Uncodified knowledge: The Middle East‘s unique innovation opportunity

For many years, the developed world had a near monopoly on technical innovation. European, US and Japanese companies conducted high-end R&D in their home markets and then sold the results at home or adapted them for other developed markets. But over the last few decades, the number of companies with innovation centers outside their home market has grown, from 45% in 1975 to more than 65% in recent years, according to a Booz Allen Hamilton study. Over time, these emerging markets have succeeded mostly by developing particular niches — wide screen television in South Korea, for example, or distributed computing in India. Now, the Middle East is at a stage of development where it too might become a home to innovation. But in a world awash in advanced expertise, which niches remain unclaimed? The answer is a kind of innovation that’s not so easy to put into a box and