At CES, innovation is not just a product story; it is a policy story. Behind every AI demo and startup pitch sits a web of national strategies, regulatory frameworks, and cross-border partnerships shaping where innovation happens—and who benefits.
The Consumer Technology Association’s Global Innovation Scorecard evaluates nearly 75 countries on 56 indicators across 16 categories, highlighting those that most effectively foster tech-enabled economic growth and social progress. Canada (Ontario), Ireland, and South Korea stand out as “innovation champions,” earning top marks for:
Their experiences offer a window into how policymakers can build competitive innovation ecosystems while collaborating across borders on shared risks—especially in AI.
Innovation is rarely accidental. In Ireland, Ontario, and South Korea, it is the result of deliberate, long-term choices in education, research, and industrial strategy. While each jurisdiction is different, several common levers emerge.
Ireland’s innovation landscape is powered by a combination of government policy, substantial R&D investment, and deep global partnerships. The country has attracted more than 1,800 multinational companies, whose presence has catalyzed a thriving startup ecosystem supported by agencies like Enterprise Ireland through:
Ontario, Canada, positions itself as both the birthplace of AI and a global production hub. Anchored by pioneers like Geoffrey Hinton and institutions such as the Vector Institute, the province has combined world-class research with aggressive economic incentives. In a single year, 409 global firms invested $40 billion and created nearly 25,000 jobs in Ontario, drawn by:
South Korea, meanwhile, leverages its strengths in semiconductors, batteries, and advanced manufacturing. The country now accounts for a substantial share of CES Innovation Awards and has become a core node in global supply chains. With limited natural resources and a relatively small domestic market, it has had to prioritize:
The lesson for leaders: innovation ecosystems are built at the intersection of policy predictability, skills pipelines, and globally connected industries—not by isolated pilot projects or one-off incentives.
Every jurisdiction now faces the same core question: how do you accelerate AI innovation while protecting citizens and maintaining trust? Across Canada, Ireland, and South Korea, a risk-based, collaborative approach is emerging.
South Korea has enacted an AI Framework Act—one of the earliest comprehensive national AI laws outside Europe. Its explicit goal is to stimulate AI development while managing high-risk applications. As one Korean policymaker framed it, AI regulation must evolve like the automobile:
Ireland has taken a similarly anticipatory stance. It launched a national AI strategy in 2021—before generative AI went mainstream—and is now updating it to keep pace with technological and labor-market change. Priority areas include:
Ontario emphasizes that AI governance can no longer be treated as a purely provincial or national issue. The province is collaborating with the EU on data governance and trusted digital services and working with the UK on digital public infrastructure. It has translated dialogue at CES into concrete actions, including:
Across all three, the center of gravity is moving from whether to regulate AI to how to do so in ways that are risk-based, interoperable, and innovation-affirming.
Even as geopolitical tensions intensify and supply chains are reconfigured, innovation is becoming more—not less—interdependent. The countries represented on the panel highlighted three pillars of meaningful cooperation.
First, talent and education are increasingly global. Ireland hosts one of the largest cohorts of U.S. students in Europe, and Irish universities collaborate with American institutions on frontier technologies like 6G networks. These academic ties often precede and enable commercial partnerships.
Second, data and compute transcend borders. South Korea frames AI as a three-part system—computing infrastructure, high-quality data, and skilled people. None of these components can be optimized in isolation. Trusted, cross-border data flows and shared investments in compute capacity will define which countries can fully leverage AI.
Third, values are becoming a competitive differentiator. Policymakers repeatedly emphasized cooperation among “like-minded” democracies with shared commitments to:
For many firms, especially in Europe and Asia, Canada increasingly serves as a “beachhead” into North America—a stable, rules-based, and reliable partner in a volatile world. This reframes innovation not only as a race for capabilities but also as a contest over trust and governance.
AI is compressing the time and cost required to build globally relevant companies. Yet early-stage founders still depend heavily on the surrounding ecosystem. Ireland, South Korea, and Ontario offer distinct but complementary models.
Ireland leverages its status as a European base for major AI and technology firms—Google, Meta, OpenAI, and others—to lift its domestic startup community. A new memorandum of understanding with OpenAI, for example, is designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises integrate AI tools, streamline operations, and compete at scale.
South Korea relies on a powerful culture of education and ambition, reinforced by national success stories in semiconductors, shipbuilding, and nuclear engineering. Founders are encouraged from the outset to think globally, targeting world markets rather than relying on limited domestic demand. Government support focuses on:
Ontario complements its talent investments with targeted funding for critical technologies. Through programs such as the Ontario Centre of Innovation and Futurepreneur, the province provides mentorship, grant capital, and commercialization support. Significant allocations flow to AI, quantum, biosciences, and cybersecurity—primarily through nonprofit hubs that cluster startups, corporates, and researchers.
For executives and policymakers, the implication is clear: AI may lower technical barriers to entry, but the winners will emerge from ecosystems that combine skills, capital, networks, and predictable rules of the game.
CES increasingly functions as both marketplace and multilateral roundtable. Deals are made on the show floor, but policy is shaped in side rooms and panel discussions. For governments, three benefits stand out:
For companies—from early-stage startups in Eureka Park to global incumbents—events like CES are where they validate innovations in front of a truly global audience, identify partners, and understand how shifting regulatory landscapes will affect their strategies.
“Innovation without borders” is no longer an aspiration; it is a necessity. No single country can, on its own, develop the talent, data, compute, capital, and governance frameworks required to harness AI responsibly. The emerging playbook emphasizes collaboration among trusted partners, investment in human capital, and regulatory frameworks that act as both engine and brake—propelling innovation forward while keeping it on a safe and ethical path.