Recently, despite the human and economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, governments and businesses in many parts of the world still continue to increase investment in innovation. That is why the Global Innovation Index (GII) report 2021 was published on September 20 to track those global innovation trends and give the people of the world a clear picture of the innovation status of the entire world.
Global Innovation Index (GII)
The Global Innovation Index is an index that measures the innovation capacity and performance of world economies. This initiative is jointly implemented by WIPO, Cornell University (USA), and INSEAD Institute every year since 2007.
The idea of the Global Innovation Index (GII) was introduced by Professor Dutta of the INSEAD Institute in 2007 with the sole aim of determining how to obtain data and approaches that allow to better capture the extent of innovation and the effectiveness of the innovation systems of countries and economies.
The Global Innovation Index 2021, issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), ranks the innovation performance of world economies based on seven factors:
- Human capital and research;
- The output of knowledge and technology;
- Infrastructure;
- Market sophistication;
- Business sophistication;
- Creative outputs;
- Institution.
The Global Innovation Index will measure every innovation-affecting sector of an economy to provide clarity, transparency, and direction for governments, businesses, etc. when they want to create policies that allow their citizens or employees to be more creative and innovative.
Global Innovation Index 2021. Source: WIPO
The biggest challenge in finalizing the Global Innovation Index report is finding data that honestly reflects innovation around the world. Although nearly two decades old, direct measures of innovation output today still need a lot of improvement.
However, this toolkit is still said to be better, richer, and more relevant than traditional innovation measures such as the number of published research articles, the number of patents, or the spending on the research and development department, etc.
Global Innovation Index edition 2021
Drawing on 81 different indicators, the 2021 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) provides the latest change in the global innovation rankings of 132 economies. While tracking the most recent global innovation trends, this publication also focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on innovation worldwide.
Top 3 economies per region with the highest innovation ratings. Source: WIPO
This year’s GII data shows that North America and Europe continue to lead the way in innovation. However, the innovation performance of Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania (SEAO) has been the most dynamic over the past decade. At the same time, this region is also the only region that has narrowed the gap significantly compared to other regions.
In terms of country, in 2021, the world’s most innovative economy is Switzerland, followed by Sweden, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (United Kingdom), and South Korea.
You can see a list of International IP firms here.