A BRIGHT light shines for the Philippines this year as it moved four ranks to 50 in the 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII), from 54th in 2019, and 73rd in 2018, among the 131 economies in the world, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) reported through a webinar on Wednesday.
“The country’s latest performance in the GII is a testament to its continuous commitment to innovation since 2014 when it ranked 100th place. The Philippines moved up by 50 notches in just six years,” Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña said.
The Philippines, together with three other economies—China, Vietnam and India—has made the most significant progress in the GII innovation ranking over time, de la Peña said.
Compared to other economies in Southeast Asia, the Philippines performed above average in two of the seven GII pillars: Business sophistication, and Knowledge and technology outputs.
“The latest GII ranking of the Philippines is a great source of hope and inspiration for all Filipinos who are facing uncertainties in the midst of the current pandemic. We look forward to sustain this momentum through future projects and collaborations among various stakeholders. This milestone has shown that doing and applying science for the people’s good is a good strategy and mission,” de la Peña said.
For her part, DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said the budget of research and development in the country today “is not that high.”
In fact, in the last four years, R&D budget has increased to about 10 percent only, Guevara said.
“But, the beautiful thing is that in the [GII], in terms of Innovation Inputs, we are number 70, meaning to say, we have climbed up already in the Input side. But the more beautiful thing is that, we are number 41 in terms of Innovation Output. Meaning to say, Filipinos are efficient innovators. We have more output even with less input,” Guevara explained.
The GII rankings are determined based on seven pillars, namely, Creative Outputs, Institutions, Human Capital & Research, Infrastructure, Market Sophistication, Business Sophistication, and Knowledge & Technology Outputs.
Among the 29 economies that belong to the lower middle-income countries, the Philippines managed to reach the 4th place and ranks 11th among the 17 economies in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania, de la Peña reported.
The Philippines stands out for the innovativeness of its business sector and the innovation outcomes produced by its investments, with levels of outcomes that remain even above some high-income economies.
The country is also considered to be well integrated into global trade, ranking first in high-technology imports, third in high-technology exports, 8th in information and communications technology (ICT) services exports and 10th in creative goods exports.
Among its highest-ranking indicators, its productivity growth ranks 6th. It ranks 7th in terms of firms offering formal training, and 8th in terms of registered utility models by origin, de la Peña said.
The DOST has strongly supported the growth of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through projects like the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), making them highly competitive even on the global stage.
It has prioritized initiatives that are proven to be extremely useful during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as locally developed test kits, biomedical devices, disease model, and other useful apps.
The country’s ranking in university/industry research collaboration is in the upper 25 percent of the GII 2020.
It ranked eighth in utility models by origin and this is consistent with the exponential increase in intellectual property (IP) applications and technology transfer supported by DOST, and this can partly be traced to the significant increase in IP applications.
De la Peña said the improvement in the country’s GII ranking is important because it “helps place innovation firmly on the policy map of economies and can guide leaders in incorporating scientific innovation as part of their economic strategies.”
Image credits: DOST Caraga