AMD has been on a roll with a multitude of releases and powerful innovations that are changing the landscape of the semiconductor industry. AMD is a company that has made its bets 5 years ago in high-performance computing and is now starting to see them come to fruition. With the announcement of their RDNA 2 platform and Zen architecture, they are delivering more performance to consumers for less power. These innovations continue to create waves in the industry with the company seeing its technologies adopted in gaming consoles to cars.
AMD’s recent announcements have proven that the company is making strides; not only in the consumer and gaming space but also in high-performance computing. The company has even announced their take on graphic supersampling with the FidelityFX Super Resolution. So, what’s next for AMD?
We’re sitting down with Paige Shi, Consumer Lead for Asia Pacific over at AMD to find out what’s happening at AMD and how the company is adapting to the new normal, how it has affected consumer behaviour and also what we can expect from the company in the future!
SINGAPORE, June 18, 2021 — Osome, a super-app that digitizes accounting and compliance services for SMEs, has raised $16M in a Series A funding from a group of investors including Target Global, AltaIR Capital, Phystech Ventures, S16VC, and Peng T. Ong, an angel investor. The capital enables Osome to expand its footprint internationally, as well as to fuel product integrations.
"Back-office operations are annoying, tedious yet mission critical for businesses, especially for SMEs. Remarkably, an average entrepreneur spends 68% of their time to deal with routine tasks vs 32% to strategize and deliver on their long term goals. Osome combines artificial intelligence software with operational excellence to automate administrative, accounting, payroll and tax-related work and help entrepreneurs focus on what they can do the best – growing their business", Victor Lysenko, co-founder and CEO of Osome, says. "We strive to build a future where small business owners can fully rely on the technology in their administrative routine".
The demand for Osome services has accelerated with COVID-19 as clients recognized the importance of automation. This has led to more than 100% YoY revenue growth and $9.5M ARR with over 6,000 happy customers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UK. Additionally, the company has identified a product / market fit in the fast-growing e-commerce segment and will double down on it in the next 18 months.
Osome’s core offering is online accounting services for SMEs, especially those involved in e-commerce — аccountants take over the documents and convert them into actionable numbers, tax filings and reports, making accounting and bookkeeping service for online sellers as simple as ever.
The company also helps with business set up and provides corporate secretary services — Osome checks compliance, tracks deadlines, files documents, and answers questions in a chat at any time of the day or week. The platform categorises and stores any documents users send, so nothing is lost, and then creates and files reports on time.
"We have supported Osome since the early days and are excited to continue our partnership in the latest round. We are especially happy about the strong growth Osome has shown in the expanding e-commerce segment. Online Sellers require unique tools and custom approaches to be serviced effectively and Osome’s mix of technology and human expertise is the perfect solution", says Mike Lobanov, GP & COO of Target Global.
SHENZHEN, China, June 18, 2021 — At Huawei’s Better World Summit for 5G + AR, Huawei Carrier BG CMO Bob Cai delivered a keynote speech titled 5G + AR, Turning Dreams into Reality. In this speech, Cai said that 5G will switch on AR, and AR will light up 5G. He also announced the release of the AR Insight and Application Practice White Paper, which offers insights into the AR industry in terms of devices, applications, and networking. Cai called on the entire industry to work together for a prosperous 5G + AR ecosystem.
Huawei Carrier BG CMO Bob Cai during the speech
AR creates a new frontier Huawei and third-party data predicts that the AR market will be worth US$300 billion by 2025. "AR will first see massive adoption in five prioritized industries: education, social networking, shopping, traveling & navigation, and gaming," said Cai. "AR can truly enable the convergence of the physical and digital worlds, making dreams a reality."
AR makes communication more efficient At the event, Cai shared case studies of Huawei employing AR. Due to COVID-19, customers from across the globe are unable to visit Huawei in person, so Huawei makes use of AR to demonstrate its leading products and solutions online, making communication far more efficient. Huawei also uses AR to achieve the quick delivery of 5G base stations, greatly boosting delivery efficiency.
