Global Innovation Index 2014: Switzerland, UK and Sweden Lead Rankings with Encouraging Signs from Sub-Saharan Africa; Human Factor Powers Innovation

SYDNEY, July 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Sweden topped this year's Global Innovation Index, while Sub-Saharan Africa posted significant regional improvement in the annual rankings published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

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Amid a newly documented slowdown in the growth of global research and development, the theme of the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2014 is "The Human Factor in Innovation," exploring the role of human capital in the innovation process and underlining the growing interest that firms and governments have shown in identifying and energizing creative individuals and teams.

For this year's GII launch, Australia's Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane joined authors of the report and its partners in Sydney at a gathering of international business leaders (known as B20) which is part of Australia's preparations to host the annual Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders Summit on November 15-16, 2014.

"Launching the GII in the run-up to the G20 hosted by the Australian Government and as its first launch in the Asia-Pacific region reflects the uniqueness of the GII as tool for measuring and improving innovation performance," said Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He added "It recognizes the centrality of innovation for a job-rich, strong, sustainable and balanced growth path -- as envisioned by the G20 leadership."

The GII 2014 surveys 143 economies, and is now a leading benchmarking tool for those seeking insight into the state of innovation around the world. This year's study benefits from the experience of its Knowledge Partners: the Confederation of Indian Industry, du and Huawei, as well as of an Advisory Board of 14 international experts.

Top Rankings

For the GII 2014, Switzerland remains the leader for the fourth consecutive year. The United Kingdom moves up a rank to second place, followed by Sweden. A new entry into the top 10 this year is Luxembourg (9).

Media contacts: Samar Shamoon Email:samar.shamoon@wipo.int, Edward Harris: +41223387224 edward.harris@wipo.int

For a full list of global media contacts: visit the multimedia news release.

SOURCE The World Intellectual Property Organization