Page 40 - IMDR Journal 2025

Research Article
Moreover, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union are Cybersecurity threats are also becoming more prominent as
increasing their semiconductor production capacity to deep tech innovations increase the risk of cyber warfare and
reduce dependency on external sources, further intensifying data breaches, making international cooperation on
competition in the global technology race. cybersecurity policies essential for mitigating potential
Despite the strategic importance of deep tech, several threats.
challenges persist, including talent shortages, cybersecurity The role of deep tech startups has also become a crucial
risks, and regulatory complexities. The World Economic factor in global competition, with venture capital funding
Forum (2023) highlighted that a global shortage of skilled for deep tech startups reaching $62 billion in 2023, a 30%
professionals in AI, quantum computing, and biotech poses increase from the previous year (Fig. 6).
a major bottleneck for deep tech growth, with nations
competing to attract and retain top-tier researchers and
engineers. The Global Talent Competitiveness Index (2023)
reports that the U.S. and China lead in AI talent acquisition,
with over 60% of the world’s top AI researchers
concentrated in these two nations (Fig. 4).

Figure 6 Deep Tech Startup Funding Growth
(2020-2023)
(Source Crunch base (2023). "Global Deep Tech Startup
Investment Report." www.crunchbase.com)
Deep tech startups in AI, quantum computing, and
biotechnology are attracting unprecedented levels of
Figure 4 Global AI Talent Distribution (2023) investment, with major economies vying to create the most
(Source: Global Talent Competitiveness Index (2023). conducive environments for technological entrepreneur-
"AI Talent Migration and Regional Leadership." ship. Studies by Ghosh et al. (2023) suggest that nations with
www.gtcindex.org) structured funding ecosystems, government grants, and tax
incentives for deep tech startups are witnessing accelerated
Additionally, the regulatory landscape for deep tech remains innovation and commercialization. Furthermore, corporate
highly fragmented. While the European Union leads in partnerships with deep tech startups have surged by 40%
ethical AI governance and data privacy regulations through over the past three years, highlighting the increasing role of
GDPR, the U.S. and China have adopted more flexible industry-academia collaboration in fostering technological
regulatory approaches to foster rapid technological advancements. Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2014) argued
commercialization. The divergence in regulatory frame that sustained investments in research, education, and
works has resulted in a fragmented deep tech ecosystem, infrastructure are crucial for long-term technological
complicating international collaboration and standard- leadership. Governments worldwide are allocating
ization efforts. Fig. 5 showcases the variations in AI significant resources toward deep tech education, with
regulatory approaches among major economies, emphas- initiatives such as India’s National Quantum Mission, the
izing the differences in data governance and ethical U.S. National AI Research Institutes, and the European
compliance requirements. Union’s Horizon Europe program aiming to cultivate a
highly skilled workforce for the future. A comparative
analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (2022) indicates
that economies investing over 3% of their GDP in R&D,
such as South Korea and Germany, are more likely to
achieve sustained technological leadership (Fig. 7).

Figure 5 Variations in AI Regulatory Approaches
Among Major Economies
(Source World Economic Forum (2023).
"AI Governance and Data Protection Policies Across
Countries." www.weforum.org)

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