Brazil sees minor improvement in Global Innovation Index | ZDNet

Brazil has achieved an improvement in the latest Global Innovation Index however it is still lagging behind other Latin American nations such as Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica.

In this year’s index, compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in partnership with Cornell University and Insead, Brazil appears in the 62nd position.

The latest result is an improvement of four positions in relation to last year’s report: in 2019, Brazil ranked 66th in the index. However, the country is still far from 47th place achieved in 2011.

The Brazilian Confederation of Industry, one of the partners of the GII, welcomed the improvement in relation to 2019 while arguing that the current standing of Brazil in the ranking is incompatible with the fact it is the world’s eighth-largest economy.

Commenting on Brazil’s shortcomings and potential areas of improvement, the president at the Brazilian Confederation of Industry, Robson Braga de Andrade, noted that the country “remains in a position below its potential.”

“Brazil needs to work on innovation financing, strengthen partnerships between the government, the private sector and academia, structure long-term innovation policies and prioritize training prioritize the training of skilled professionals”, Andrade said.

Regionally, Brazil emerged as fourth in the list of 37 countries cited in the GII, behind Chile, ranked 54th, followed by Mexico (55th) and Costa Rica (56th). Switzerland, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Singapore and South Korea are the leading countries in this year’s GII.

In November 2019, Brazil started the process of creating a National Innovation Policy, with the launch of a public consultation. The policy, which is yet to be approved and implemented, is intended to foster the development of new technologies focused on improving the economy and delivery of public services.

The plan is intended to focus on areas such as expanding research infrastructure, streamlining the patenting process and encouraging open scientific knowledge available on digital platforms.

In addition, it will also look into ways to support the creation and development of startups, foster the ecosystem of Brazilian creators and developers, as well as more private sector investment in research and development.