The Global Innovation Index: Insights and trends

• Pages: 15-17

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lytical chapters to the GII Report and participat-

ing actively in the dissemination of results. For

example, WIPO’s input has been useful in rening

the choice of variables, in providing data related

to intellectual property and in discussing the role

of creativity in innovation ; Booz & Company have

provided knowledge from their corporate sur-

veys of global innovation leaders; and the CII has

contributed useful perspectives on innovation in

India and other emerging markets.

In addition, for the 2011 edition, the Joint Research

Centre (JRC) of the European Commission per-

formed a thorough robustness and sensitivity

analysis of the GII. Last but certainly not least, an

Advisory Board was set up comprising a select

group of international practitioners and experts

with unique knowledge and skills in the realm

of innovation. The GII project has beneted from

the knowledge of these partners, and contribu-

tions from other public- and private-sector lead-

ers interested in understanding and improving

the innovation process will continue to provide

valuable input.

Can you tell us more about the framework of inno-

vation used for the GII?

The GII relies on two sub-indices, the Innovation

Input Sub-Index and the Innovation Output Sub-

Index, each built on several pillars. Five input

pillars capture elements of the national economy

that enable innovative activities: (1) institutions,

(2) human capital and research, (3) infrastruc-

ture, (4) market sophistication and (5) business

sophistication. Two output pillars capture actual

evidence of innovation output: (6) scientic out-

put and (7) creative output. The pillars are divided

into sub-pillars, each of which is composed of

What is the motivation for the GII project?

The GII project was launched by INSEAD in 2007

with the simple goal of determining metrics and

approaches for better capturing the richness of

innovation in society, and going beyond such tra-

ditional measures of innovation as the number of

PhDs, the number of research articles produced,

the research centers created, patents issued and

research and development (R&D) expenditure.

Several factors motivated the setting of this goal.

First, innovation is important for driving eco-

nomic progress and competitiveness – both for

developed and developing economies. Many

governments are putting innovation at the center

of their growth strategies. Second, there is in-

creasing awareness that the denition of innova-

tion has broadened – it is no longer restricted to

R&D laboratories and published scientic papers.

Innovation can be, and is, more general and hori-

zontal in nature, and also includes social innova-

tion and business model innovation. Finally, rec-

ognizing and celebrating innovation in emerging

markets is seen as critical for inspiring people,

especially the next generation of entrepreneurs

and innovators.

What role do knowledge partners play?

In the 2011 edition of the GII, Alcatel-Lucent, Booz

& Company, the Confederation of Indian Industry

(CII) and WIPO joined INSEAD as knowledge part-

ners in elaborating the GII. These knowledge

partners share a common belief in the growing

importance of innovation in enabling economic

growth in both developed and emerging na-

tions. They have provided valuable input to the

research underlying the GII, contributing ana-

THE GLOBAL

INNOVATION INDEX:

Insights and trends

In June, INSEAD and its knowledge partners, including the World Intellectual

Property Organization (WIPO), released jointly The Global Innovation Index

2011. In this interview, Professor Soumitra Dutta

1

, the Roland Berger Chaired

Professor in Business and Technology at INSEAD, explains how The Global

Innovation Index (GII) 2011 seeks to generate deeper and more sophisticated

insights into the innovation process and emerging innovation trends in differ-

ent countries around the world. He explains that the GII is “a tool for action”

enabling policymakers to overcome innovation bottlenecks by identifying and

adopting best national innovation practices.

1. Professor Dutta is

editor of the Global

Innovation Index 2011

and co-founder and

academic director

of INSEAD’s e-lab, a

center of excellence

in teaching and

research on the digital

economy.