JRC Supports the World Intellectual Property Organization for monitoring global innovation

The JRC was invited for the eighth consecutive year by Cornell University, INSEAD business school and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to audit the Global Innovation Index (GII).

The JRC’s independent statistical assessment guarantees the transparency and reliability of the index helping policy makers, managers and experts around the world derive sound, evidence-based conclusions.

“Tool for action” for decision makers

Now in its 2^nd decade, the GII has become an authoritative “tool for action” for decision makers, leading to the improvement of innovation metrics, the removal of obstacles to innovation and boosting competitiveness, growth and job creation.

The GII 2018 provides detailed metrics about the innovative landscape of 126 countries and economies around the world. Its 80 indicators explore a broad vision of innovation, including political environment, education, infrastructure, and business sophistication.

Thematic focus

Additionally to country rankings, each GII Report comes with a thematic focus. The GII 2018 offers different perspectives on innovation in the energy sector, highlighting the increasing global need for clean, sustainable energy supply.

JRC recommendations to GII developers over the past years have contributed to the methodological refinement of the index and the measurement framework in an iterative process, ensuring that the GII meets international quality standards.

As in previous editions, the JRC statistical audit (Annex 3 of the GII Report) focuses on the statistical soundness of the multi-level structure of the index and on the impact of key modelling assumptions on the results.

Complementing country rankings

The JRC analysis complements country rankings with confidence intervals in order to better appreciate their robustness to the computation methodology. This year’s audit also discussed the Innovation Efficiency Ratios, and the caution needed with respect to taking these rankings at face value.

The JRC analysis also includes an assessment of the added value of the GII and a measure of the distance to the efficient frontier of innovation by using data envelopment analysis.

Each year, the launch of the GII is prominently featured in the global media, and the index continues to attract over a million web hits.

The GII 2018 is launched in New York at the Cornell Tech Campus on July 10 by the Director General of WIPO Francis Gurry and the Dean and Vice Provost of Cornell Tech Dan Huttenlocher.