Spain is among the top 100 Science and Technology clusters in the world in 2024, according to the Global Innovation Index, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and classifying the high-level innovative capacity of countries and economies around the world.
Specifically, the Global Innovation Index’s “Science and Technology Clusters” classification identifies local concentrations of world-leading scientific and technological activity, with Madrid ranked 48th and Barcelona 55th, highlighting actors such as the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), public universities and companies such as Ericsson and HP.
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morantstressed that “the Spanish Government’s commitment to these scientific and technological ecosystems is firm, facilitating the growth of clusters such as those in Madrid and Barcelona, where a record budget has been distributed in recent years thanks to the increased investment in science and innovation in our country.”
Morant also pointed out that “these two cities must serve as driving forces for other Spanish regions and continue to grow, based on knowledge and innovation.”
Between 2019 and 2023, 1,636 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications were filed in Madrid, of which 21% were in the field of digital communications. Between 2018 and 2022, 39,016 publications were published in scientific journals, of which 12% were in the field of chemistry. 31% of Madrid’s PCT patent applications are filed in collaboration with other inventors, with the top locations being Shanghai-Suzhou, Barcelona and Stockholm. 57% of Madrid’s scientific articles are published in collaboration with other organisations, with the top three locations being Barcelona, Valencia and London.
In Barcelona, 2,341 PCT applications were filed between 2019 and 2023. 30,502 journal publications were published between 2018 and 2022, of which 11% were in the field of clinical medicine. 23% of Barcelona’s PCT patent applications are filed in collaboration with other inventors, with the top locations being Madrid, San Jose-San Francisco and Portland. 68% of Barcelona’s scientific articles are published in collaboration with other organizations, with the top three locations being Madrid, London and Paris.
Global Innovation Index
Since 2016, the Global Innovation Index has been identifying local concentrations of world-leading science and technology activity around the world, using a bottom-up approach. Clusters are established by analyzing patent filing and scientific paper publication activity, documenting the geographic areas around the world with the highest density of scientific inventors and authors. Two innovation metrics are employed in compiling the top 100 science and technology clusters worldwide.
The first metric focuses on the location of inventors listed in patent applications published under the WIPO PCT. The second metric considers authors listed in published scientific articles.
WIPO locates and classifies science and technology clusters through a geocoding method, which maps addresses and names extracted from documents with 96% accuracy.
The report ranks the innovation ecosystem performance of economies around the world each year, while highlighting innovation strengths and weaknesses and particular gaps in innovation metrics. To capture as complete a picture of innovation as possible, it comprises around 80 indicators, including measures on each economy’s policy environment, education, infrastructure and knowledge creation.
