INSEAD & WIPO Co-Publish Global Innovation Index 2012

On 3 July 2012, INSEAD, the international business school and research institution, published the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2012 report in collaboration with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The 2012 GII ranks 141 economies of their overall innovation performance based on innovation capabilities and results. Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore continue to occupy the top three spots for the second year in a row.

GII is calculated by the simple average of Innovation Input Sub-Index and Innovation Output Sub-Index. The input sub-index measures how effective the environment of an economy enables innovation using five inputs, namely, (i) institutions; (ii) capital and research; (iii) infrastructure; (iv) market sophistication; and (v) business sophistication; whereas the output sub-index reflects innovation results by taking into account knowledge and technology output as well as creative output.

The top 10 economies by 2012 Global Innovation Index are:

1.	Switzerland
2.	Sweden
3.	Singapore
4.	Finland
5.	United Kingdom
6.	Netherlands
7.	Denmark
8.	Hong Kong (China)
9.	Ireland
10.	United States of America

Complementing the GII ranking is the Global Innovation Efficiency Index, which is a ratio of the Output Sub-Index over the Input Sub-Index. It shows how much innovation output an economy produces from its inputs. In this category, China and India are the top two performers respectively.

The theme of this year’s GII report, as reflected in its sub-heading “Stronger Innovation Linkages for Global Growth”, highlights the importance of coordination and collaboration across various sectors such as science, higher education, and public entities in reaping innovation benefits. It also points to the challenge of designing effective policies to foster the innovation linkages on the part of the economies.