Switzerland ranked first in global innovation index

Switzerland rankek first among the world’s top innovation leaders, according to Innovation Indicator 2017, the annul research which analyzed the innovative strength of 35 national economies on behalf of acatech—the German National Academy of Science and Engineering—and BDI—the Federation of German Industries.

According to the study, Singapore came in second to the Alpine country. Belgium was ranked third, and Germany fourth. Germany showed clear weaknesses, especially in digitalization—which was analyzed for the first time by the Innovation Indicator 2017. Germany ranked 17th in this field, lagging far behind other industrial nations such as the US or Britain, CNA reported.

“Internationally, Germany is still an important and respected location for innovation, and has even moved up a place compared to the Innovation Indicator 2015,” said Marion Weissenberger-Eibl, director of the Fraunhofer ISI, which compiled the data with the Center for European Economic Research ZEW.

“However, this good result should not obscure the fact that Switzerland, Singapore and Belgium are far more innovative. For Germany to remain competitive, it must catch up, above all in the field of digitalization—the Innovation Indicator shows Germany performs very poorly in this promising future field.”

The rankings measure innovation inputs – institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure and market and business sophistication – and innovation outputs – such as patents, research articles and creative outputs. This year’s Global Innovation Index reveals that it is hard to change the status quo. It is a long haul to the top for newcomers and the incumbents appear entrenched. 

Accenture’s latest research, Emerging Technologies Make Their Mark on Public Service, which surveyed almost 800 public service technology professionals across nine countries, found that senior public service leaders in Singapore are significantly better informed about the majority of intelligent technologies in comparison to their American and European counterparts.