Swiss regions dominate European peers and Europe overall improves in latest Innovation Scoreboard rankings.
In the latest ranking of European countries and of European regions, the results are encouraging both for the EU and for Switzerland’s regions. The innovation performance of the EU has improved overall, and, compared to its global competitors, the EU has surpassed the United States. China is however notably catching up fast to the EU, improving its innovative capacity three times faster than the latter.
Switzerland is once more the most innovative country in Europe. Over the past eight years, Switzerland has continually expanded its lead on the relevant metrics. Most impressively, Switzerland dominates the regional rankings. Indeed, six of the top ten innovative European regions are in Switzerland.
The data of the European Innovation Scoreboard and Regional Innovation Scoreboard help EU member states to assess areas on which they perform well and the ones on which they need policy reforms to improve their innovation potential. The Innovation Scoreboard is complemented by the recently published Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) that give economic policy guidance to all EU member states for the next 12 to 18 months. The recommendations include suggestions regarding research and innovation policy.
The innovation scoreboard is composed of ten dimensions measuring the quality of human resources, research systems, innovation collaboration, intellectual assets and the financial and regulatory environment. Switzerland scores especially high in measures of its research system and its human resources, doing exceptionally well in terms of lifelong learning. Private sector investments are also a Swiss strong point, as the report highlights in particular the extensive ICT training provided to employees as well as the good collaboration between enterprises and research institutes. Zurich was named the most innovative region across Europe as a whole, while Ticino was second.