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Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the USA and the UK are the world’ s most- innovative countries, while a group of nations including India, Kenya, and Viet Nam are outperforming their development- level peers, according to the Global Innovation Index 2017 coauthored by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Global Innovation Index provides detailed metrics about the innovation performance of 127 countries and economies around the world. Its 81 indicators explore a broad vision of innovation, including political environment, education, infrastructure and business sophistication.
In its tenth edition, the GII 2017 notes a continued gap in innovative capacity between developed and developing nations and lackluster growth rates for research and development (R&D) activities, both at the government and corporate levels.
Innovation is the engine of economic growth in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy, but more investment is needed to help boost human creativity and economic output,
said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
Innovation can help transform the current economic upswing into longer-term growth.
In 2017, Switzerland leads the rankings for the seventh consecutive year, with high-income economies taking 24 of the top 25 spots ‘“ China is the exception at 22. In 2016, China became the first-ever middle income economy in the top 25.
The theme of the GII 2017, “Innovation Feeding the World,’ looks at innovation carried out in agriculture and food systems. Over the next decades, the agriculture and food sector will face an enormous rise in global demand and increased competition for limited natural resources. In addition, it will need to adapt to and help mitigate climate change. Innovation is key to sustaining the productivity growth required to meet this rising demand and to helping enhance the networks that integrate the sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management known as food systems.
We are already witnessing the rapid, worldwide emergence of ‘˜digital agriculture,’ which includes drones, satellite-based sensors and field robotics,
said Bruno Lanvin, INSEAD Executive Director for Global Indices.
Now there is an urgent need for ‘˜smart agriculture’ to optimize supply and distribution chains and foster creative new business models that minimize pressure on land, energy and other natural resources – while addressing the needs of the world’ s poorest.