India has risen by 5 positions from its last year’s rank 57 to 52 in the recently published list of Global Innovation Index (GII). The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation and provides a subjective and objective analysis of data derived from several sources, including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. It is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, in partnership with other organisations and institutions.
India has topped the list of innovative economies in central and southern Asia. Switzerland leads the innovation index of countries followed by Sweden and the US. India’s north-eastern neighbour, China is ranked at 14. However, other neighbours such as Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh are at 105, 109 and 116 respectively. The entire report can be read here.
One of the most pertinent findings of the GII is the rise of middle-income countries such as India in strengthening the global innovation landscape. Applauding India for its remarkable improvement in its innovation index, the report states that India continues to be the most innovative economy in Central & Southern Asia—a distinction held since 2011. India is consistently among the top in the world in innovation drivers such as ICT services exports, Graduates in science & engineering, the quality of universities, Gross capital formation—a measure of economy-wide investments—and Creative goods exports.
India also stands out in the GII ranking of the world’s top science and technology clusters with Bengaluru, Mumbai, and New Delhi featuring prominently among the global top 100 clusters. Being upbeat about India’s steady progress, the report says that if progress is upheld—India will make a true impact on global innovation in the years to come.
Though the geography of innovation is rapidly shifting from high-income economies to middle-income economies, the report draws attention to the great innovation divide that persists as innovation inputs and outputs remain concentrated in very few economies. In terms of continuous innovation improvement, only Asia is improving while the rest of the world is still struggling to catch up with North America, Europe, South East Asia and Oceania.
3 Indian institutes have made into the top 10 universities in the middle-income group. Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru) and Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) have featured in the top 10 universities/ colleges list prepared by the GII.v
