The deep tech approach, which combines problem-solving thinking methods with emerging technologies, is paving the way for a new wave of innovation. Initiatives in the deep tech field are at the forefront of sectors that have long been deemed inaccessible and are frequently mentioned by strong players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Understanding emerging technologies and their potentials more effectively is becoming very important for institutions to adopt the deep tech approach in innovation.
BCG and Hello Tomorrow continue to lead a significant wave of innovation in deep tech just four years after their 2017 report. This report serves as the first in a series of publications for those who want to acquire a comprehensive reference framework about deep tech. The report explains what deep tech is, how it works, which different stakeholders can collaborate in this area, and how it can be associated with competitive advantage.
Deep tech is starting to herald the fourth wave of innovation. Imagine the attention the internet received in the 1990s. We can think of the impact of deep tech on the fourth wave in a similar way.
We can associate deep tech initiatives with four main categories:
They are problem-focused rather than technology-focused.
They define themselves at the intersection of technologies, and the vast majority use at least two technologies together.
While progress comes from digital evolution, deep tech innovation represents the transition from the digital world (bits) to the physical world (bits and atoms). This means that deep tech initiatives are largely developing hardware-focused products compared to software.
Deep tech initiatives are part of an ecosystem tightly linked together, involving key players such as investors, academics, public institutions, and corporations.
Deep tech has the potential to change the world just as the internet did. Simply looking at Tesla and SpaceX, we can see how initiatives are pioneering sectors with deep tech. Investors have also begun to see and experience this potential. There has been a significant increase in deep tech investments from 2016 to 2020. Now the stage is set for institutions to evaluate potential opportunities and play the deep tech game by its rules!
For more information and data, you can access the full report prepared by Hello Tomorrow and BCG here.