Huawei simplifies AR At the event, Cai demonstrated how Huawei "produces" AR. Huawei’s Air Photo uses unique algorithms to convert a 2D photo into a digital 3D model, considerably simplifying AR 3D character modeling. Cai also introduced Huawei AR Engine, the company’s AR development platform oriented toward mobile devices. With Huawei AR Engine, developers need to write only 10 lines of code to create AR effects, hugely increasing the efficiency of AR application development.
The entire industry should work together to create a 5G + AR ecosystem A number of high-profile guests attended the event and delivered keynotes, including He Chengjian, Director of Shenzhen Communication Management Bureau, David MacQueen, Executive Director of Strategy Analytics, Huang He, Chief Producer of Shenzhen TV Station, Wei Rongjie, RealMax CEO, Hiroshi Fukuda, meleap CEO, Liang Jinhao, representative of HADO China Region, and Fu Jie, Executive Director of Shenzhen AR Association. They shared the latest AR use cases and their thoughts about AR’s future trends.
According to He Chengjian, Shenzhen is the first city in the world with full 5G SA coverage. ICT services represented by AR can potentially be adopted across a wide range of industries, including industrial production, e-commerce, real estate, home decor, culture, sport, tourism, healthcare, and education. AR applications have become a key engine for digital transformation and will profoundly change production methods and how we live.
Director of Shenzhen Communication Management Bureau He Chengjian during his keynote
When concluding his speech, Cai said, "If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. The development of AR requires the entire industry to work together and create a prosperous 5G + AR value chain. AR and 5G are combining at the right time. 5G switches on AR, and AR lights up 5G."
Download the AR Insight and Application Practice White Paper at:
ESPOO, Finland, June 17, 2021— IQM Quantum Computers (IQM) announced today its open-source software tool KQCircuits to automate the design of superconducting quantum processors. KQCircuits Is a Python library jointly developed by Aalto University and IQM using the KLayout design program.
IQM processor example
Designing quantum processors is fundamental to build quantum computers. But it is a difficult, multi-step process that takes significant time and effort. With this initiative, IQM supports the broader quantum community by open-sourcing its state-of-the-art quantum processor design platform.
KQCircuits creates a community-driven universal platform that enables quantum chip development through a simple and open framework, from chip design and simulation to fabrication. With KQCircuits, quantum engineers and physicists can conveniently generate chip designs with a simple click. They can also check the signal routing before the device fabrication process to avoid making costly errors.
"At IQM, we’ve been using KQCircuits to design and develop our state-of-the-art quantum processors. By making it available as an open-source platform, we want to make our tools available for the entire quantum community. Using KQCircuits, researchers and companies worldwide can now focus on R&D and continue to innovate faster," said Dr. Johannes Heinsoo, Team Leader at IQM.
KQCircuits generates multi-layer two-dimensional-geometries representing common structures in quantum processing units (QPUs). It includes:
A framework and definitions of parametrized geometrical circuit elements
Templates for manually drawn or code-defined circuit elements
A method for assembling a QPU design from elements.
Also, to reduce the design turnaround time and to reduce manual errors, KQC includes helpers to export:
Optical mask layouts and lithography patterns
Project files for easy simulations with popular FEM software such as Ansyss HFSS, Ansyss Q3D, and Sonnet
Netlist for SPICE simulations.
"KQCircuits leverages the work at KLayout design program, which has a history of over a decade of continuous development. We’d also like to acknowledge and thank the team at the QCD Labs of Aalto University and Mr. Matthias Koefferlein, Open-Source Developer of KLayout," added Dr. Heinsoo.
" In research, we are always looking for collaboration opportunities and ways to design quantum processors that are of high quality and reproducible. We are extremely happy that our work at the QCD Labs of Aalto University is now continued by IQM. We hope to see other quantum companies and researchers utilize this tool and contribute by further developing KQCircuits," said Prof. Mikko Möttönen, Aalto University
IQM is the European leader in superconducting quantum computers, headquartered in Espoo, Finland. Since its inception in 2018, IQM has grown to 110+ employees and established a subsidiary in Munich, Germany, to lead the co-design approach.
