Correct Answer : 40th
India has maintained its 40th rank in the latest Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023 released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), making it a leading position holder among the lower middle-income country group.
The country ranked first among the 37 lower-middle group income and first among the 10 economies in Central and South America.
“India maintains its 40th position overall and takes the helm in the lower middle-income group. It holds the record for overperforming on innovation for the 13th consecutive year. India holds top rankings in key indicators, including ICT services exports (at place 5), VC received (6), graduates in science and engineering (11) and global corporate R&D investors (13),” read a press state from the GII.
The GII tracks the innovation ecosystem performance of 132 global economies and the most recent global innovation trends. In 2015, India stood at the 81st spot and has been rising in the past eight years.
“The consistent improvement in the GII ranking is owing to the immense knowledge capital, the vibrant start-up ecosystem, and the amazing work done by the public and private research organizations. Innovation has been at the forefront of our battle against the unprecedented crisis created by the pandemic and will be pivotal in driving the country’s resilience, as enshrined in the Prime Minister’s clarion call on Atma Nirbhar Bharat,” NITI Aayog said in a statement on Thursday.
The GII is a reliable tool for governments across the world to assess the innovation-led social and economic changes in their respective countries.
Other parameters where India performed fairly better include– cultural and creative services exports as percentage of trade (18th rank), intangible asset intensity (8th rank), and overall market sophistication (20th rank).
The broad areas where a lot of improvement needs to happen are infrastructure (84th rank), business sophistication (57) and institutions (56).
NITI Aayog said that it has been working tirelessly to ensure the optimisation of the national efforts for bringing policy-led innovation in different areas such as electric vehicles, biotechnology, nanotechnology, space, alternative energy sources, etc.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has also been collaborating in India’s journey towards an innovation-driven economy, said the government think tank. This year, the NITI Aayog will virtually be hosting ‘the India Launch of the GII 2023’ in partnership with the CII and the WIPO.
Of the 21 economies that outperformed on innovation relative to their level of development, the majority are located in Sub-Saharan Africa and SouthEast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
Along with India, the Republic of Moldova and Vietnam have also been innovation overperformers for 13 years in a row and Indonesia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have maintained their overperformer status for a second year and Brazil for a third consecutive year, according to WIPO..
Source : Hindustan Times
