Brussels, 26/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The 2013 scoreboard on innovation highlights the fact that EU performance results have improved year by year but that the gap between countries is widening.
Despite a stubborn economic crisis, results for innovation continue to improve with every passing year in the EU, as can be seen by the 2013 edition of the European Innovation Union Scoreboard, published by the European Commission on 26 March. While the most innovative member states have improved their results, others are showing a lack of progress. The ranking remains relatively stable with Sweden in the lead, followed by Germany, Denmark and Finland. The three Baltic States are the countries that have most improved since last year. Drivers of innovation growth in the EU include SMEs and the commercialisation of innovations, together with excellent research systems. However, the fall in business and venture capital investment over the years 2008-2012 has adversely influenced innovation performance, the European Commission explains.
The Innovation Union Scoreboard 2013 ranks member states in the four following groups of countries: - the “innovation leaders” - Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Finland - which all show a performance well above that of the EU average; - the “innovation followers” - Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, the UK, Austria, Ireland, France, Slovenia, Cyprus and Estonia - which all perform above the EU average; - the “moderate innovators” - Italy, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Malta and Lithuania - which perform below the EU average; - and lastly, the “modest innovators” - Poland, Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria - which are well below the EU average.
According to the Commission, the innovation leaders have reasons for being successful. They share a number of strengths in their national research and innovation systems, including a key role for business innovation efforts and those of the higher education sector. All innovation champions have business sectors that perform very well in research and development (R&D) expenditure and patent applications. They also share a well-developed higher education sector and strong linkages between industry and science.
At the international level, comparison with other European countries confirms Switzerland's position as the overall innovation leader that continually out-performs all EU countries. Results for 2013 also again show that South Korea, the US and Japan have a performance lead over the EU despite the fact that, since 2008, the EU has been able to close almost half its gap with the US and Japan. South Korea's advance has increased. On the other hand, the EU's lead over China has been declining but has remained stable with the other BRICS countries and has been increasing compared to Australia and Canada. (EH/transl.jl)