IQM delivers on-premises quantum computers for research laboratories and supercomputing centers and provides complete access to its hardware. For industrial customers, IQM delivers quantum advantage through a unique application-specific co-design approach. IQM has raised € 71 Million from private and public funding.
IQM is building Finland’s first commercial quantum computer with VTT, and an IQM led consortium was awarded € 12.4 Million in February 2021 to commercialize application-specific quantum processors by the German Ministry of Education and Research
The award recognizes innovations like LTI Canvas PolarSled and the maiden Snowcase that accelerate cloud data transformation
MUMBAI, India, June 17, 2021 — Larsen & Toubro Infotech (BSE: 540005) (NSE: LTI), a global technology consulting and digital solutions company has been recognized as the Global Innovation Partner of the Year by Snowflake, the Data Cloud Company. LTI received this prestigious recognition during Snowflake Virtual Partner Summit held on June 16, 2021.
The award represents a key milestone for the strategic partnership between LTI and Snowflake and will strengthen collaboration between the companies to empower enterprises with innovative solutions and services.
With its automation-first approach, LTI’s unique Canvas PolarSled platform provides speed, performance, and risk reduction to Snowflake customers. The platform offers:
Technology strategy and consulting to help define Snowflake migration and data strategy.
Automation-led implementation toolkit powered by ML-based tools.
Governance toolkit to help sustain and optimize Snowflake cloud data platform.
Nachiket Deshpande, Chief Operating Officer, LTI, said, "This award validates LTI’s strong commitment to simplifying and accelerating customer’s journey to Snowflake. Our global strategic partnership with Snowflake enables us to bring the innovation needed to create data-driven organizations for customers. This alliance empowers us to become an integral part of an organization’s broader data strategy and be the companion in its digital transformation journey."
"As part of the global strategic partnership, LTI and Snowflake invest in helping our joint customers migrate to Snowflake Data Cloud by eliminating the technology debt, and providing assurance by achieving a higher level of automation," said Ketan Awalegaonkar, Chief Customer Officer at Snowflake. "LTI with its multiple innovative Snowflake specific accelerators & solutions, especially the LTI Canvas PolarSled platform, provides speed, performance, and risk reduction to the customers’ cloud data journey. We look forward to strengthening this partnership and building innovative solutions for our customers together," he added.
Recently, LTI also became the Technology Launch Partner for Snowpark Accelerated Program. Currently in private preview, Snowpark simplifies an organization’s IT architecture by bringing more data pipelines into Snowflake’s single, governed core data platform. As part of this program LTI Mosaic Decisions and LTI Mosaic AI will facilitate easy adoption of Snowflake with optimized performance.
LTI is an Elite Services Partner for Snowflake, and launched the first Snowcase, a program to develop and market industry-specific solutions to accelerate cloud data transformation journey of enterprises.
About LTI:
LTI (NSE: LTI) is a global technology consulting and digital solutions Company helping more than 400 clients succeed in a converging world. With operations in 31 countries, we go the extra mile for our clients and accelerate their digital transformation with LTI’s Mosaic platform enabling their mobile, social, analytics, IoT and cloud journeys. Founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited, our unique heritage gives us unparalleled real-world expertise to solve the most complex challenges of enterprises across all industries. Each day, our team of more than 35,000 LTItes enable our clients to improve the effectiveness of their business and technology operations and deliver value to their customers, employees and shareholders. Follow us at @LTI_Global
The Honor namesake has been tied to HUAWEI for the longest time. That should not be a surprise though, Honor started out life as HUAWEI’s sister brand. For the longest time as well, they have lived under the shadows of the giant that is HUAWEI. When HUAWEI’s trade band with U.S. companies fell Honor, as a part of HUAWEI, was heavily impacted as well.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel though. Honor is no longer part of HUAWEI group as of 2021. In 2021 also, Honor confirms that their devices will run on Android with Google Play in tow.
