Canada just misses top 10 on Global Innovation Index 2013
By Design Engineering Staff
General Canada Global Innovation Index InnovationU.S. regains top 5 spot while Switzerland secures number 1 spot again.
According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2013 – published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – Canada came in just shy of the top 10 of the world’s most innovative nations at number 11. The United States rejoined the top five and the United Kingdom moved up to the third spot while Switzerland retained its place atop the rankings.
Published annually since 2007, the GII 2013 looked at 142 economies, using 84 indicators including the quality of top universities, availability of microfinance, venture capital deals. According to the report, Switzerland and Sweden’s (2) performance reflects the fact that both countries are leaders in all components of the GII, consistently ranking in the top 25.
While comparitively rich countries dominate the top ranks, the report shows that 18 emerging economies are outperforming other countries in their respective income groups, including the Republic of Moldova, China, India, Uganda, Armenia, Viet Nam. However, Latin America saw the largest improvement in GII rankings, with Costa Rica taking the lead regional position.
R&D expenditures are also on the rise, according to the report, with the top 1,000 R&D-spending companies increasing budgets in this area by between 9 and 10 percent in 2010 and 2011, with a similar pattern in 2012. In addition, the report says emerging markets have increased their R&D faster than high-income countries. Over the last five years, China, Argentina, Brazil, Poland, India, Russia, Turkey and South Africa have been at the forefront while countries like China have shown a marked uptick in patent filings worldwide.
In terms of its innovation strengths and weaknesses, the GII report ranked Canada high in areas such as trade and competition, business environment, venture capital deals and general infrastructure but low on national office resident trademark registrations, expenditure on education and growth rate of GDP per person engaged.
www.globalinnovationindex.org
