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PHL climbs a notch up the Global Innovation Index


The Philippines climbed a notch higher in this year's Global Innovation Index (GII), an annual global ranking that assesses the innovation capabilities of 130 countries.

The country placed 73rd this year, up from 74th in 2016, after improvements were noted the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The GII was developed by the Cornell University, INSEAD Business School and World Intellectual Property Organization.

The annual survey takes into account several innovation metrics such as patent filings and spending on education.

"New Asian Tigers – such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam – are merging too, and they increasingly join not only Asian high-tech value chains but also other activities such as ICT offshoring," the GII 2017 report read.

Indonesia ranked 87th, up from 88th in 2016, and Vietnam ranked 47th, up from 59th in 2016.

"Although Singapore is still uncontested as number 1 among the smaller or emerging Asian economies, countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand are rapidly catching up," the report read.

Singapore is currently ranked 7th globally, a notch lower from 6th in 2016.

This year's GII was topped by Switzerland, followed by Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Rounding up the top 10 are Denmark, Singapore, Finland, Germany and Ireland.

"Next to innovation powerhouses such as China (22), Japan (14), and the Republic of Korea (11), a group of Asian economies including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam are actively working to improve their innovation ecosystems and rank high in a number of important indicators related to education, R&D, productivity growth, high-tech exports, among others," the report read.

It noted, however, that the Philippines must improve in research and development, as well as patenting levels.

"The newly emerging Asian economies, such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, still experience low R&D and low resident patenting levels," the report said.

"As a result, the potential of intra-regional innovation networks in Asia is far from fully utilized," it added. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News

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