Trend · rank 18 of 250

Research & development intensity

Diverging public and private research spending, together with the speed at which results reach production, determines the depth of national innovation pipelines and the ability to develop domestic technology.

Production & InnovationPeople, health & workinstitutionsmanufacturingwork skills

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
18of 250
Sensitivity
28.3rank 5
Breadth
4of 20 scenarios High or above, 1 Critical
PageRank
40.6rank 84
Eigenvector
4.2
Betweenness
60.4
Links
9trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
46.3

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
99
Over a year
−8%Steady
Over three years
+20%
Peak
14422 Feb 2026
Sources
Bothagreement -0.70
Coverage
22languages · 63 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (22 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English57%86−10%
German8%95−4%
Russian7%88+3%
Spanish5%78−27%
French5%93−3%
Italian4%90−4%
Japanese3%91−3%
Chinese2%96−10%
Indonesian1%83−21%
Ukrainian1%112+10%
Turkish1%73−18%
Persian1%85−2%
Portuguese1%123+25%
Korean1%105+19%
Hebrew1%106+1%
Arabic0%150+88%
Vietnamese0%72−26%
Dutch0%92+16%
Swedish0%72−21%
Malay0%95−1%
Hindi0%163+106%
Thai0%125−7%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Ethiopia

Singapore

China

Philippines

South Korea

Kenya

United States

Nigeria

Sri Lanka

Nepal

South Africa

Canada

100

87

83

76

74

69

65

53

51

47

42

41

The 12 highest of 63 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English89−14%−10%−5%
EuropeGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish84−10%−11%−18%
ChinaGoogle in 1 country101−23%+25%+51%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 11 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Malay90−2%−16%−9%
South AsiaGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Hindi133+6%+50%+53%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew104+7%+16%+8%
AfricaGoogle in 3 countries95−22%−21%+34%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese84+6%−27%−20%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian94+0%+6%+9%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle87−28%+6%+8%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese98+12%−10%+11%
CanadaGoogle95−16%+6%+15%
ChinaGoogle101−23%+25%+51%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French71−22%−17%−38%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German79+5%−22%−26%
IndiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Hindi137+11%+52%+72%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian73+11%−39%−37%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian77−5%−20%−29%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese97+10%+1%−2%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean95−2%−10%−3%
MexicoGoogle77+22%−37%−29%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian88−8%+3%+20%
South AfricaGoogle89−27%−30%+93%
TürkiyeGoogle + Wikipedia in Turkish91+5%+3%+13%
United KingdomGoogle89−11%−1%−3%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English89−14%−12%−5%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
6 · CriticalAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
4 · HighCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
4 · HighA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
4 · HighA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
3 · ModerateAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
3 · ModerateA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
3 · ModerateCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
3 · ModerateAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
2 · LowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
4 · HighTechnology diffusion & productivity gapsPeople, health & work24
3 · ModerateCivil service capability & payState capacity & governance2
3 · ModerateBatteries & energy storageTrade, industry & supply chains42
3 · ModerateRegional medicines manufacturingPeople, health & work52
3 · ModerateAutomated AI researchAI, compute & quantum83
3 · ModerateBusiness dynamism & start-up formationPeople, health & work85
3 · ModerateResearch security & science decouplingDiplomacy & influence113
3 · ModerateAI drug developmentPeople, health & work125
3 · ModerateIndustrial robotics & automationPeople, health & work150