Safran being ranked in the Top 100 Global Innovators 2015 is the result of a policy that encourages innovation and the safeguarding of know-how. Each year, the Group invests 12% of its revenues in research and development and files 800 patents worldwide. Furthermore, it boasts a global portfolio comprising 26,000 patents.
This is the fifth year in a row that Safran has been ranked in the Top 100 (through Snecma in 2011 and 2012, then in its own name). To compile the Top 100 ranking, Thomson Reuters analyzes certain criteria, particularly patent volume, success, globalization and influence (number of patent citations).
This year, ten French groups were ranked in the Top 100, compared with just seven in 2014. Alongside Safran, Alcatel Lucent, Arkema, CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), Saint-Gobain, IFP Energies nouvelles, Thales, Valeo and Alstom saw France clinch third place, behind Japan (15 companies in the ranking) and the USA (14).