The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has recently released The Global Innovation Index 2022 (GII 2022). The GII captures the innovation ecosystem performance of 132 countries and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
For the 12th consecutive year, Switzerland ranks first in the GII. The US overtakes Sweden to climb to 2nd position and continues to head the league table of scoring best in the world on 15 of the 81 GII 2022 innovation indicators. Germany reached 8th position, its highest ranking since 2009, after having entered the top 10 in 2016.
Singapore bounces back to 7th position. China remains the only middle-income economy within the top 30, keeping its 3rd place within Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania (SEAO) region and staying in 1st place in the upper middle-income group. Canada (15th) returns to the top 15 for the first time since 2016 having dropped out of the top 10 in 2012. India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and, for the first time, Uzbekistan (82nd) and Pakistan (87th) lead the Central and Southern Asia region.
In the GII 2022, 26 countries are outperforming on innovation relative to their development, including newcomers Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. Pakistan is a prominent climber in the GII 2022 ranking, entering the top 90 at 87th place. This year, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan entered the group of Innovation Achievers for the first time by performing above expectations on innovation for their level of economic development.
Morocco (67th) has shown innovation potential for several years, whereas Pakistan (87th) and Cambodia (97th) are also starting to show signs of increased innovation potential. Indonesia (75th), Uzbekistan (82nd), and Pakistan (87th) are Innovation Achievers in 2022 for the first time. For these three economies, this achievement coincides with an important shift in their rankings of between four and 12 positions.
Sri Lanka (85th), Pakistan (87th), and Bangladesh (102nd) jumped up the rankings notably this year. However, only Pakistan has steadily gained a position over time (it ranked 133rd in 2012). The early signs of innovation potential came from Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan, which all over performed on innovation performance relative to development for the first time in 2022.
Improvement in Pakistan is the result of the policies of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan and the contribution of other collaborative agencies which realised the need for innovative activities throughout Pakistani HEIs. For example, HEC in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) Pakistan and the Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST), established Technology and Innovation Support Centres (TISCs) under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in 39 HEIs.
Being an important economic partner of Pakistan, the European Union (EU) is also playing a significant role by carrying out a project titled “Transforming Academic Knowledge to Develop Entrepreneurial Universities in Pakistan (TAKE-UP)” in an attempt to transform academic knowledge into entrepreneurship and innovation.