The country also improved its position on the innovation quality index, moving up to 17th place.
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China joined the ranks of the world’s 25 most-innovative economies, while Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Finland and Singapore lead the 2016 rankings in the Global Innovation Index, released August 15. Switzerland ranked first in the 2015 index as well.
Despite China’s rise, an “innovation divide” persists between developed and developing countries amid increasing awareness that fostering innovation is crucial to a vibrant, competitive economy.
“In this current economic climate, uncovering new sources of growth and leveraging the opportunities raised by global innovation are priorities for all stakeholders”.
China’s innovation indicators show “consistent steady improvement”, Gurry said, adding: “And there’s no reason to think that that will not continue”.
Growth worldwide is likely to remain slow, highlighting the need for healthy R & D budgets, Lanvin said.
Singapore also ranked 21st among high-income economies and 22nd overall for innovation quality – measured in terms of the quality of local universities, internationalisation of local inventions and the number of citations that local research documents received overseas.
India climbed 15 spots, from 81 previous year, to 66 in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and maintained the top spot in the Central and South Asia regions, according to the rankings released on Monday by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
In Africa, Mauritius takes the top spot at 53, followed by South Africa (54), Kenya (80), Rwanda (83), Mozambique (84), Botswana (90), Namibia (93), and Malawi (98).
According to this year’s figures, four countries stand out in terms of “innovation quality”, namely Japan, the United States, Britain and Germany.
India scored high on tertiary education and R&D, the quality of its universities and scientific publications, its market sophistication and information and communication technology service exports, where it ranks first in the world, according to the index. The majority of GII innovation leaders are in this region or Europe.
The Index report also said innovation policies should more explicitly favour global collaboration and the diffusion of knowledge across borders. New global governance structures should also aim to increase technology diffusion to and among developing countries.
The WIPO press release added that this year’s study benefited from the experience of its Knowledge Partners, A.T. Kearney and IMP³rove – European Innovation Management Academy, the Confederation of Indian Industry and du, as well as of an Advisory Board of global experts.
This year’s index surveyed 128 economies, using 82 indicators to gauge both innovative capabilities and measurable results.
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Top 25 includes European, North American and East Asian developed economies as well as Israel.
