Phl climbs 5 notches in global innovation index

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines  was ranked  the 90th most innovative economy in the world this year,   up five notches from last year’s position of 95th, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2013.

The GII is an annual publication  that ranks countries in terms of their enabling environment to innovation and their innovation output.

The report, which covers 142 economies around the world, using 84 indicators including the quality of top universities, availability of microfinance and venture capital deals, is published by the Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

According to GII 2013,  the Philippines scored 31.2 out of 100 in the global innovation index  compared to last year’s score of 29.

“The results of the GII provide testimony to the global nature of innovation today. The top 25 ranked countries on the GII are a mix of nations from across the world — North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Middle East. While high-income economies dominate the list, several new players have increased their innovation capabilities and outputs,” said Soumitra Dutta, co-editor of the report.

  “On average, high-income countries outpace developing countries by a wide margin across the board in terms of scores; a persistent innovation divide exists,” Dutta added.

In Southeast Asia and Oceania region (SEAO), the Philippines was ranked 14th most innovative out of 16 economies, behind Vietnam (ranked 76th in the world) and Indonesia (85th), but ahead of Sri Lanka (98th) and Cambodia (110th).

The top three innovators in the SEAO for this year are Hong Kong (ranked seventh in the world, from last year’s eighth place), Singapore, (eighth place from third), and New Zealand (17th place from 13th).

The rest, in order of regional ranking, are South Korea (ranked 18th in the world), Australia (19th), Japan (22nd), Malaysia (32nd), China (35th), Thailand (57th), Mongolia (72nd), and Brunei Darussalam (74th).

The GII 2013 also sub-categorized innovation into three: innovation output, innovation input, and innovation efficiency ratio.

Based on innovation output, the Philippines got a score of 30 out of 100 to rank 77th in the world, and scored 32.3 to rank 108 in innovation input.

Surprisingly, the country’s innovation efficiency ratio was regarded by the report as one of the country’s strengths. It earned 0.9 (with the highest score of 1.13 given to Mali) for a ranking of 24th globally.

The index also graded countries individually based on more than 80 indicators of innovation.

Among the Philippines’ perceived innovation weaknesses are those dealing with political stability, business environment, ease of starting a business, ease of resolving insolvency, expenditure on education and R&D, ease of getting credit, and FDI inflows.

Cited as areas of strength include the percentage of graduates in science and engineering, market capitalization, business-financed R&D, joint-venture and strategic-alliance deals, the percentage of high and medium-high technology manufacturers, and knowledge diffusion.

Making it to the top 10 of the GII 2013 are Switzerland (with a score of 66.6 out of 100) in first place, followed by Sweden (61.3), the United Kingdom (61.2), the Netherlands (61.1), US (60.3), Finland (59.5), Hong Kong (59.43), Singapore (59.41), Denmark (58.3), and Ireland (57.9).

Bruno Lanvin, the report’s co-editor, said: “Innovation is rapidly becoming a rallying symbol for forces of progress and reform around the world. Although our findings show that daunting challenges remain for many new players, we also see exciting examples of innovation success, including in some of the poorest countries. This is a source of optimism about the future of global innovation and economic recovery.”