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The GII evaluates the progress of innovation readiness in countries, highlighting the obstacles that prevent governments, businesses, and individuals from fully capturing the benefits of innovation. In its second year, the GII ranks countries on several parameters, including technological sophistication, human capacity and infrastructure
The GII report reveals that the Gulf Region is well represented in the top 35, with Qatar leading at 24th place, United Arab Emirates ranking 26th, Kuwait ranking 30th, followed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in the 32nd and 34th slots respectively. Oman was ranked in 52nd place.
The United States ranked first in the 2008-2009 GII, followed by Germany which maintained its position for a second consecutive year. Sweden advanced significantly by ranking third, compared to its 12th position in 2007. The United Kingdom fell from 3rd to 4th slot and Singapore rose to 5th rank this year from 7th the previous year. South Korea made the most prominent move by securing the 6th rank compared to 19th position last year.
While several countries made noteworthy moves to the top of the overall innovation rankings, there were also many that experienced declines in the 2008-2009 report. Both Japan and France fell in the rankings by moving from 4th to 9th and 5th to 19th, respectively. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries also saw declines, including India which moved from the 23rd rank to the 41st position this year. China, however, overtook India in the rankings by advancing to the 37th position.
Insead Professor Soumitra Dutta, the primary author of the study, stated:
"Innovation today has become horizontal. We can no longer afford to look at it through such a narrow scope by examining vertical structures such as R&D laboratories and universities. In the Global Innovation Index, we take a much broader approach to looking at innovation around the world by capturing both micro- and macroeconomic variables."
Dutta added, "Our goal is to provide a benchmarking tool for business leaders and policymakers to identify obstacles to improved innovation and competitiveness and stimulate discussion on strategies to overcome them. In today's current global economic crisis, it will be critical for leaders to create an enabling environment to support the adoption of innovation and spread the benefits across all sectors of society."
The GII results have revealed that innovation is correlated with income levels in a country. The GII results have revealed that innovation is correlated with income levels in a country. For example, the innovation levels in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries are much more than non-OECD countries. There are few countries from Africa that are included in the rankings with only South Africa coming in at the 43rd position.
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Posted by Siba Sami Ammari
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