 "From local to global: India's innovation journey and Global Innovation Index 2024")
Innovation is now the bedrock of global economic development, where countries invest heavily in innovation, research, technology, and entrepreneurship. The Global Innovation Index (GII), released by the UN specialised agency World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and a comprehensive measure of the innovation ecosystem in over 130 global economies, emerges at this point to reflect that innovation is gaining importance in shaping both economic and social prosperity. Innovations are seen as unlocking the promise of social entrepreneurship — thematically titled in the 2024 edition.
For India, ranked 39th globally, innovation is not just a buzzword — it’s a strategic necessity. There is also a rapidly expanding knowledge-based economy — a development that has catapulted India into the top tier of lower-middle-income countries with remarkable growth in innovation outputs in the last decade. Compared to its large emerging economy peers—including China, Brazil, and South Africa — India has been steadily improving.
Decoding Global Innovation Index 2024
The Global Innovation Index 2024 report by the WIPO and the Portulans Institute is based on 81 indicators classified into seven pillars: institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, knowledge and technology outputs, and creative outputs.
GII 2024 leaders in terms of mature innovation ecosystems are Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States. Three countries have done well on very strong research and development (R&D) spending and prestigious education institutions. China is in very strong momentum, and placed at rank 11, which proves that China is the only middle-income economy ranked among the top 30. And both Malaysia placed at rank 33 and Turkey placed at rank 37 are some decent representatives from the upper-middle-income group.
India’s tryst with Innovation in GII 2024: Comparative Scanner
India moves further up in the GII and positions itself at 39th in 2024. However, it is the innovation leader within the lower-middle-income economies. Its rise puts it ahead of regional and income group competitors Vietnam (44th) and the Philippines (53rd); it now joins Brazil and South Africa as the largest three players in the category.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSome key messages which can be outlined from India’s ranking in GII 2024 are:
Market Sophistication: India did very well regarding market sophistication, primarily driven by access to venture capital and a thriving start-up ecosystem. Compared to other economies with an upsurge in start-ups, such as Brazil (50th) and Mexico (56th), these countries are falling back and are not attracting as much global capital.
Human Capital and Research: Investments in human capital in India, especially in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas have helped enhance its ranking. It is fortunate to have IITs and IIMs that put it in the league of China to produce higher skills. However, it ranks way behind its competitors China at 11th and South Korea at 6th in terms of spending on research and development, which handicaps the country in completely tapping its intellectual capacities.
Knowledge and Technology Outputs: India leads the global list for Information and Communication Technology services exports and thus plays a more significant role as a technology outsourcing leader. There are still stages behind countries like Vietnam and Indonesia (54th) whose IT sectors develop. India thus remains to be wrung by China’s aggressive investment in high-tech manufacturing which today situates it at the forefront of global technological advancement.
Creative Industries: India is doing great in creative industries, particularly media and entertainment. This happens to be the sector in which it competes with emerging as well as developed economies. If compared to South Korea, known for its cultural exports through K-pop and films, it would be easy to understand that a growing presence of India in cinema, music, and art would make it a great contender in the global creative economy.
Deeping Dive into Comparative Insights: India vs Global Peers
While India’s trends are appreciable, its trend vis-à-vis other middle-income countries seems not so impressive.
1. China (11th) vs India (39th)
Relative spending on R&D: The country is spending much more in R&D expenditure, with the figure in excess of 2.4 per cent of the GDP. In comparison, India lags behind at 0.65 per cent only. With a whopping margin, China tops over India when it comes to patents and scientific publications, which constitutes stronger innovation outputs.
High-Tech Manufacturing: China enjoys tremendous strength in electronics as well as AI, while India remains much more reliant on software export services.
2. Vietnam (44th) vs India (39th)
Human Capital: Vietnam is developing very rapidly over the past few years, especially in the areas of STEM education and attracting FDI in high-tech manufacturing. India’s talent pool and reputation globally in software development are still enormous pluses for this country.
