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A BRIGHT light is shining on the Philippines this year as it rose from four spots to 50 in the 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII), from 54th in 2019 to 73rd in 2018, among the world’s 131 economies, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) reported via webinar on Wednesday.
“The country’s latest performance in the GII is a testament to its continued commitment to innovation since 2014, when it ranked 100. The Philippines rose 50 points in just six years,” said Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña.
The Philippines, along with three other economies, China, Vietnam and India, have made the most significant progress in the GII innovation rankings over time, de la Peña said.
Compared to other Southeast Asian economies, the Philippines performed above average on two of the seven pillars of the GII: business sophistication and knowledge and technology outcomes.
“The latest GII ranking of the Philippines is a great source of hope and inspiration for all Filipinos facing uncertainties amid the current pandemic. We look forward to maintaining this momentum through future projects and multi-stakeholder collaborations. This milestone has shown that doing science and applying it for the good of the people is a good strategy and mission, ”said de la Peña.
For her part, the Undersecretary of DOST, Rowena Guevara, said that the research and development budget in the country today “is not that high.”
In fact, in the last four years, the R&D budget has increased to around 10 percent only, Guevara said.
“But, the beautiful thing is that in the [GII]In terms of Innovation Inputs, we are number 70, that is, we have already risen on the Input side. But the most beautiful thing is that we are number 41 in terms of innovation production. In other words, Filipinos are efficient innovators. We have more production even with less inputs ”, explained Guevara.
GII rankings are determined based on seven pillars, namely creative products, institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, and knowledge and technology outcomes.
Among the 29 economies that belong to lower-middle-income countries, the Philippines managed to reach the fourth place and ranks 11th among the 17 economies of Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania, reported de la Peña.
The Philippines stands out for the innovation of its business sector and the innovation results produced by its investments, with performance levels that remain even above some high-income economies.
The country is also considered to be well integrated in world trade, ranking first in high-tech imports, third in high-tech exports, eighth in information and communications technology (ICT) services exports, and tenth in exports of creative goods.
Among its highest ranking indicators, its productivity growth ranks sixth. It ranks seventh in terms of firms offering formal training and eighth in terms of utility models registered by origin, de la Peña said.
DOST has strongly supported the growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through projects such as the Small Business Technology Update Program (SETUP), making them highly competitive even on the global stage.
It has prioritized initiatives that have proven extremely useful during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as locally developed test kits, biomedical devices, disease models, and other useful applications.
The country’s ranking for research collaboration across universities and industries is in the top 25 percent of the 2020 GII.
It ranked eighth in utility models by origin and this is consistent with the exponential increase in DOST-supported intellectual property (IP) applications and technology transfer, and this can be attributed in part to the significant increase in applications of IP.
De la Peña said that the improvement in the country’s GII ranking is important because “it helps to place innovation firmly on the policy map of economies and can guide leaders in incorporating scientific innovation as part of their strategies. economic ”.
