Innovation Friendliness rank: Scandinavia and Singapore at the top

Innovation Scorecard map 2019 Source: CTA

Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Singapore were announced to be Innovation Champions along with others 12 countries by Consumer Technology Association (CTA) in the 2019 rankings.

The rest in the top are Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The CTA ranks the countries by considering the openness for new innovation, technology and policy. For example, Singapore was the first country to test self-driving taxis.

According to CTA, the new Innovation Champions include first-time honorees Germany and Israel. Germany climbed into the highest tier because of new business growth, widespread telecommunications and online services. In Israel, over half (51.5 percent) of its workforce is employed in high-skilled jobs.

While three former Innovation Champions dropped in the 2019 rankings. Austria’s top individual tax rate of 55 percent, the Czech Republic’s 15 percent year-over-year decline in R&D investment and Portugal’s decision to pressure short-term rental websites to share their data with the government moved them down to Innovation Leaders this year.

About Nilobon Bantoey

Journalist • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok Thailand

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