Innovation measures how readily a country’s economy adopts new technologies. The index measures inputs which focus on how well the business environment fosters Innovation, and outputs which demonstrate how much Innovation is occurring, such as the number of patent applications or research articles published. Inputs include contract and patent protection; creditor protection measured by their asset recovery rate in bankruptcy proceedings; education levels, including the country’s 15-year-old students’ scores in reading, mathematics and science; transportation, electricity and communication Infrastructure; R&D as a percent of GDP; availability of business credit; and unique factors such as the percentage of females employed with advanced degrees, a measure of how sophisticated the economy is. Outputs include 3-year increase in labor productivity; the percent of total trade spent on computer software, intellectual property and high-tech exports; net foreign direct investment; the value of the 5,000 most valuable brands as a percent of GDP; national feature films produced and other creative goods as a percent of total exports; and unique factors including the number of annual Wikipedia edits. The Global Innovation Index is produced by the World Economic Forum, known for its annual winter forum in Davos, is a non-governmental organization founded in 1971 in Geneva Switzerland to promote European business interests to the world.
