Report stresses the importance of innovation as a catalyst for global growth during a period of economic recovery
INSEAD, the leading international business school, today announced the findings of its 2009-2010 Global Innovation Index (GII), a study which the school has jointly published with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the past three years. The GII evaluates the progress of innovation readiness in countries, highlighting the obstacles that prevent governments, businesses, and individuals from fully capturing the benefits of innovation.
"This year's Report underlines the importance of innovation in country competitiveness and growth particularly at a time when the global economy is recovering from one of the worst financial crises it has ever seen," said Soumitra Dutta, Roland Berger Professor of Business and Technology at INSEAD and primary author of the study. "The results confirm the crucial need for countries to focus on directed pro-innovation policies to jumpstart growth in the medium term and lead to development in the long term."
'The Global Innovation Index', featured in the Report, examines how countries benefit from innovation through the use of enablers that stimulate innovation and their ensuing outputs. There are five enabling parameters which include: 'Institutions', '‘Human Capacity', 'General and ICT Infrastructure', 'Market Sophistication' and 'Business Sophistication'. The two output parameters – 'Scientific Outputs' and 'Creative Outputs and Well-Being' - provide evidence of the results of innovation within the economy.
Iceland topped this year's GII ranking despite the difficult economic situation it has faced over the last two years. Sweden and Hong Kong follow in the second and third positions, respectively. Several of the most innovative countries from last year's Report, including the U.S. (eleven), U.K. (fourteen) and Germany (sixteen) have fallen in the ranks.
The top ten countries in the overall 2009-2010 GII ranking include:
1. Iceland
2. Sweden
3. Hong Kong, China
4. Switzerland
5. Denmark
6. Finland
7. Singapore
8. Netherlands
9. New Zealand
10. Norway
Similar to the 2008-2009 Report, European economies performed particularly well, including the Nordic ones – Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway - which all ranked in the top 10 with Iceland. Some of the Eastern European countries such as Slovenia (26), Czech Republic (27) and Estonia (29) also performed well in this year’s rankings. Israel and the United Arab Emirates placed within the top 25 countries, followed closely by Kuwait (33) and Qatar (35).
About the Report
In the 2009-2010 GII, some changes have been introduced to give the Report a more holistic outlook. The traditional approach to measure innovation has been to look at parameters such as patents per million of population, publication of scientific journals, research and development expenditure. This Report goes beyond these measurements and adds other parameters that capture innovation in emerging markets and the effects of innovation on social welfare.
Launched first by INSEAD in 2007, the Report is one of the most comprehensive international assessments of the impact of innovation on competitiveness and growth. The study uses a combination of hard data collected by well-respected international organisations, such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations, and the World Bank, and survey data from the Executive Opinion Survey, conducted annually by the World Economic Forum in each of the economies covered by the Report.
To download the full report or see additional highlights, country profiles and rankings, please visit: http://centres.insead.edu/elab/