A few weeks after they mentioned that they launched their first ever smartphone for 2021. They launched their new Honor 50 series smartphones. Instead of just one smartphone then, they released three – the Honor 50 SE, Honor 50, and Honor 50 Pro.
HONOR 50 SE
Source: GSM Arena
The HONOR 50 SE was not technically highlighted too much in the launch. It is still a part of the HONOR 50 family, however. It is the most budget friendly of the bunch, but also a little different.
Instead of the usual Qualcomm Snapdragon System on A Chip (SoC) that you expect from the new HONOR line-up, you get a MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC. Admit it, for a moment you were expecting the name HiSilicon to come up. Despite being made to fit smaller budgets, the Dimensity 900 chip is still no slouch with 5G connectivity. The octa-core SoC can clock at up to 2.4Ghz when you need the power for MagicUI 4.2 on Android 11 and its apps.
Because the Dimensity 900 can support UFS 2.1 memory, you get exactly that in 128GB flavour for storage on the Honor 50 SE. There is also 8GB in RAM to pair with the device. All of these are given life by the 4,000 mAh battery that should last you all day. If you run out of juice, 66W fast charging should have you covered.
The brand, like HUAWEI, has always been watched for its camera technology though. Out the back is a 108-Megapixel main camera alongside two more supporting cameras. One is an 8-Megapixel ultrawide sensor and the other is a 2-Megapixel macro sensor. Out the front you will find a single 16-Megapixel shooter perched in the middle of the forehead of the 6.78-inch 120Hz Full HD+ LCD display.
HONOR 50
HONOR 50
The main stars of the show are naturally the vanilla variant and the overkill Pro variant of the HONOR 50. The two devices should also be the most popular devices in its range in terms of sales. At the same time, if you have seen the HONOR 50 SE, it is quite difficult to tell the devices apart if you do not pay attention. That is to say that they sport nearly similar designs, apart from camera placements and size.
The HONOR 50 is fronted by 6.57-inch Full HD+ display with 120Hz in refresh rate to give you a consistently smooth UI experience. For that snappy feel too, the panel supports 300Hz sampling rate for an almost immediate response from every single touch. Of course, these speeds do contribute to great gaming experience on the device too.
The HONOR 50 shares the same rear camera array and platform as the more premium and powerful HONOR 50 Pro. It does not share the selfie camera though. The HONOR 50 only has a single lens 32-Megapixel camera parked in a hole at the top of the display.
Like its more premium brother, the Honor 50’s MagicUI 4.2 on Android 11 is powered by a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC with 5G capabilities. It is supposedly less powerful than the outgoing Snapdragon 780G platform, but not by much. You get up to 8GB of RAM to go alongside up to 256GB of storage. Everything runs of the 4,300mAh battery that can fast-charge at 66W.
HONOR 50 Pro
Source: GSM Arena
The HONOR 50 Pro, as its name suggest, is the most premium device of the HONOR 50 range. It may not pack more power than the HONOR 50 with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G SoC in tow. It does have more RAM with up to 12GB in RAM size alongside up to 256GB in storage.
It does not have the best rear camera set up too, the same as HONOR 50, as we mentioned. There is the 108-Megapixel main shooter. The 108-Megapixel shooter is supported by three other cameras that are parked in the other halo of cameras and flash collection. You get one 8-Megapixel ultrawide shooter, a 2-Megapixel Macro shooter, and another 2-Megapixel depth sensor out the back. Out the front though is a dual-lens combination of a 32-Megapixel sensor and a 12-Megapixel wide-angle lens. As expected from HONOR as well, the HONOR 50 Pro and HONOR 50 camera app comes with a bunch of multi-camera modes and all kinds of enhancements including Super Night Mode that is also available to the front camera.
