India Jumps Five Notches To 52nd Rank In Global Innovation Index 2019
The Global Innovation Index ranks 129 economies based on 80 indicators.
India moved up five notches to become the 52nd most innovative country in the world, according to the Global Innovation Index 2019 rankings released on Wednesday.
India, which is two places short of entering the club of 50 top innovative economies, has steadily improved its rank since 2015—when it bagged the 81st spot.
The country’s software exports and engineers were among the reasons for the upgrade. “India ranks among the top countries in parameters such as information communications technology services exports, scientific publication, and number of engineers coming out of the country, among others,” Francis Gurry, director at World Intellectual Property Organization, told BloombergQuint in an interview. “There are a lot of positive factors going in India’s favor.”
Yet, the country’s investment in research and development is among the lowest at around 0.3 percent of the GDP, lagging behind other countries such as the U.S., China, and Israel, Gurry said.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who released the GII rankings, said India is seriously looking at increasing R&D spends. “From establishing hundreds of Atal Innovation Labs to Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan, this new approach and engagement adopted by the government has become the new hallmark of India as we move towards a more prosperous country,” he said.
Meanwhile, China improved its ranking from 17 in 2018 and to 14 in 2019. The U.S., whose ranking dropped last year to sixth, is now the third most innovative country. Countries such as United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Thailand, Russia are among the top 50 innovative countries.
The GII rankings are published jointly by Cornell University, INSEAD and the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation. It ranks 129 economies based on 80 indicators.
Since 2011, Switzerland has been ranked at the top every year. This year too it continued to be the most innovative country followed by Sweden. Netherlands slipped from second to fourth place this year.
Watch the full interview here: