PH up 4 notches to 50th place in 2020 Global Innovation Index

MANILA— The Philippines now ranks 50th in the Global Innovation Index (GII), up 4 notches from its ranking in 2019, the Department of Science and Innovation (DOST) revealed Wednesday night.

The GII ranks 131 world economies based on ingenious capabilities. The development inputs and outputs are being considered in the GII.

In a declaration, DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said that in spite of the pandemic, the nation was able to show that innovation through research and advancement (R&D) “is the essential to survival and success in the new environment”.

In the very same declaration, Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara stated, “With the high marks achieved by our nation in the latest GII, R&D provides us the opportunity to alter and mold the shape of our nation’s recovery from the pandemic.”

Both de la Peña and Guevara have highlighted that DOST’s primary strategy, the Science for Modification Program (S4CP), determines the locations that need improved R&D financial investments and innovations.

The S4CP “supplies an enabling platform where government, academic, and industry players in the nation jointly pursue market-oriented research that directly attends to the needs of particular sectors,” Guevara said.

According to the DOST, the Philippines’ Innovation Input ranking reached 70 in 2020, from its previous ranking of 76 in 2019 and 86 in 2018. The country’s Development Output ranking, on the other hand, is 41 in 2020, from 42 in 2019 and 68 in 2018.

The DOST associated the improved rankings to investment in R&D, enhancing human resources, and the facility of proving ground and labs.

In 2019, the Philippines’ ranking (54th) in the GII was up 19 notches from its previous ranking of 73 in 2018 and 2017.

A virtual presser is arranged on Friday to further go over the 2020 GII ranking, de la Peña said.

This year’s GII is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. (PNA)