Europe dominates Global Innovation rankings
The Global Innovation Index is determined by Cornell University, European business school INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). The rankings assess 30 different criteria from human capital to infrastructure and R&D spending as a proportion of national income.
The same 10 countries were in the top 10 in 2012, although the positions have changed. Switzerland maintains its 2011 and 2012 position as number 1, achieving a spot among the top 25 in all pillars and sub-pillars with only four exceptions: education (where it ranks 56th); knowledge absorption (34th), tertiary education (32nd), and business environment (31st).
The runner-up, Sweden, retains the position it held in 2011 and 2012 and leads among Nordic and European Union (EU) countries. Its major weaknesses are in Trade and competition and Intangible assets, but even these are within the top 40. Sweden does particularly well in key indicators introduced this year such as patent families filed in at least three offices (6th), citable papers (10th), royalties and license fees receipts and high-tech and medium-high-tech output (21st).
The UK occupies 3rd place in 2013, up from 5th in 2012 and 10th in 2011. With roughly six times the population of Sweden and eight times that of Switzerland, the results are commendable say the researchers. Relative weaknesses are in the growth of its labor productivity (102nd), the market access conditions to foreign markets for non-agricultural exports (rank 102nd, common to all EU economies) and the level of foreign direct investment net inflows (117th). These all strongly correlated with economic and business cycles, and all of which are expected to improve with the economic recovery.
The Netherlands is ranked 4th, up from 6th in 2012 and 9th in 2011. Its major weakness is in Tertiary education (61st, up from 66th in 2012)
The US is ranked 5th, up from 10th in 2012, and leads the rankings in Northern America. The researchers flag the jump as remarkable, reflecting the relative strength of the country in the 20 indicators introduced this year such as citable documents (1st), the the QS university ranking average score of top 3 universities (ranked 2nd after the UK), royalties and license fees receipts over total services exports (5th), logistics performance (8th) patent families filed in at least three offices (13th), and high-tech and medium-high tech output (15th). The areas of concern include tertiary education, where it ranks 52nd from relatively low levels of student exchange with the rest of the world as well as ecological sustainability (74th) and Intangible assets (86th).
Other notable positions include Israel at 14th and Japan at 22nd.
www.globalinnovationindex.org
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