India among top ten ‘efficient innovators’

Switzerland tops the list of the world's most innovative countries but surprisingly India figures among the top ten countries that are most 'efficient innovators' globally.

Titled the 'Global Innovation Index' 2011 rankings, Switzerland ranks first in the GII index followed by Sweden and Singapore, however, it is the India story with affordable innovations such as Tata's Nano car that has put India among the top ten efficient innovators in the world.
India is ranked ninth in the 'Innovation Efficiency Index.' However in terms of global innovation index India is ranked 62nd in the 125 country listing.

The report published by the French business school INSEAD, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), was first published in 2007. This is the fourth annual report.

The study helps as a 'policy tool', enabling policy makers and industry to evaluate themselves.

The GII analyses how countries leverage their enabling environments to stimulate innovation results. Also figuring in the top GII rankings are European countries, such as Finland, Denmark as well as USA and China.

The report computes innovation on the basis of innovation input and output. In terms of input it looks at, 'institution', 'human capital and research', 'infrastructure', 'market sophistication' and 'business sophistication'. Innovation output is assessed in terms of 'scientific outputs' and 'creative outputs.' It is a the ratio of the output score over the input score.

According to Soumitra Dutta, professor of business and technology at INSEAD, the report measures two things — the capacity of a country to innovate, looking at things like education and infrastructure as inputs and the outputs of the economy in terms of scientific and creative output.

What has pushed India to among the top ten efficient innovators is the fact that it has achieved more from lesser conditions. Developing economies like India, despite having environments where investment is not high and the political stability isn't ideal or market and business sophistication and infrastructure is far from satisfactory — are still generating a substantial amount of scientific and creative output.

India is able to maintain that degree of productivity in such an environment, obviously its efficiency in comparison to countries with high GII such as the top ranker Switzerland itself is high.

While India is ranked 9th, Switzerland is ranked 12th.