PH jumps 9 notches in global innovation index

The Philippines rose nine notches in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2016 to become the 74th most innovative economy in the world, out of 128 countries surveyed.

Results of the GII 2015 showed that the country’s ranking across the seven main indicators used in the survey had improved.

The biggest improvement was seen in human capital and research, where the Philippines rose 28 places to rank 95th in this year’s index. This indicator measures the quality of the country’s education (tertiary) as well as research and development.

The Philippines also saw improvements in its ranking in six other indicators: institution, 88th, up 14 notches from last year; infrastructure, 72nd from 83rd; market sophistication, 94th from 101st; business sophistication, 74th from 81st; knowledge and technology outputs, 44th from 53rd, andcreative outputs, 96th from 101st.

A notable decline, however, can be seen in one subindicator, investment, where the country dropped 25 notches. This subindicator measures the ease of protecting minority investors, market capitalization and total value of stocks traded as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and venture capital deals.

An impressive surge in ranking was seen in the knowledge impact subindicator, where the country ranked 31st from the 80th place last year. This measured new businesses, computer software spending, ISO 9001 quality certificates and high and medium high tech manufactures, survey results further showed.

The Global Innovation Index is an annual publication of a composite indicator that ranked countries and economies in terms of their enabling environments to innovation and their innovation outputs. The said index, which was published by Cornell University, Insead and the World Intellectual Property Organization (Wipo) and covered only 128 countries this year, recognized the “key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity, and the need for a broad horizontal vision of innovation applicable to developed and emerging economies.” Amy R. Remo