Thales has been recognised for the fourth time as one of the world's top 100 innovators, figuring among the companies in the 2016 Top 100 Global Innovators report published by Clarivate Analytics on 10 January 2017.

Key points

• Thales ranked among the world's 100 most innovative companies for the fourth time in 2016.
• In 2015, Thales reported a 2.5 billion euros activity in R&D (self-funded R&D stood for 700 million euros).
• Around the world, Thales has dedicated substantial resources to the development of its innovation policy both organically (five research centres) and externally (academic relations, SMEs, start-ups and clients) through customer-centric innovation hubs and design centres.

Thales’s presence in the world’s top 100 innovators is the result of a strong and ambitious innovation policy anchored in the Group’s history. The Group has invested consistently in research and development over the years with a 2.5 billion euros activity in 2015 (self-funded R&D stood at €700m) and currently holds the rights to more than 16,500 patents.

Innovation is central to the Thales strategy of growth, competitiveness and people development. Thales’s open innovation focuses on scientific and technical R&D (with academic laboratories), collaboration with its ecosystem (SMEs and start-ups) and market-centred innovation (co-innovation with clients).

The 2016 rankings come as a further endorsement of the Thales’s capacity to innovate both organically and through partnerships across the entire high-tech ecosystem.
We are proud that the creativity and engagement of Thales passionate staff have once again gained global recognition."
Marko Erman, Thales, Chief Technical Office

Digital technologies are deeply ingrained in the Thales culture and continue to drive the Group's business growth. As new technologies gain traction, they fuel Thales's potential for customer-focused innovation at scale. Thales has invested substantial resources in its innovation policy both organically (five research centres*) and externally with its whole ecosystem. Around the world, Thales meets with his clients and all its partners to co-innovated, through customer-centric innovation hubs and design centres**.

*  Canada, England, France, Netherlands, Singapore
** China, England, France, Germany, Singapore and United-States