Technology Export: While India does continue to outstrip Vietnam in the areas of ICT services, she outstrips a significantly larger volume in software and technology solutions.
3. Brazil (50) vs India (39th)
Innovation investment: While Brazil has shown growth in green technologies and biotechnology in the innovation ecosystem, it lags India regarding market sophistication and business sophistication. India’s strong start-up ecosystem and better access to venture capital offer it more avenues to make good strides.
Knowledge Outputs: India can boast a leadership role in knowledge outputs because of the research developed for scientific purposes as well as the software output, whereas Brazil is still in the process of developing its ecosystems in high-tech industries.
Major Innovation Boosters
The case of India in the GII rankings is also illustrative in many ways: Indian improvement in ranking can be largely attributed to a string of structural reforms and innovations aimed at fostering innovation, such as:
Start-up India Initiative: The Start-up India initiative of the Government of India is being taken to the forefront of global start-ups. The platform of Start-up India Investor Connect connects start-ups with potential investors to facilitate ease of investment through AI enabled matchmaking. Brazil and Mexico are growing their start-up ecosystems but not to such an international level of recognition or capital inflows as India.
Digital India Program: Compared to peers Indonesia and Vietnam, massive infrastructural programs that aimed at digitalisation in India have significantly improved access to the internet, digital literacy, and e-governance and differentiated India’s adoption in technology.
Make in India: India could see high-tech manufacturing and industrial growth, especially in the electronics and automobile sectors, and is better positioned to create itself as against Malaysia (33) as well as Turkey (37) where the manufacturing base is also growing. Very recently this initiative which was launched on September 25, 2014 completed its 10th anniversary.
Challenges before India’s Innovation Ecosystem
Despite this excellent performance, India still has issues on the journey to innovation:
R&D Investment: Compared with China and South Korea, India’s R&D expenditure is relatively low, which limits the capability of cutting-edge innovation. Increased investment in R&D, especially by the private sector, would be inevitable to maintain and expand the Indian advantage.
Infrastructure Parity: While the prime cities across the world like Bangalore and Delhi serve as international hubs of innovation, the rural sectors in India seem a long way off from achieving parity in terms of infrastructure and access to innovation resources. If one compares such organisations to those in South Korea, which have a much more even trend of innovation across different regions, then such kinds of infrastructure disparity are only going to hinder inclusive growth.
Intellectual Property Protection Framework: India’s Intellectual Property (IP) laws are still not comparable with the rest of the world. To a large extent, it continues to be behind the rest of the world and peers like China and South Korea. This is crucial because its ability to strengthen its IP protection will encourage more indigenous innovation and foreign investment.
Policy Recommendations
To take innovation capacity further and to climb higher up the GII rankings, India should examine the following areas:
Boost R&D Spending: India has to invest very seriously in research and development, particularly in high-tech areas. It spends much less on R and D compared to South Korea and China. India should bridge this gap quickly to stay ahead of the bandwagon.
Strengthen the IPR System: Strengthening IP legislations can spur more patent filings and scientific research and innovation, especially in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology-the sectors where global peers Brazil and China have made significant strides.
Promote Regional Innovation: This would encompass bridging the innovation gap in urban India and rural India. India could look toward Vietnam for insights into what has been undertaken in regional innovation hubs.
Conclusion
India has been steadily rising on the GII rankings and is likely to play a leadership role in these segments globally: ICT services, creative industries, and high-tech manufacturing. In order to continue such growth, gaps within R&D spending, physical infrastructure, and intellectual property protection would need to be closed.
While countries like China and South Korea continue to surpass India in the aggregate, its dynamic market sophistication, talent pool, and start-up ecosystem give India the base it needs to compete on the global level. Using public-private partnerships (PPP) for increasing R&D investments and developing social entrepreneurship can truly open India’s gates to innovation and propel it further on the global innovation ladder.
The author is Lead Researcher at Asian Centre for Human Rights. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
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