According to Søren Harnow Klausen, innovation can be defined as a process in which we can verify an intentional production of something new and fairly immediately useful to a person or a larger group. The word innovation comes from the Latin word innovare that merely means “to renew” or “to change”, it explains that the process of innovation is not restricted to the creation of new products, but also could be applied to business models, procedures, forms of communication, etc.
Correspondingly, the main characteristic of innovation is that it must be “useful” to solve an existing problem or demand.
For measuring how much and in which way each country is contributing to the economic and sustainable development, the EU has launched the annual European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), which provides a comparative assessment of the research and innovation performance of the EU Member States and selected third countries, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of their research and innovation systems. It helps countries assess areas in which they need to concentrate their efforts to boost their innovation performance.
The EIS 2021 report is the first edition published using the revised measurement framework including new indicators capturing digitalisation and sustainable innovation. Based on their average performance scores as calculated by a composite indicator, the Summary Innovation Index, Member States fall into four different performance groups.
In conclusion, the report shows the key drivers of innovation. A country to increase the level of innovation needs an appropriate level of public and private investment in education, research and skills development, effective innovation partnerships among companies and with academia, as well as an innovation-friendly business environment, including strong digital infrastructure and skills.
The EIS 2021 distinguishes between four main types of activities capturing in total 32 indicators:
In this year’s edition, the EIS indicates that Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are Innovation Leaders. Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are Strong Innovators. The performance of Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain is below the EU average. These countries are Moderate Innovators. Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are Emerging Innovators with performance well below the EU average.
In conclusion, the report shows the key drivers of innovation. A country to increase the level of innovation needs an appropriate level of public and private investment in education, research and skills development, effective innovation partnerships among companies and with academia, as well as an innovation-friendly business environment, including strong digital infrastructure and skills.