It has the largest and best display among the three in the series too. The HONOR 50 Pro also has a 120Hz refresh rate display at Full HD+ resolution. The display expands to 6.72-inch though, instead of the 6.57-inch of the regular device. The display also boasts DCI-P3 100% colour gamut for the best and most accurate colour reproduction you can find on a smartphone display. Alongside 300Hz sampling rate, MagicUI 4.2 on Android 11 looks better than ever.
The only thing that is less in the HONOR 50 Pro compared to the vanilla HONOR 50 though is its battery. At 4,000mAh, you are not going to complain that it is too small, because it is still a significant size. Instead of 66W though, it charges even faster at 100W allowing the device to charge from flat to 100% in less than an hour, theoretically.
Price and Availability
The HONOR 50 series are coming to Malaysia, as confirmed by HONOR. Currently though, there are no confirmation on when that is going to happen just yet. We can also confirm that the HONOR 50 and HONOR 50 Pro will be part of the HONO 50 family that is available in Malaysia – no word on HONOR 50 SE’s availability.
The devices are already available for pre-order in China. The HONOR 50 series will be available in 4 colour options; you get to choose from Frost Crystal (special finish), Amber Red, Emerald Green, and Midnight Black colour options. The HONOR 50 and HONOR 50 Pro are selling for CN¥ 2,699 (MYR 1,736*) and CN¥ 3,699 (MYR 2,380*) respectively, while the HONOR 50 SE will be available for CN¥ 2,399 (MYR 1,543*). More information on the HONOR 50 series can be found on their website.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of CN¥ 10 = MYR 6.43 on xe.com as of 17/06/2021
– BCcard acquired 100% stake in the Vietnamese No.1 bank POS terminal supplier
– Possessing software development capabilities on top of its distribution business… attaining high client satisfaction
– BCcard to provide convenient and stable services applying its advanced technology
SEOUL, South Korea, June 17, 2021 — BCcard (CEO Choi Won-Seok), the biggest card payment acquirer in South Korea announced that it has acquired a 100% stake in Vietnamese POS terminal distributor Wirecard Vietnam1 securing a strong foothold in Vietnam’s card payments market.
Wirecard Vietnam, which had been acquired by BCcard, has the largest market share in the country, supplying payment terminals to more than 40 major Vietnamese banks and electronic payment companies.
This company is not only engaged in the distribution business, but also possesses exceptional software development capabilities. The company achieves higher level of client satisfaction than other POS distributors operating in Vietnam as it develops and supplies customized POS solutions catering to clients’ specific needs.
Through the acquisition, BCcard plans to ▲ improve the competitiveness of Wirecard Vietnam services, ▲ provide integrated terminals that can accommodate various payment methods, and ▲ reduce costs through remote upgrading of the terminals.
In addition, by utilizing its vast know-hows and exceptional technology, BCcard plans to gradually enhance its service in order to provide various and convenient payment services to partners (banks and electronic payment operators) and customers in Vietnam.
President of BCcard Choi Won-Seok said, "In order to directly enter the Vietnamese market and secure stable business operations, we decided to acquire a 100% stake in Wirecard Vietnam." He also said, "We will strive to generate profits in various fields by diversifying our business structure, such as by entering overseas markets."
Meanwhile, BCcard has been collaborating with various payment institutions such as NAPAS2, LienVietPostBank3, and Sacombank4 to digitize the Vietnamese payments market since 2017.
Also, BCcard has affiliated its payment network with numerous national payment companies to allow each nation can use their domestic-only card or payment service at the other country without any international brand.
1 Seller: Wirecard Singapore Pte Ltd., 100% ownership of Wirecard Vietnam 2 National Payment Corporation of Vietnam: Payment intermediary network operator under the State Bank of Vietnam 3 LienVietPostBank: Owns the largest number of bank branches in Vietnam and has an exclusive post office network. 4 Sacombank: Bank with the largest share of the credit card market in Vietnam
BEIJING, June 17, 2021 — Speaking a few days ahead of the Earth Day summit on climate change in April, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that the U.S. had fallen behind China in developing the technology needed to curb climate change.
