Earlier this year Bloomberg released its 2017 Innovation Index report which considers 7 business factors that are indicative of a nation’s innovative spirit. This year’s report revealed that both the U.S. and Israel ranked in the top 10 most innovative nations!
The particular factors of the 7 that Israel most stood out in pertain to the area of Research and Development (R&D). The Jewish State ranked #1 in the “Research Concentration Category” --which considers the amount of professionals per million engaged in R&D research-- and #2 in the “R&D Intensity” Category which measures how much money a nation spends on R&D as a percentage of its GDP.
Further, in the area of “hi-tech density” which measures the amount of domestic hi-tech public companies, Israel ranked #3 right behind the U.S. at #2.
Whereas Israel ranked very high in the three aforementioned areas, Avi Hasson, Economy Ministry’s chief scientist and chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority, shared with the Jerusalem Post that Jewish State intends to improve in the remaining four areas in which it ranked mediocre. These other areas include: “Patent Activity,” “Tertiary Efficiency,” “Manufacturing Value-Added” and “Productivity.”
Hasson stated that Israel intends on improving in these areas by implementing programs that increase productivity through the newly formed Israel Innovation Authority. The chairman explained, ““We want to stay on that podium of medals...But while doing that, we want to pull up the rest of the economy with us. We want to expand what we’re doing successfully in Start-Up Nation to other parts of the economy.”
Story Sources: “Israel Secures Top 10 Ranking...” http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Israel-secures-top-10-ranking-in-2017-Bloomberg-Innovation-Index-478803