In this eye-opening episode of Ecosystemic Futures, hosts Marco Annunziata and Vikram Shyam welcome Dr. Giulia Ajmone Marsan, Head of Startups and Inclusion, at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. Dr. Marsan challenges conventional wisdom about innovation with complex data. In just 20 years, the global share of patenting activity from OECD countries has dropped dramatically by 20 percentage points, signaling a significant shift in the geography of innovation.

The conversation highlights how emerging markets are becoming powerful engines of innovation. Dr. Marsan provides fascinating examples of innovation born from necessity, including Southeast Asian fintech "super apps" that have brought banking to millions of previously unbanked individuals, Estonia's digital government revolution built from scratch after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Brazil's central bank-led open banking policy that has sparked a fintech transformation.

Dr. Marsan explains how the absence of legacy infrastructure often becomes an advantage, allowing emerging economies to leapfrog directly to cutting-edge solutions. She discusses the phenomenon of "Silicon Bali," where digital nomads are transforming tourism-dependent economies into knowledge hubs.

She examines how talent mobility, diaspora connections, and targeted visa programs are reshaping global innovation ecosystems. The conversation also addresses the critical balance between opportunity and inequality, exploring how innovation can advance sustainable development goals while requiring thoughtful policy to ensure benefits are widely shared.

Highlights

• Shifting Innovation Geography: Patent activity from OECD countries dropped 20 percentage points in just two decades, with innovation hotspots emerging across Southeast Asia, India, Brazil, and Africa

• Financial Inclusion Revolution: How Southeast Asian super apps evolved from retail platforms to provide e-wallets, microloans, and microinsurance to previously unbanked populations

• The Leapfrog Advantage: Countries without legacy infrastructure (like Estonia after the Soviet collapse) can build more innovative systems from scratch

• Talent Mobility as Catalyst: The rise of "Silicon Bali" and how entrepreneurship visas and digital nomad programs are reshaping local economies

• Digital Public Infrastructure: India's and Brazil's government-led innovation initiatives that created open platforms for entrepreneurial growth

Guest: Dr. Giulia Ajmone Marsan, Head of Startups and Inclusion of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia

Hosts:  

Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center

Marco Annunziata, Co-Founder, Annunziata + Desai Partners

Series Hosts:

Vikram Shyam, Lead Futurist, NASA Glenn Research Center

Dyan Finkhousen, Founder & CEO, Shoshin Works