

Horizon Europe, the world’s largest multinational research and innovation programme, has issued its first call for grant applications.

In 2021, China will start implementing the innovation development strategy described in the next, 14th Five-Year Plan for 2021-2025 (FYP), and intends to enter a new stage of innovative and high-quality development, throwing all its forces into global recovery and growth.

In the most recent edition of the Bloomberg Innovation Index, Switzerland was ranked in third place globally. It has therefore risen by one place against the prior year’s rankings, with only South Korea and Singapore now placed ahead of Switzerland. This means that Switzerland is the most innovative country in Europe.

Dear friends!

We present to your attention the news blog "Innovative Culture in the World". This is a continuation of the already familiar digest, which formed the basis of the book "Features of the National Innovative Culture". The blog will acquaint you with exclusive news from the field of innovative development, "green" technologies and ecology, current trends in education and other rare materials from original sources around the world.