The Alpine country scored best in all seven indicators used to compile the ranking. “Switzerland’s strengths are in attractive research systems, human resources and intellectual assets. The top-3 indicators include international scientific co-publications, foreign doctorate students, and lifelong learning,” said the European Innovation Scoreboard 2021External link, which was published on Monday.
“Most recently innovation performance has declined, mostly due to reduced performance for government support for business R&D, employment in knowledge-intensive activities, knowledge-intensive services exports, and environment-related technologies.”
The report pointed to continued convergence within the EU, with lower-performing countries growing faster than higher-performing ones, therefore closing the innovation gap among them. As a result, the difference between the EU and Switzerland in terms of innovative strength has narrowed.
Strengths and weaknesses
In addition to Switzerland, other “innovation leaders” are Sweden, followed by Finland, Denmark and Belgium. Iceland, Israel, Norway and the United Kingdom are described as “strong innovators”. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine are so-called emerging innovators.
According to the report, Stockholm (Sweden) is the most innovative region in Europe, followed by Etelä-Suomi (Finland) and Upper Bavaria (Germany). Hovedstaden (Denmark) ranks fourth and Zurich (Switzerland) fifth.
The European Innovation Scoreboard compares innovation performance in EU countries, other European countries and regional neighbours. It assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of national innovation systems. The European Innovation Scoreboard was first published in 2001.
More
More
‘Switzerland could lose competitiveness in research and innovation’
This content was published on
The abrupt end to negotiations over a framework agreement with the European Union will affect Swiss scientific research and university exchanges.
Swiss Solidarity raises CHF17 million for landslide-hit Blatten
This content was published on
The fundraiser Swiss Solidarity has received donations of CHF17 million for the Valais village buried by a landslide on May 28.
Ruag reaches deal with German firm on 25 disputed Leopard tanks
This content was published on
The Swiss defence contractor has settled an old dispute with Global Logistics Support (GLS) regarding 25 Leopard 1 tanks.
Swiss Federal Railways launch pilot project for invisible disabilities
This content was published on
The Railways will offer sunflower badges to passengers with non-visible disabilities to help draw attention to their needs.
This content was published on
In 1985, five European states laid the foundations for a common area without border controls. Switzerland joined in 2008.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss start-up companies to receive boost
This content was published on
The state-run Swiss Innovation Agency, Innosuisse, is to play a bigger role in giving start-up companies a competitive edge.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.