Innovation is becoming the new engine of global power

From advanced manufacturing and robotics to biotechnology, energy and new digital systems, innovation is increasingly determining which countries and companies will shape the next decade.

FOSTER! NEWS | INNOVATION
15 SEPTEMBER 2026

THE RACE IS NO LONGER ONLY ABOUT TECHNOLOGY

For decades, innovation was largely associated with laboratories, universities and technology companies.

That is changing.

Today, innovation is becoming a strategic issue for governments, industries and entire economies.

The countries capable of developing new technologies, commercialising them and deploying them at scale can gain advantages that extend far beyond the technology sector.

Manufacturing, energy, healthcare, defence, agriculture, transport and finance are all being transformed by new technological capabilities.

The result is a new global competition.

And this time, the question is not simply who invents.

It is who can turn invention into power.

FROM INVENTION TO STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

A breakthrough has little geopolitical value if it cannot be manufactured at scale.

That is why innovation increasingly depends on the entire ecosystem surrounding a technology.

It requires:

• Research.
• Skilled workers.
• Capital.
• Infrastructure.
• Energy.
• Supply chains.
• Manufacturing capacity.
• Access to markets.
• Regulation.

The countries that combine these elements can move faster from scientific discovery to industrial production.

That ability is becoming one of the defining advantages of the 21st century.

THE FACTORY IS BECOMING INTELLIGENT

Manufacturing is undergoing one of the most significant transformations.

Robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced sensors and automated production systems are allowing factories to perform increasingly complex operations with less human intervention.

The change is not limited to replacing manual tasks.

Modern manufacturing systems can monitor production in real time, identify failures, optimise processes and adjust operations automatically.

This is creating a new generation of factories in which software and machinery operate as a single system.

The industrial competition of the future will therefore depend not only on labour costs.

It will also depend on technological capability.

ROBOTS ARE MOVING BEYOND THE FACTORY

Industrial robots have existed for decades.

What is changing is their range of applications.

Advances in artificial intelligence, computer vision and sensors are making robots more adaptable.

They are increasingly being developed for logistics, warehouses, agriculture, healthcare, construction and other environments that were previously difficult to automate.

Humanoid robotics is also attracting significant investment.

The technology remains at an early stage, but companies and governments are betting that increasingly capable machines could eventually perform a much wider range of physical tasks.

The economic implications could be substantial.

BIOTECHNOLOGY COULD REWRITE HEALTHCARE

Innovation is also accelerating in biology.

Artificial intelligence is being combined with genomics, drug discovery and biomedical research to analyse enormous quantities of biological information.

The objective is to identify patterns that would be difficult or impossible to detect manually.

Potential applications include:

• New medicines.
• Earlier diagnosis.
• Personalised treatments.
• Disease research.
• Drug development.
• Genetic analysis.

The speed at which scientific information can now be processed is changing the relationship between computing and biology.

The next major technological revolution may therefore take place inside the laboratory as much as inside the data centre.

ENERGY IS BECOMING AN INNOVATION BATTLEFIELD

The energy transition is creating another major field of technological competition.

Solar power, batteries, nuclear energy, hydrogen, grid technologies and energy storage are developing rapidly.

But the challenge is not simply producing more energy.

It is producing reliable energy at competitive cost and delivering it through infrastructure capable of supporting increasingly electrified economies.

Artificial intelligence is also becoming part of the energy system.

Data centres require enormous quantities of electricity, while AI can help optimise grids, forecast demand and improve industrial efficiency.

Technology and energy are therefore becoming increasingly interconnected.

THE BATTERY RACE

Energy storage is one of the most important technological challenges of the coming decades.

Better batteries can influence electric vehicles, renewable energy, industrial production and national energy security.

This has created competition across the entire battery supply chain.

Raw materials matter.

Processing capacity matters.

Manufacturing matters.

Research matters.

And the ability to recycle materials is becoming increasingly important.

The battery industry demonstrates a broader reality:

Innovation is rarely about one invention.

It is about controlling the system around it.

SPACE IS BECOMING AN INDUSTRIAL FRONTIER

Space is no longer exclusively the domain of governments and traditional space agencies.

Private companies are increasingly involved in launch systems, satellites, communications, navigation and other space technologies.

Lower launch costs have opened the door to new commercial applications.

Satellite networks can provide communications and support navigation, Earth observation and scientific research.

At the same time, governments increasingly regard space infrastructure as strategically important.

The result is a rapidly expanding space economy — and another arena in which technological leadership can become geopolitical influence.

CHINA, THE UNITED STATES AND THE GLOBAL INNOVATION RACE

The competition between the United States and China is increasingly visible across several strategic technologies.

Artificial intelligence, semiconductors, robotics, batteries, telecommunications and advanced manufacturing are all part of a broader technological contest.

The United States retains major advantages in research, venture capital, software and leading technology companies.

China has built enormous manufacturing capacity and has become a major force across several strategic industries.

But the competition extends beyond Washington and Beijing.

Europe, Japan, South Korea, India and other economies are also seeking to strengthen their technological capabilities.