CGTN:Long-term planning key to China’s continuous growth
China’s global dominance in renewable energy is no accident. It is the result of the type of long-range planning that has become a well-known characteristic of the nation’s governance system.
The bedrock of China’s economic planning has been its five-year plans that began in 1953 and were patterned initially after the centralized Soviet system. In the early years, the economic and production targets did not always go to plan, and officials made mistakes.
For instance, during the Great Leap Forward, an economic campaign in the late 1950s to transform China from an agrarian to an industrial economy, many targets were unmet because they were too ambitious. As a result, the campaign ended in disaster.
The country learned from that experience, devising attainable goals and consulting widely in subsequent years. It was not until the 1970s – and the unleashing of the groundbreaking "reform and opening-up" policies – that the world really sat up and took notice.
Since then, the CPC’s quinquennial strategic visionary planning has been widely credited with facilitating continuous economic expansion in China and underpinning its transformation into the world’s second largest economy.
The heavy centralization of the past has been modified in favor of widespread buy-in for the national development goals. Hence, they have a greater chance of succeeding. Input is sought from government ministries, state enterprises, provincial administrations, scholars and think tanks, grass-root level CPC delegates, non-CPC political parties and the private sector.
The upshot is that China’s economy grew from over $76 billion (493 billion yuan) in 1981 to almost $16 trillion (100 trillion yuan) in 2020. The country’s per capita GDP was comparable to that of India’s in 1978 at about $200 (1,280 yuan). Today, it is five times larger than that of its neighbor at $10,000 (64,000 yuan).
China’s leaders often stress that the market should be allowed to play a decisive role in allocating resources, and the country can never go back to a dominant centrally planned economy.
Five-year plans combine the visible hand of the government and the invisible hand of the market to turn China into the world’s second largest economy.
Simple, hyper-efficient compliance solution by Blackpoint adds to cybersecurity ecosystem
ELLICOTT CITY, Md., June 16, 2021 — Blackpoint Cyber, a leading technology-focused cybersecurity company, has announced the launch of their newest MDR add-on solution, Blackpoint LogIC (Logging with Integrated Compliance).
Blackpoint Cyber launches Blackpoint LogIC, a simple and hyper-efficient compliance solution
LogIC Development
Examining the increasing demand for cybersecurity compliance, Jon Murchison, CEO of Blackpoint Cyber, stated "We developed LogIC to offer MSPs and their partners a streamlined solution that eliminated the complexities of compliance without compromising security posture". For context, regulatory compliance is usually expensive and challenging to manage in the long-term even for larger, mature businesses. Due to the effort and cost of building compliance programs and teams, many are faced with the difficult decision to either put resources towards meeting compliance requirements or investing in real cybersecurity. Murchison explains, "The team here at Blackpoint spent over nine months developing a new and affordable compliance solution. We leveraged our existing nation state-grade 24/7 MDR technology to ensure that businesses can satisfy both needs with one powerful solution."
LogIC Highlights
Many requirements in security compliance frameworks require the collection of data, events, and logs. Blackpoint LogIC’s hyper-efficient logging architecture supports the real-time collection of Windows Event Logs, Windows File Integrity Monitoring (FIM), and applications supporting general system logging protocol (syslog). Collected data is tamperproof, resilient, encrypted (AES-256), and stored read-only in three different zones that meet SEC Rule 17a-4, PCI-DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, FedRAMP, EU GDPR, and FISMA specifications. Currently, LogIC supports CMMC, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and CMMC (up to Level 3) security compliance frameworks. The company noted that more frameworks are planned for future iterations of LogIC to be expected throughout 2021 and 2022.
