About the report

Open secrets? Guarding value in the intangible economy is a report commissioned by CMS and written by The Economist Intelligence Unit. It explores the extent to which firms identify intangible assets as trade secrets and implement protective measures to safeguard them accordingly. The report is based on a survey of 314 senior corporate executives located in China, France, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, and across six sectors: consumer goods and retail; finance; energy and natural resources; life sciences; manufacturing; and technology, media and telecommunications. The survey was conducted in January and February 2021.

Expert interviews

To supplement the survey results, The EIU conducted an interview programme with trade secret and intellectual property experts between February and March 2021, with the aim of validating and guiding our research. Our thanks are due to the following experts for their time and valuable insights:

• Anil Cheriyan, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Technology at Cognizant
• Professor David Hsu, Richard A. Sapp Professor  of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
• Professor David Teece, Thomas W. Tusher Professor in Global Business at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
• Professor Matt Marx, Bruce F. Failing Sr. Professor of Entrepreneurship at Cornell University

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. As the world’s leading provider of country intelligence, The EIU helps governments, institutions and businesses by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis of economic and development strategies. Through its public policy practice, The EIU provides evidence-based research for policymakers and stakeholders seeking measurable outcomes in fields ranging from gender and finance to energy and technology. It conducts research through interviews, regulatory analysis, quantitative modelling and forecasting, and displays the results via interactive data visualisation tools. Through a global network of more than 650 analysts and contributors, The EIU continuously assesses and forecasts political, economic and business conditions in more than 200 countries.

For more information, visit www.eiu.com.

The report was produced by a team of EIU researchers, writers, editors and graphic designers, including:

• Syedah Ailia Haider – Project manager
• Jeremy Kingsley – Project director
• Katherine Stewart – Project advisor
• Tom Nolan – Survey lead
• Emma Ruckley – Copy editor
• Marina Da Silva – Graphic designer