Exponential technologies driving faster innovation in patents

Legend has it that when an emperor asked an inventor to name his reward, the inventor asked the emperor for payment in the humble grain of rice, giving the inventor the total gained by doubling a single grain of rice over a 64-square chessboard. In the end, the final squares had exponential mountains of rice. The velocity of technology advancement, especially for the manufacturing industry, is no different--it's exponential. Despite its lower digital maturity and research and development (R&D) investment than other industries,1 the manufacturing industry has been successful in gradually furthering its innovation agenda by increasing its patent-based innovation intensity to build new product and service capabilities. Continuous advancement will likely become critical to the success in an ecosystem that industry leaders believe is nearing the "second half of the chessboard."2