This piece of news gives us a perspective where we are in the next stage of tech development, competition among companies and nations, education and nomad attractions.  

First, our congratulations must go to Tokyo-Yokohama. The metropolis tops 2024 ranking as the world’s largest science and technology cluster.

The Japanese, known for their engineering feast and team work, pace ahead of China’s Greater Bay Area and United States’ Silicon Valley. The Chinese has the numbers, the planning and determination as well as talents. The American can claim the capitalist entrepreneurial ecosystem, talent import facilitation, and creative environment. 

Of course, there are more that meet the eyes here as government supports for the clusters have become competitively critical in the global race for next generation electronics, robotics, automotive, quantum, space and biotechnology, and AI.

The top 100 rankings are done based on a matrix of patent registrations compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo). The top 15 science and technology clusters by size in 2024 are: 

1. Tokyo-Yokohama (Japan)
2. Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou (China)
3. Beijing (China)
4. Seoul (South Korea)
5. Shanghai-Suzhou (China)
6. San Jose-San Francisco (US)
7. Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (Japan)
8. Boston-Cambridge (US)
9. Nanjing (China)
10. San Diego (US)
11. New York City (US)
12. Paris (France)
13. Wuhan (China)
14. Hangzhou (China)
15. Nagoya (Japan)

Half of all patent applications in the top 100 clusters fall within 7 fields of technology. They are: computer technology, digital communication, electrical machinery, apparatus, energy, medical technology, audio–visual technology, measurement and pharmaceuticals. The top 10 clusters contribute 65% to the overall total.

In the broader reality, the jury is still out who will win the tech supremacy. Behind the headlines of US-China tensions are corporate giants and academies competing intensely through these S&T clusters.

Tokyo-Yokohama is home to many of Japan's top universities: University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Keio University. Their corporate interlocutors include Mitsubishi Electrics, Sony, Toyota, Hitachi, and Fujitsu.

The newly-cemented Greater Bay Area of Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, in the second place, boasts Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Shenzhen University, and Sun Yat-sen University. The impressive campuses of Huawei, Tencent, DJI (drones), BYD, ZTE, SenseTime (AI), Alibaba, Lenovo head the corporate list.

Silicon Valley’s San Jose-San Francisco is sixth places pitch some of the world’s leading universities - Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco, alongside global tech giants Apple, Google, Meta, Intel, Cisco, Tesla, Oracle, and Nvidia. 

China, as a nation, still lead with the most clusters in the top 100, at 26, followed by the United States with 20 clusters