Greece Scores Low in EU Innovation Scoreboard 2020 Study | GreekReporter.com

Despite making considerable progress in recent years, Greece still lags behind other European Union countries in its performance within the vital arena of innovation.

According to the results of the “European Innovation Scoreboard 2020” study, released on Tuesday, the country currently ranks 20th among 27 other EU member-states. The scoreboard provides a comparative assessment measuring new research undertaken within countries.

The countries are divided into three performance groups, with Greece categorized in the “Moderate Innovators” division along with countries such as Croatia, Italy and Poland.

According to the scoreboard, these nations displayed a low performance score of at least 50 percent of the EU average, ranking higher, however, than the “Modest Innovators” group.

Despite this result, Greece has shown an impressive 20 percent improvement in this category between 2012 and 2019, scoring 76.7 percent of the EU average in the year of 2019 alone.

This progress stems from the country’s enhanced performance in sectors of low added value, with many Greek enterprises adopting locally-created, new-to-market innovations in order to promote competition and growth.

The European Innovation Scoreboard allows policymakers to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of innovation systems. By tracking progress and referring to national research, specific sectors can be identified and given priority in order to boost innovation.

A more comprehensive report of the 2020 Scoreboard can be found at the European Commission website, here.