In 1981, investment spending on scientific research and development across 41 countries stood at just under 1% of GDP, with a roughly equal split between the public and private sectors. By 2017—some forty years later—private investment had risen to 1.5%, while public investment had fallen to approximately 0.5% over the same period. This gap has widened further in the last decade. Big Tech companies actively support research at public institutions and agencies—driven by their own strategic interests—through numerous collaborations and the joint publication of findings, yet they share only 0.2% of the patents in their portfolios.

In 2022, research and development investment by the world’s top ten companies stood at approximately $300 billion. Twenty years earlier, in 2003, the figure was about one-third of that amount. However, the composition of this group has changed significantly: in 2003, five car manufacturers ranked among the top ten, whereas in 2022, the top six spots were held by so-called Big Tech companies—Amazon, Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Huawei. Volkswagen is the only representative of the automotive sector remaining; it moved from tenth place in 2003 to seventh in 2022, tripling its research investment. Amazon, which topped the 2022 ranking, invested $73.2 billion that year. Pfizer, the leader in the 2003 ranking, had invested $12.3 billion (adjusted to 2022 values).

Investment in basic research is also progressively shifting from the public to the private sector. In 2017, Swiss companies funded 27% of the country’s fundamental research, doubling their contribution compared to 2012. A similar trend is observed in the United States: in 2017, the business sector covered 30% of funding for pure research—roughly double the figure from ten years earlier. Public investment in research continues to grow, but private investment is rising at a much faster pace.

In 1963, the year the AIV was founded, there were just over a million researchers active worldwide. By the end of the century, that figure had risen to 5 million, and by 2025, it had surpassed 15 million. From the time of Galileo Galilei until the early 1960s, approximately one million scientific papers had been published globally; in the single year of 2020, that figure tripled.

All this data—drawn from Professor Gianfranco Pacchioni’s fascinating book “Scienza Chiara, Scienza Oscura: Ricerca pura, ricerca militare, Big Tech” (published last year by Il Mulino and highly recommended)—illustrates the growing impact of research and new technologies on society, highlighting the now-dominant role of the private sector in funding and control. In this landscape, open, publicly funded research appears to be facing increasing difficulties Understanding and awareness of the benefits and risks associated with new technologies—among both researchers and the general public—are crucial factors in shaping our future. In this context, independent researcher associations —such as AIV— composed by scientists  and technicians with the support of Accademia and private Enterprises, can make a tangible and significant contribution.

Mariano Anderle - www.marianoanderle.it - Member of the AIV Steering Committee