Hong Kong has taken 1st place among Asian economies (and 7th worldwide) in this year’s Global Innovation Index (GGI). The Netherlands ranks 4th worldwide, up from last year’s 6th position. Mainland China is found further down the list, at 35 (or 8 in Asia), one lower than 2012 and six lower compared with 2011.
Excerpt from the 2013 Global Innovation Index report (Source: www.globalinnovationindex.org)
The GGI is released yearly by Cornell University, INSEAD and and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It provides a benchmark of the innovation capability of 142 global economies by measuring so-called innovation inputs (e.g. regulatory environment, education, investment, knowledge workers) and outputs (e.g. knowledge creation, impact and diffusion) for economies around the world.
Hong Kong’s no. 1 position derives from high marks on the input side for Infrastructure and Market sophistication (including Credit and Investment) as well as Business sophistication. Hong Kong scores generally lower on outputs, with the exception of Creative outputs. Its weaknesses lie in Human capital and research inputs and Knowledge and technology outputs. Patent Cooperation Treaty and national office resident patent applications were also listed as concerns.
With The Netherlands it’s the other way around, scoring high on outputs (2nd place) and lower on inputs (10th place)
Read the full GGI report here. More on the methodology here. More on Hong Kong’s ranking here.