India has ranked 66th in the 2016 Global Innovation Index (GII). In this edition, India has climbed by 15 spots from 81st position in 2015 GII, thus maintaining the top spot in the Central and South Asia regions. The annual index was released by France-based international business schools such as the Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). Importantly, the UN report promotes more transparent policies if a country aspires to become a global driver of innovation.
The index ranks world economies since 2007 according to their innovation capabilities using over 80 indicators.
India’s better performance in the 2016 GII readings was due to its strengths in tertiary education, corporate R&D, quality of its universities and scientific publications, its market sophistication and information and communication technology service exports. India has starting to set a good example highlighting how its policy is improving the innovation environment.
Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, the US, Finland and Singapore lead the 2016 GII rankings. Among the middle income countries, India (25th) came second after China (17th).
by Ashwani Srivastava