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In the face of the American and Soviet industrial competition that emerged in the 20th century, Wallonia decided to place its trust in the brainpower of its people. As a result, the region's academic and research infrastructure mushroomed and set about exploiting the scientific and technical avenues opened up thanks to pioneering work between the two world wars.

In 1928, the National Scientific Research Fund (FNRS) was set up. This initiative would subsequently spawn other research bodies.

Around the same period, the information revolution (telecommunications and IT) broke down the traditional research barriers and opened up seemingly limitless possibilities for individual researchers. The Internet has of course played an important role by accelerating this process.
Thanks to state-of-the-art technologies, companies working in the fields of iron and steel, chemistry, glassmaking and textile production have been equipped with new hyper-efficient tools and diversified their production, so much so that these companies are now among the global market leaders. Of course, this tremendous development has been helped along by thousands of innovative small and medium-sized companies (around 2,500) whose contributions are supported every day by the public authorities.
The industrial basins of Liège and Charleroi are good examples. These cities owe their prosperity to these tremendous developments, particularly in the field of iron and steel, metal construction, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemicals and glassmaking.

After a period of radical restructuring, these sectors have been equipped with highly sophisticated tools controlled by computers and robots. As a result, they have diversified and enhanced their industrial performance. This industrial facelift has also spawned new activities geared towards high-tech products.
To take a few examples, Charleroi has become an important centre for the aeronautics, graphics and petrochemical industries. Mons, for its part, along with the University of Hainaut, has specialized in neoceramics. And Mons is not the only example of cooperation between the academic world and industry. Another very encouraging example is the initiative undertaken by the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, which has totally transformed Walloon Brabant (which is outside the sphere of influence of the industrial basin of Sambre-et-Meuse) into what can only be described as a seedbed for up-and-coming businesses, especially in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields.