Jakarta Absent from List of World's Most Innovative Cities in 2025

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - From the top 100 global innovation clusters recently released, not a single city or region from Indonesia has managed to enter the list.

This fact indicates that the nation’s innovation ecosystem still needs to be significantly developed to be able to compete on a global level.

Meanwhile, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has released the Global Innovation Index 2025 data, which maps the world’s leading innovation clusters. This ranking is measured based on scientific publications, international patent filings, and venture capital funding activities. Innovation clusters do not always centre on a single city, but rather encompass broader geographical areas where researchers, startups, and investors interact intensively.

Global innovation concentration is currently becoming increasingly centralised in specific regions. The world’s top ten innovation clusters are recorded as producing almost 40% of total global patent filings.

Furthermore, the top 100 clusters, originating from 33 countries, contribute approximately 70% of all patent applications and venture capital activities worldwide.

Shifting Global Innovation Centres

Global innovation dynamics show that China now leads with 24 clusters in the top 100 list, surpassing the United States, which has 22 clusters. The top global position is held by the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou region, followed by Tokyo-Yokohama in second place, and the San Jose-San Francisco corridor, or Silicon Valley, in third.

WIPO uses a bottom-up methodology to identify regions with high concentrations of inventors and scientific authors, without relying on political administrative boundaries. Therefore, a cluster can represent an entire innovation ecosystem that spans several metropolitan areas or even national borders.

Supporting Technology Ecosystems

The emergence of innovation clusters is heavily influenced by mutually supporting ecosystems. Leading research universities attract scientists, startups attract investors, and large technology companies create opportunities for commercialisation.

This concentration serves as a primary pillar of geopolitical strength and global economic competition. Although China leads in terms of quantity, the United States continues to dominate aspects of commercialisation and venture capital in sectors such as artificial intelligence.