Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Finland and Singapore lead the 2016 rankings in the GII, the report released jointly by Cornell University, INSEAD, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), du and A T Kearney, and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said.
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Announcing this at the launch function of the Global Innovation Index (GII) on Friday, Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce minister, said that the effort will be to improve India’s ranking in the index by providing enabling environment to promote innovation.
“I commit myself to the government’s assistance and facilitation to improve India’s innovation ranking next year”, the minister said, adding the composition of the committee would be announced in a few days.
India has been ranked high in global innovation and is ranked as a top exporter of information and communication technology in a United Nations agency report.
Along with its innovation performance India’s innovation ranking is driven by methodological considerations, such as the addition of new indicators.
GII 2016 also ranked Singapore top in the world in the Innovation Input Sub-Index, which gauges elements in the national economy that enable innovation activities. Relative weaknesses exist in the indicators for business environment, education expenditures, new business creations and the creative goods and services production.
“Branding now emphasises India’s strength in frugal innovation or “jugaad”.
Referring to “jugaad” in her address, Sitharaman said that “in a country where resources are scarce, you have to adapt to “jugaad”. “No, that was only a survival technique”.
The event was organised by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Niti Aayog, and industry body CII.
“India needs innovation for providing things like drinking water, sewage and improved seeds and productivity in agriculture”. India’s offer was conveyed by Sitharaman to WIPO Director General Francis Gurrey at a meeting here, an Indian commerce ministry statement said.
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Despite the rise, the report said an “innovation divide persists between developed and developing countries amid increasing awareness among policymakers that fostering innovation is crucial to a vibrant, competitive economy”.
