A new global ranking from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) identifies 13 countries as leading with factors conducive to innovation. In its inaugural International Innovation Scorecard, CTA identified Finland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, United States, Singapore, Netherlands, Canada, Portugal, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark and New Zealand as the 2018 Innovation Champions. 

The Scorecard identifies critical areas of national policy that spur innovation and reveals the areas in which countries may be stunting their own futures and economic growth.

“Our goal with the International Innovation Scorecard is to evaluate countries from a uniquely American perspective, to determine which countries have the best policies in place to allow innovators to create and introduce new and transformative technologies,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “Innovation is both the heart and the product of the American Dream. Today, more countries than ever see a similar dream within reach and are positioned to realize the benefits of innovation — through both their own nation’s successes and the collective progress of the world. We congratulate all of this year’s Innovation Champions.”

CTA conducted a comparative analysis of 38 countries and the European Union. The Scorecard uses several objective criteria including: whether governments welcome disruptive business models and technologies including the sharing economy and self-driving vehicles; how friendly their tax systems are; how well they protect the environment; and issues of perennial importance such as broadband speed and cost. The Scorecard also gauges countries on diversity; the ratio of female-to-male employees in the workplace in key age demographics; immigrants as a share of the national population; and freedom of thought and expression.

Key findings, ranked by grade, include:

• The most diverse countries are Australia, Canada, Singapore and Sweden

• The countries with the greatest individual and political freedom in the world are Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal

• The countries that have, on average, the fastest and most affordable internet connections are the United Kingdom, Finland, South Korea, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands

• The countries with the most educated workforces are Singapore, Israel, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and New Zealand

• The countries with the most innovation-friendly tax systems are Singapore, China, Panama, Chile, Ireland and Canada

• The countries with the greatest R&D spending as a percentage of GDP are Israel, South Korea, Japan, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and the United States

• The countries with the highest level of entrepreneurial activity are Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United States, Singapore, Ireland and Sweden

• The countries most fully enabling people and companies to test and deploy drone technologies are Australia, Finland, Portugal, Singapore and Sweden

• The countries that allow ridesharing to operate most freely are Finland, Panama, Peru, Poland, Rwanda, South Africa and Mexico

• The countries that allow people and companies to test and deploy self-driving vehicles most widely are Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States

In April, CTA will release the fifth edition of the U.S. Innovation Scorecard which grades all 50 states.

 www.internationalscorecard.com