India slips 10 places in innovation rankings; worst among BRICS nations

India has been the worst performer among BRICS nations in an annual index which measures innovation in various countries.

While the other members of the grouping of large emerging economies all improved their rankings in the 2014 Global Innovation Index (GII) — Russia by as many as 13 positions to reach 49th — India slipped 10 places compared to last year, placing 76th. The GII surveys 143 economies around the world, using 81 indicators, to gauge both their innovation capabilities and measurable results.

Released annually since 2007, the GII is published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

This year’s study was also researched by the Confederation of Indian Industry, telecom firm du and Huawei, as well as of an advisory board of 14 international experts. Switzerland, the UK and Sweden topped this year’s Global Innovation Index, while Sub-Saharan Africa posted significant regional improvement in the annual rankings.

Launching the report at the ongoing G20 Summit in Sydney, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said the index “recognises the centrality of innovation for a job-rich, strong, sustainable and balanced growth path — as envisioned by the G20 leadership.”

Asked to comment on India’s slide — this is the second year in a row that India has slid down the rankings — Gurry cautioned that while the index does tend to be biased against “large, diverse economies”, policymakers needed to take note of the issues highlighted in the report.

Authoring a special chapter on India focused on higher education, Naushad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall and a visiting faculty at Stanford University, noted that a critical deterrent to innovation is India’s higher education system. While it had shown rapid growth over the past three decades, Forbes said this has been concentrated in the private sector, and focussed mainly in a few professional fields like engineering and management, while the humanities and sciences have suffered.

The report also says that the growth has been in teaching, rather than research, with research being concentrated in autonomous institutes and private sector R&D, rather than in universities. “India now faces the following challenges: the need to ensure quality, to build graduate education and research universities, to provide equity of access, and to build excellent liberal arts universities,” Forbes said in the report .

The writer is in Sydney at the invitation of the Australian Government.

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