The Global Innovation Index 2014:

The Global Innovation Index 2014: Nurturing New Sources of Growth by Developing the Human Factor in Innovation’ written by Soumitra Dutta, Rafael Escalona Reynoso, and Alexandra L. Bernard from Cornell University; Bruno Lanvin from INSEAD; and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent from WIPO, introduces the theme of the human factor and discusses the results of this year’s rankings. Source: Globalinnovationindex.org, 2014

Findings from the report

  1. The need to gather more knowledge of, and a better understanding of, the role that the human factor— along with technology and capital—plays in innovation is critical. Statistically and analytically capturing this contribution and nurturing it through adequate education, training, and motivation in schools, universities, businesses, civil society, and the government itself is a challenge."

  2. The top 10 economies in the GII 2014 edition are Switzerland, the United Kingdom (UK), Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, the United States of America (USA), Singapore, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong (China). Nine of these economies were already in the GII top 10 in 2013; Ireland, which was 10th in 2013, dropped to 11th this year, and Luxembourg climbed up into the top 10 from 12th position in 2013.

  3. The GII 2014 confirms the continued existence of global innovation divides even within income groups. All top 25 economies are in the highincome group. China and Malaysia are the only upper-middle income countries getting closer to these ranks.

  4. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region that sees the most significant improvement in GII rankings in 2014. Thirty-three countries make up the region in the GII. Of these 33, 17 climb in the rankings this year, three remain in the same position, two new countries are added, and the remaining 11 exhibit a drop in rank.

  5. Regional trends in the GII 2014 show some interesting new aspects. The BRICS economies show signs of divergence, with China improving at a significantly faster pace than its BRICS counterparts and India slipping back. If China continues to improve at this pace, it would not be a surprise to see it move from its current 29th position to within the top 25 within a few years.