Europe, with Switzerland and Sweden at the top, dominates the WIPO Global Innovation Index by EFE

Antonio Bruto

Geneva, September 27 (.).- Switzerland remains the world leader in innovation for the thirteenth year in a row, followed by Sweden and the United States, according to the annual index published today by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in which Europe is ranked, followed by Asia, and occupies the most Leadership positions.

After the United States, which drops one place in 2023, this edition includes the United Kingdom, Singapore, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and South Korea: although they exchange many places between them, the “top ten” is the same as the previous year.

The index, which the United Nations intellectual property regulatory agency has been developing since 2007, compares 130 countries using 80 indicators ranging from spending on education to investment in development research, scores in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) education reports, or the creation of mobile applications. For mobile phones, among many other indicators.

After the top ten places, the eleventh place stands out for France, which this year surpasses China (twelfth place), while Japan came in thirteenth place, Italy in 26th place, Spain in 29th place, India in 40th place, and Brazil in 49th place. Russia is ranked 51st.

Among the top 20 ranked economies, 12 are European, two are American (USA and Canada), and six are Asian (Singapore, South Korea, China, Japan, Israel and Hong Kong).

Record in research and development

The report also highlights that in 2022, companies with the largest investment in R&D spent a record $1.1 trillion (€1.04 trillion) on the concept, although the annual growth of 7.4% was lower than between 2020 and And 2020. 2021 15%.

On the other hand, the total value of venture capital investments (those directed towards startups) fell sharply last year, by 40%, although WIPO says the amount invested in this type of company was unusually high in 2021. .

In this context, the annual study considers the prospects for this risk capital to be uncertain for this year or 2024, given that high interest rates could continue to affect financing innovation.

While Switzerland bases its leadership on factors such as creative and technological production, and Sweden follows suit thanks to its outstanding trade development and good infrastructure, the United States ranks first in the world in several crucial sub-indices, such as investment in its signature R&D. Or the quality of their universities.

China, the first developing country on the list, scores very low in the institutional section (regulations, strong rule of law, business-friendly environment…), but makes up for it with high marks in the creative area. Department (Technological Exports, Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs).

WIPO highlighted in its report that Brazil is among the 50 most innovative economies, and that it is the best country in Latin America, an honor that Chile had obtained in previous editions.

The Brazilian economy shines in this sense thanks to sub-indicators such as online government services (ranked 14th globally), the rating of “unicorn companies” (ranked 22nd) or the leadership of its brands (ranked 13th globally).

Asia leads cities

Although Europe still leads Asia in WIPO’s country rankings, the situation is reflected in the list of the 100 cities (or groups of nearby cities) that focus on the greatest scientific and technological progress, which also forms part of the annual report.

In that list, which was submitted a week before the report was released, the five main global innovation centers were located in the Asian continent: Tokyo-Yokohama (Japan), Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Canton (China), and Seoul (South Korea). ), Beijing (China) and Shanghai-Suzhou (China).

San Francisco-San Jose (USA), thanks to the activity of technological incubators such as Silicon Valley, ranked sixth and was the main non-Asian pole of attraction, while the best-placed European city on the list was Paris, in twelfth place.

By country, China has the most innovative cities on this list of 100 cities, with nearly a quarter of the total (24), followed by the United States (21) and Germany (9), while Japan, India, South Korea and Canada round out the top spot. Four each.