France 3rd in world innovation

Thomson Reuters rank of world’s most innovative business and institutions sees France come behind Japan and the USA

A RANK of the world’s most innovative businesses has placed France in third place, behind the USA and Japan.

France had twelve companies in the list, which is compiled annually by the Thomson Reuters group. The USA had 45 entries and Japan 28.

Also figuring in the list were Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan. The UK did not have a single entry.

The Thomson Reuters list ranks the top 100 companies and institutions in the world using a formula based on the number and importance of their patents.

You can see the full list at top100innovators.com

Thomson Reuters said the top 100 most innovative companies collectively “generated $4.5 trillion in revenue, nearly twice that of the GDP of the United Kingdom”.

The French entries are Alcatel-Lucent (telecommunications), Arkema (chemicals), the the French National Center for Scientific Research (research), the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (research), EADS (aerospace), IFP Energies Nouvelles (research), L’Oréal (consumer products), Michelin (industrial), Safran (transportation), Saint-Gobain (industrial), Thales (transport) and Valeo (automotive).

Photo: Liv Friis-larson Fotolia