The Global Innovation Index 2015 has been released, with Ireland climbing three places from 11th (2014) to 8th.

The Global Innovation Index (GII), released for the first time in 2007, has swiftly become a widely used metric for assessing the state of innovation in various countries.

Since 2007, Ireland’s ranking has climbed steadily from 21st, breaking the top 10 in 2012 before dipping to 11th last year.

This year sees Ireland breaking the top 10 again, leapfrogging to 8th place.

Joining Ireland in the top 10 are Switzerland (1st, with the highest possible score), the UK (2nd), Sweden (3rd), Netherlands (4th), the US (5th), Finland (6th), Singapore (7th), Luxembourg (9th) and Denmark (10th). Europe, in fact, has a particularly strong showing, not only in the top 10 but in the top 25. This has prompted Johan Aurik, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Board at AT Kearney – a global management consulting firm that contributed to the Index – to call for improvements to regulations and legislation that could support innovation down the line.

The GII is co-published by Cornell Universtiy, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). It surveys 141 economies and uses 79 indicators to determine rankings.

Source: siliconrepublic.com