The global innovation map is becoming more competitive.

SEMICONDUCTORS REMAIN AT THE CENTRE

Few technologies demonstrate the strategic importance of innovation more clearly than semiconductors.

Modern economies depend on advanced chips for smartphones, vehicles, data centres, artificial intelligence systems, industrial equipment and defence technologies.

Their production requires highly specialised machinery, materials, research and manufacturing facilities.

That complexity has transformed semiconductors into a strategic asset.

Governments are investing heavily to strengthen domestic production and reduce vulnerabilities in global supply chains.

The chip race is therefore not simply a commercial competition.

It is also a question of technological sovereignty.

INNOVATION IS CHANGING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

Technological breakthroughs can create entirely new industries while disrupting existing ones.

Companies that successfully commercialise new technologies can grow at extraordinary speed.

Others can disappear if they fail to adapt.

This process is already visible across transport, communications, finance, retail and manufacturing.

The next wave could be even broader.

Artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, advanced materials and energy technologies are converging.

That convergence could create industries that do not yet exist.

THE RISE OF THE INNOVATION ECONOMY 

Traditional economic measures do not always capture the importance of technological capability.

A country may possess natural resources, a large population or substantial industrial capacity.

But without research, skilled workers and technological infrastructure, it can become dependent on other countries for critical technologies.

Innovation therefore increasingly forms part of national economic strategy.

Governments are competing to attract:

• Researchers.
• Engineers.
• Start-ups.
• Investors.
• Technology companies.
• Manufacturing projects.

The objective is clear:

Build the ecosystem before the next technological wave arrives.

UNIVERSITIES ARE BECOMING STRATEGIC ASSETS 

Research universities remain fundamental to the innovation system.

Scientific discoveries can take years to become commercial products.

Universities provide much of the research, talent and scientific infrastructure required for that process.

But the relationship between academia and industry is changing.

Technology companies increasingly work directly with researchers.

Governments are funding strategic research programmes.

And investors are looking for technologies capable of moving rapidly from laboratory experiments to commercial applications.

The distance between scientific research and industry is becoming smaller.

THE TALENT WAR IS JUST AS IMPORTANT

Technology requires people.

Advanced chips need engineers.

AI requires researchers and computing specialists.

Biotechnology requires scientists.

Robotics requires expertise across software, electronics and mechanical engineering.

This is creating intense international competition for highly skilled workers.

Countries are therefore competing not only for companies and investment.

They are also competing for talent.

The ability to attract and retain researchers could become one of the most important determinants of technological leadership.

INNOVATION ALSO CREATES NEW RISKS

Every technological revolution produces unintended consequences.

Automation can disrupt employment.

Biotechnology can create security risks.

Digital systems can increase vulnerability to cyberattacks.

Advanced technologies can widen the gap between countries and communities that have access to them and those that do not.

And increasingly powerful technologies can create regulatory challenges that governments were not designed to handle.

Innovation cannot therefore be separated from governance.

The faster technology develops, the more important the rules surrounding it become.

WHO WILL CONTROL THE TECHNOLOGIES OF TOMORROW?

This is becoming one of the central questions of the global economy.

Who controls the chips?

Who controls the data?

Who controls the energy?

Who develops the most advanced robots?

Who owns the patents?

Who has access to the world's most advanced research?

And who has the capacity to manufacture at scale?

The answers could determine which countries and companies have the greatest influence over the next technological era.

THE NEW MEASURE OF POWER 

For much of modern history, national power was measured through territory, population, military capability and economic production.

Those factors remain important.

But technological capability is becoming another fundamental measure of power.

A country capable of designing advanced chips, developing powerful AI systems, producing sophisticated robots and creating new medicines possesses capabilities that can influence its economy, security and international position.

Innovation is therefore no longer simply about progress.

It is about power.

THE NEXT DECADE WILL BE DECIDED BY WHAT CAN BE BUILT

The global innovation race is entering a new phase.

Artificial intelligence is accelerating research.

Robotics is transforming production.

Biotechnology is changing medicine.

Energy technologies are reshaping infrastructure.

Space is becoming a commercial and strategic frontier.

Semiconductors are becoming critical infrastructure.

And governments are increasingly treating technological capability as a matter of national security.

The defining competition of the coming decade may therefore be less about who has the biggest economy today.

It may be about who can build the technologies that everyone else will need tomorrow.

FOSTER! ANALYSES

Innovation has always been one of the forces that changes societies.

But the scale and speed of today's technological transformation are creating a different kind of competition.

The most important technologies are no longer developing in isolation.

AI connects with robotics.

Robotics connects with manufacturing.

Manufacturing connects with energy.

Energy connects with computing.

Computing connects with semiconductors.

And biotechnology increasingly connects with artificial intelligence.

These technologies are becoming part of the same ecosystem.

That is why the next technological revolution will not be defined by a single invention.

It will be defined by who can connect the inventions together — and turn them into systems that work at scale.

The race for innovation is already underway.

The question is no longer who will invent the future.

It is who will build it.

FOSTER! NEWS
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