DavidSling
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Every year, the World Economic Forum releases its Global Competitiveness Reporton the state of the world's economies.
The WEF looks at data on areas as varied as the soundness of banks to the sophistication of businesses in each country. It then uses the data to compile a picture of the economy of almost every country on earth.
One of the measures WEF looks at is innovation, which takes into account things like the quality of scientific research at universities, company spending on R&D (research and development), collaboration between universities and industry, patents, and the number of engineers and scientists in each country.
Business Insider has rounded up the 15 highest ranked companies for innovation. Check them out:
Als Galerie anzeigen
T=13. Belgium: 5.0
Antwerp.Shutterstock
Belgium gets a middling score on innovation but it's enough to put it in the top 15. Despite placing so highly, WEF cites "insufficient capacity to innovate" as the sixth most problematic factor for doing business in Belgium.
T=13. Austria: 5.0
Vienna.Jorge Royan, Wikipedia
The Innovation Policy Platform writes: "After nearly two decades of sustained growth, the expansion of R&D expenditure has slowed in the aftermath of the financial crisis, and constraints on public R&D expenditure are tight in current budgets."
T=13. United Kingdom: 5.0
REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
Britain has been going through a tech-driven boom, with world-leading fintech companies like Funding Circle and TransferWise starting up in London. WEF says that Britain is "still one of the most competitive economies in the world" but cautions that Brexit "is likely to have a negative impact on the United Kingdom’s competitiveness through goods and financial markets as well as market size and, potentially, innovation."
T=10. Norway: 5.1
Getty
Norway established Innovation Norway, a state-owned bank and investment company, in 2004. It employs over 500 people and has invested in everything from marine transportation to biotechnology. NOK16 billion (£1.6 billion) was invested in "innovation activities" across Norway in 2014, according to Innovation Norway's latest annual report.
T=10. Taiwan: 5.1
Peellden/Wikimedia Commons
Taiwan announced a $66,858 Presidential Innovation Award for the greatest "innovations or designs" that are turned "into profitable businesses" in 2014 in a bid to kickstart the country's stagnant GDP growth. The island was number one for patent activity in the Bloomberg Ranking's Global Tech report that same year.
T=10. Denmark: 5.1
Copenhagen.Anshar/Shutterstock
Denmark is a world leader in renewable energy technology, with an incredible 140% of the country's energy needs met by wind power. The country launched a new innovation strategy in 2012 aimed at encouraging innovation in areas where there was greater market demand.
9. Singapore: 5.3
Singapore.Flickr/aotaro
Despite ranking 9th for innovation, this is actually one of Singapore's weak spots: the country comes 2nd overall in the WEF competitiveness rankings and a relative weakness for innovation is one of the things that stops it taking the top spot. The nation state has a budding financial technology, or fintech, scene.
T=7. Japan: 5.4
Tokyo.Flickr/Yoshikazu TAKADA
Japan's creative heyday was the 1990s, when companies like Sony and Nintendo were the go-to gadget makers. But the country today is grappling with an ageing population and a big budget deficit. WEF says: "High-quality research institutions and company spending on R&D, coupled with an excellent availability of scientists and engineers, contribute to the country’s overall highly innovative environment. Yet Japan’s innovation prowess seems to be eroding: consistently ranked in the top 5 between 2007 and 2015, Japan loses three positions and now ranks 8th."
The WEF looks at data on areas as varied as the soundness of banks to the sophistication of businesses in each country. It then uses the data to compile a picture of the economy of almost every country on earth.
One of the measures WEF looks at is innovation, which takes into account things like the quality of scientific research at universities, company spending on R&D (research and development), collaboration between universities and industry, patents, and the number of engineers and scientists in each country.
Business Insider has rounded up the 15 highest ranked companies for innovation. Check them out:
Als Galerie anzeigen
T=13. Belgium: 5.0
Antwerp.Shutterstock
Belgium gets a middling score on innovation but it's enough to put it in the top 15. Despite placing so highly, WEF cites "insufficient capacity to innovate" as the sixth most problematic factor for doing business in Belgium.
T=13. Austria: 5.0
Vienna.Jorge Royan, Wikipedia
The Innovation Policy Platform writes: "After nearly two decades of sustained growth, the expansion of R&D expenditure has slowed in the aftermath of the financial crisis, and constraints on public R&D expenditure are tight in current budgets."
T=13. United Kingdom: 5.0
REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
Britain has been going through a tech-driven boom, with world-leading fintech companies like Funding Circle and TransferWise starting up in London. WEF says that Britain is "still one of the most competitive economies in the world" but cautions that Brexit "is likely to have a negative impact on the United Kingdom’s competitiveness through goods and financial markets as well as market size and, potentially, innovation."
T=10. Norway: 5.1
Getty
Norway established Innovation Norway, a state-owned bank and investment company, in 2004. It employs over 500 people and has invested in everything from marine transportation to biotechnology. NOK16 billion (£1.6 billion) was invested in "innovation activities" across Norway in 2014, according to Innovation Norway's latest annual report.
T=10. Taiwan: 5.1
Peellden/Wikimedia Commons
Taiwan announced a $66,858 Presidential Innovation Award for the greatest "innovations or designs" that are turned "into profitable businesses" in 2014 in a bid to kickstart the country's stagnant GDP growth. The island was number one for patent activity in the Bloomberg Ranking's Global Tech report that same year.
T=10. Denmark: 5.1
Copenhagen.Anshar/Shutterstock
Denmark is a world leader in renewable energy technology, with an incredible 140% of the country's energy needs met by wind power. The country launched a new innovation strategy in 2012 aimed at encouraging innovation in areas where there was greater market demand.
9. Singapore: 5.3
Singapore.Flickr/aotaro
Despite ranking 9th for innovation, this is actually one of Singapore's weak spots: the country comes 2nd overall in the WEF competitiveness rankings and a relative weakness for innovation is one of the things that stops it taking the top spot. The nation state has a budding financial technology, or fintech, scene.
T=7. Japan: 5.4
Tokyo.Flickr/Yoshikazu TAKADA
Japan's creative heyday was the 1990s, when companies like Sony and Nintendo were the go-to gadget makers. But the country today is grappling with an ageing population and a big budget deficit. WEF says: "High-quality research institutions and company spending on R&D, coupled with an excellent availability of scientists and engineers, contribute to the country’s overall highly innovative environment. Yet Japan’s innovation prowess seems to be eroding: consistently ranked in the top 5 between 2007 and 2015, Japan loses three positions and now ranks 8th."