Blackpoint’s goal is to bring simplicity to the everyday management of logging and compliance. LogIC uses a simple, push-button setup to replace typical hardware, appliances, installs, and agent rollouts needed to implement compliance programs. Further, the launch features a new, intelligent web application allowing MSPs and their clients to configure log settings and generate compliance reporting to reduce the cumbersome reporting and assessment efforts usually involved with regulatory compliance. Based on the products and services partners have with Blackpoint, LogIC’s auto-answer capability automatically maps against hundreds of compliance requirements all at once. Finally, partners signing up for LogIC will receive 365 days of complimentary data log retention with options to request more storage by GB as needed.
Interested in streamlining your compliance and cybersecurity? Visit the Blackpoint LogIC website or sign up to see a demo of the solution here.
About Blackpoint
Blackpoint Cyber offers the only world-class, nation state-grade cybersecurity ecosystem serving the MSP community. Using its own software and SOC, Blackpoint’s True 24/7 Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service not only detects breaches earlier than any other solution on the market, but also provides an actual response rather than just an alert to keep your and your clients’ networks safe from widespread damage.
Forward-looking approach offers a valuable new tool for anticipating and preparing for the unexpected
LONDON, June 16, 2021 — Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today released a new Global Research Report which examines the ability of nations and institutions to respond to unexpected challenges or opportunities in science, medicine, technology and social sciences based on the diversity of their research activities and expertise.
With the publication of, "Subject diversity in research portfolios", analysts at the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)™ at Clarivate consider subject diversity in a research context and show trends in national and institutional research portfolios by examining publications from across the G71 and BRICK2 nations from 1981 – 2018. The report finds that subject diversity provides benefit, notably in resilience and responsiveness to unexpected challenges and examines these nations’ ability to provide for their citizens’ needs in responding to a severe unforeseen global challenge – the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, Clarivate identifies a new and readily usable analytical approach to evaluate the capacity and competency of research organizations and nations.
The report looks to the Web of Science™ citation index, relying on the familiar Gini coefficient to provide a pragmatic approach to examining research diversity by identifying a stable global baseline for national comparisons, using highly structured data gathered over forty years. By focusing on the category balance or evenness, rapid visual comparisons can be made over time and between entities. The study demonstrates that diversity analysis provides a new forward-looking view of the opportunities for intellectual, and scientific evolution, in contrast to retrospective publication citation analysis, which looks back to achievement.
Bibliometric data have been thoroughly explored as a tool for trackingpast performance and outcomes. Understanding and assessing diversity may prove not only to be a useful forward-looking index for research organizations but also to be a critical tool for national and institutional research managers in anticipating and preparing for the unexpected – and deploying an effective response.
Jonathan Adams, Chief Scientist at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate said: "The association between diversity of research topics and response to challenge and innovation points to a new source of information for those that manage research portfolios and will form a valuable new tool in support of strategic investment planning."
Diversity and research response
COVID-19 presented an unforeseen global research challenge, and the ISI identified 67,756 papers (articles or reviews) indexed in the Web of Science and published in 2020-21 related to COVID-19. Their analysis of these papers suggests that a diverse research base is indeed of potential benefit in enabling a more comprehensive response, as it provides agility and the scope for recombining knowledge in unexpected interdisciplinary situations. Countries with a diverse research base responded with a rapid and comprehensive range of innovative research – but most specialist countries did not. An exception, Brazil, has a narrow research base but one pre-adapted to this particular challenge.
Joel Haspel, SVP Strategy, Science at Clarivate said: "Diversity matters. Research diversity, in all its forms, is an engine of economic progress. It stimulates innovation and contributes to stability and resilience in national portfolios and should be a valuable part of management planning for research and development for countries and institutions."
Notes to editors:
1 G7 nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States 2 BRICK nations: Brazil, Russia, India, Mainland China, South Korea
About Clarivate
Clarivate™ is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate the lifecycle of innovation. Our bold mission is to help customers solve some of the world’s most complex problems by providing actionable information and insights that reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of science and intellectual property. We help customers discover, protect and commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.
