Kuwait up 11 in innovation
GENEVA, June 15, (Agencies): Kuwait advanced 11 positions from 2016 to 2017 to reach the 56th rank in the Global Innovation Index among 127 other states, according to a report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Kuwait has also seen prominent development in the quality of local scientific innovations that put the country in the 18th place worldwide on the Global Innovation Index, said WIPO, a UN-related organization, on Thursday.
The report noted that Kuwait sits in the sixth place in spreading knowledge and the 12th in the outcome of the information technology field.
Meanwhile, WIPO saw that the country has a strong electricity production, develops the skills of manpower and finances scientific research.
Advancing 11 points within a year in the index in innovation support can encourage other GCC states to exert further efforts in the field, a senior official of the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), who took part in the report, told KUNA.
On his part, Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the UN and international organizations Ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim noted that Kuwait supports scientific creativity in all age categories.
He added that Kuwaiti inventors won several global awards
the past years, while participating in international events.
The Global Innovation Index measures the world economies? innovation capabilities and results. The index indicates that innovation is key for economic growth and prosperity. It measures innovation in relation with factors such as the level of research, development, infrastructure, investment and creativity.
Emerging markets are climbing up the ranks of the world’s most innovative nations, an annual UN survey showed on Thursday, although wealthy Western countries led by Switzerland still dominate the top spots.
The annual UN survey of 128 countries showed China rose three spots to 22nd place on the list, far ahead of other developing countries.
Switzerland has topped the list every year since 2011, followed this year by Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom, while the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Kuwait were some of the biggest risers.
“Switzerland is the gold medallist once again, and that’s seven years running, so that’s quite an outstanding performance,” Francis Gurry, head of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), told a news conference.
The Global Innovation Index is produced jointly by WIPO and two business schools — INSEAD and the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, and seeks to shed light on countries’ competitiveness based on 81 indicators.
“What’s important for us is to see the gaps in the scores,” said Soumitra Dutta, dean of Cornell Business School.
One country, India, was taking that lesson seriously, creating its own statelevel index to try to create competition for investment and spur innovation nationally, he added.
India rose six places to 60th in this year’s rankings, the 10th edition, outperforming relative to its economic strength for the seventh year running. But it remained badly let down by its bureaucracy and infrastructure.
China’s weak spots included tertiary education, the regulatory environment, creative media and protection of minority investors. But in many areas, such as high-tech exports, industrial design and business sophistication, it punched far above its weight.
The index takes in factors including political environment, education, infrastructure and business sophistication. This year’s report also reviews the state of innovation in agriculture and food systems across sectors and geographies.
Gurry said it was premature to gauge what impact President Donald Trump’s policies and Britain’s decision to leave the European Union might have on their rankings, but international openness was key to fostering innovation.
“Will the tendencies that are out there for protectionism have an impact on that? Regrettably perhaps for today’s purposes it’s too early to say but it’s something that we should be very concerned about,” he said.