Croatia Ranks 38th on the Global Innovation Index

The European Business School has published for the first time the report “Innovations for Development 2009-2010” in which the innovation capacity index compares 131 countries worldwide, with Croatia ranking 38th, the National Competitiveness Council (NVK) reported today.

The foundation of the index is five pillars of innovation capacity: institutional environment, human capital, further education and training and social inclusion, regulatory and legal framework, research and development, and the use of ICT. The index serves as a tool for creating dialogue about various dimensions of innovation, and the methodology allows for the formulation of policy recommendations for each individual country based on the country’s level of development and the nature of its political system, NVK emphasizes.

According to the report’s findings, Sweden is the most innovative economy in the world, Finland is in second place, followed by the USA, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Singapore. Croatia ranks 38th in the innovation capacity index out of a total of 131 countries. Slightly better than Croatia are Slovenia and the Czech Republic at 31st and 32nd places, respectively, while Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary follow Croatia (39th, 40th, and 41st places). The National Competitiveness Council highlights indicators that show the strengths of Croatia’s innovation capacity, such as the number of mobile phone subscribers, schools with Internet access, the number of articles in scientific and technical publications, and the number of Internet subscribers. At the same time, the report’s results indicate weaker areas that need to be addressed to improve the conditions determining Croatia’s innovation capacity, namely investor protection, electricity supply and distribution, the efficiency of the financial sector, and the level of debt.

“A country’s success today is not measured solely by its geographical position or the wealth of its natural resources, as there are countries that have managed to expand opportunities for increasing the living standards of their citizens through international trade, foreign investments, and the adoption of new technologies,” stated Augusto Lopez-Claros, former chief economist and director of the Global Competitiveness Program of the World Economic Forum and honorary professor at the European Business School, as well as editor of the report “Innovations for Development 2009-2010” (The Innovation for Development Report 2009-2010). The President of the European Business School, Christopher Jahns, emphasizes that the report provides a basis for discussion on key issues such as how a country can strengthen its innovative potential, what enables the development of a favorable innovation climate, how to develop, support, and strengthen innovation, whether innovation is a result of a higher level of education and acquired new skills, investments in human capital, or whether more attention should be paid to creating a transparent regulatory environment in which the government plays a role in creating a stimulating regulatory environment for innovation as opposed to bureaucratization. The innovation capacity index allows entrepreneurs and policymakers to review a wide range of specific country factors that determine innovation capacity, as well as the implementation and formulation of policy measures to create an environment conducive to the development of innovations, Jahns emphasizes. (H)