Switzerland top at innovation amongst 125 economies

INSEAD announced the findings of its 2011 Global Innovation Index, showing Switzerland on top, gaining three spots from its position last year, and Sweden and Singapore in 2nd and 3rd position, respectively.

This year’s rankings show innovation has become a global phenomenon with six European countries, including Finland 5th, Denmark 6th, the Netherlands 9th and the UK 10th, in the top ten, accompanied by two Asian countries, with Singapore 3rd and Hong Kong 4th, and the North American economies of the US at 7th and Canada 8th.

Soumitra Dutta, Roland Berger Professor of Business and Technology at INSEAD and editor of the study, said the index has evolved into a valuable benchmarking tool that can inform policy. “Innovation is critical to driving growth in both developed and emerging economies, especially during a time when the global economy is still in a state of recovery.”

The index was complied with support from the telecoms company Alcatel-Lucent, the consultants Booz & Company, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). “This report captures efforts by a large number of economies to provide an enabling environment that promotes innovation,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, adding, “Innovation and its many benefits do not come without the investment of time, effort and human and financial resources.”

The five Nordic economies with Sweden, Finland, Denmark in the top ten, Iceland at 11th, and Norway 18th, have very strong performances globally and regionally. Within the European Union, the Netherlands and the UK are in the top 10, with Germany 12th, Ireland 13th, Luxembourg 17th, and Austria 19th in the top 20.

The index includes 16 countries from the Middle East and North Africa, with Israel at 14th and Qatar at 26th, ranked among the top 30. Among sub-Saharan African economies, Mauritius at 53rd achieves the top spot in the region, while South Africa is ranked 59th.  Ghana comes next at 70, and ranks first among economies that are classified as low-income, across all regions.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile comes first at 38th, followed by Costa Rica 45th and Brazil 47th.

Of the South Asian countries in the index, India is ranked 62nd overall, followed by Sri Lanka 82nd, Bangladesh 97th, and Pakistan 105th. From East Asia and the Pacific, besides Singapore at 3rd and Hong Kong 4th, five more are in the top 30: New Zealand 15th, the Republic of Korea 16th, Japan 20th and Australia 21st. China at 29th, is the top-ranked emerging economy.

The Global Innovation Index based on an average of scores across inputs that describe the environment for innovation and outputs that measure actual achievements in innovation. The inputs are Human capital and research, Infrastructure, Market sophistication and Business sophistication. The outputs are Scientific outputs and Creative outputs.

Although the same basic approach was taken as in past years, efforts were made this year to incorporate novel objective metrics from international organisations and private sources. The European Commission Joint Research Centre at Ispra, Italy performed an independent assessment of the robustness of the index, details of which are included in the report.

Shumeet Banerji, Chief Executive Officer of Booz & Company said the ability to innovate is the great equaliser in the global economy. “In the industrial era, nations relied on their natural resources to compete. Today, any country can advance with carefully focused investments in talent and R&D. The performance of some emerging economies in this year's [index] shows what nations can accomplish with a focus on building 21st century economies.’

Download the full report: http://www.globalinnovationindex.org