This memo provides an overview of the research and innovation performance of the different EU Member States, and associated and neighbouring countries, as measured by the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2011. The Scoreboard is prepared by the Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology (MERIT), in collaboration with the Commission’s in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC).
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What is the Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS)?
The Innovation Union Scoreboard 2011 is the second edition of the Scoreboard following the adoption of the Innovation Union Communication in October 2010. The IUS replaces the European Innovation Scoreboard which was published from 2001 to 2009. It provides a comparative assessment of the research and innovation performance of the EU27 Member States and the relative strengths and weaknesses of their research and innovation systems. In this way, it complements the Europe 2020 Annual Growth Survey and helps Member States assess areas in which they need to concentrate to boost their innovation performance. In addition, the Scoreboard covers Croatia, Serbia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. On a more limited number of indicators available internationally it also covers Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and the US.
What are the main indicators used for the Innovation Union Scoreboard?
The Innovation Union Scoreboard follows the methodology of the previous edition in distinguishing between three main categories of indicators and eight innovation dimensions, capturing a total of 24 different indicators:
Β Β Β “Enablers”, i.e. the basic building blocks which allow innovation to take place (human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, and finance and support);
Β Β Β “Firm activities”, which capture innovation efforts in European firms (Firm investments, Linkages & entrepreneurship, and Intellectual assets); and
Β Β Β “Outputs” which show how this translates into benefits for the economy as a whole (innovators and economic effects)
Who are the innovation leaders in the European Union?
A measure for a country’s innovation performance is provided by the Summary Innovation Index, a composite indicator obtained by an appropriate aggregation of the IUS indicators (see Section 7.1 for a brief explanation of the calculation methodology and the IUS 2010 Methodology report for a more detailed explanation). Based on the Summary Innovation Index, the Member States fall into the following four country groups:
Β Β Β Innovation leaders: Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Finland, all show a performance well above that of the EU27 average.
Β Β Β Innovation followers: Belgium, the UK, Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg, Ireland, France, Slovenia, Cyprus and Estonia all show a performance close to that of the EU27 average.
Β Β Β Moderate innovators: The performance of Italy, Portugal, Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary, Greece, Malta Slovakia and Poland is below that of the EU27 average.
Β Β Β Modest innovators: The performance of Romania, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Latvia, and is well below that of the EU27 average.
What are the main conclusions of the 2011 Research and Innovation Union Scoreboard?
The most innovative countries share a number of strengths in their national research and innovation systems with a key role of business activity and public-private collaboration. While there is not one single way to reach top innovation performance, it is clear that all Innovation leaders, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Finland, perform very well in Business R&D expenditure. Most of the innovation leaders also perform very well in other innovation indicators related to firm activities. Sweden, the most innovative EU Member State, dominates in three innovation dimensions: Human resources, Finance and support, and Firm investments; while Germany and Denmark perform best in two innovation dimensions each.
All of the innovation leaders have higher than average scores in public-private co-publications suggesting good linkages between the science base and enterprises. The most innovative countries also excel in the commercialisation of their technological knowledge, as demonstrated by their good performance on license and patent revenues from abroad.
The overall good performance of the Innovation leaders reflects a balanced national research and innovation system. Both the Innovation leaders as well as the Innovation followers have the smallest variance in their performance across all the 8 innovation dimensions.
While each country has its own specificities, policy responses should attempt not only to address relative weaknesses in national research and innovation systems, but also to have more balanced performances across all categories of indicators.
It is evident that the moderate and modest innovators are characterised by unbalanced research and innovation systems. This is particularly clear in the ‘innovators’ dimension with very low shares of SMEs introducing product or process innovations as well as SMEs introducing marketing and organisational innovations. At the same time, the growth rates of most of the modest and moderate innovators are the highest among the EU27 which indicates a convergence process with Bulgaria as a catching-up leader, followed by and Estonia.
Is there convergence in innovation performance within the EU?
The growth in innovation performance has been calculated for each country and for the EU27 using data over a five-year period. All countries except Luxembourg and the UK show an absolute improvement in their innovation performance over time. On average countries starting with a lower performance level have experienced a faster increase in their performance indicating that between the Member States there is convergence in innovation performance.
How does the EU fare in comparison to its international partners?
A comparison with other European countries shows that Switzerland is the overall Innovation leader continuously outperforming all EU27 Member States. Iceland is part of the Innovation followers, Croatia, Norway and Serbia of the Moderate innovators and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey of the Modest innovators (Figure 2 Β see below).
Comparing the EU27 with a group of major global competitors shows that the US, Japan and South Korea have a performance lead over the EU27 (figure 5 Β see below). This lead has been increasing for South Korea, has remained stable for the US and has been decreasing for Japan. The global innovation leaders US and Japan are particularly dominating the EU27 in indicators capturing business activity and public-private cooperation: ‘R&D expenditure in the business sector’, ‘Public-private co-publications’, ‘License and patent revenues from abroad’ and ‘PCT patent applications’. South Korea which is increasingly outperforming the EU27 is again having its biggest lead in R&D expenditures in the business sector. The US is also clearly dominating the EU in the production of high-impact scientific publications.
The EU27 has a performance lead over Australia, Canada and all BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, figure 5 Β see below). This lead has been increasing compared to Canada, Russia and South Africa, has remained stable to Australia and has been decreasing to Brazil and in particular to China and India. China has been closing the innovation gap to Europe continuously in the last few years.
What are the innovation profiles of individual countries?
Belgium is one of the innovation followers with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems and linkages & entrepreneurship. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, intellectual assets and economic effects.
High growth is observed for community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure and Sales of new products. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Bulgaria is one of the modest innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, firm investments and economics effects. relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and innovators.
High growth is observed for community trademarks and community designs. A relatively strong decline is observed for PCT patent applications in societal challenges. Growth performance in firm investments and intellectual assets is well above average.
Czech Republic is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, innovators and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and Intellectual assets.
High growth is observed for community trademarks and population with a tertiary degree. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and Intellectual assets is above average.
Denmark is one of the innovation leaders with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, linkages & entrepreneurship and Intellectual assets. Relative weaknesses are in human resources, firm investments, innovators and economic effects.
High growth is observed for new doctorate graduates, R&D expenditure in the public sector and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for venture capital and SMEs introducing marketing or organizational innovations. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, linkages & entrepreneurship and intellectual assets is well above average.
Germany is one of the innovation leaders with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in intellectual assets and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and linkages & entrepreneurship.
High growth is observed for community trademarks, license and patent revenues from abroad and international scientific co-publications. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems and intellectual assets is well above average.
Estonia is one of the innovation followers with a close to average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, finance and support, firm investments, linkages & entrepreneurship and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, intellectual assets and economic effects
High growth is observed for community trademarks and community designs. A relatively strong decline is observed for SMEs introducing marketing or organizational innovations. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, firm investments and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Ireland is one of the innovation followers with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in finance and support, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for International scientific co-publications and community designs. A strong decline is observed for SMEs introducing product or process innovations and SMEs collaborating with others. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Greece is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, linkages & entrepreneurship and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in finance and support, firm investments and Intellectual assets.
High growth is observed for community designs. A relatively strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure and knowledge-intensive services exports. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, linkages & entrepreneurship and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Spain is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems (in particular international scientific co-publications) finance and support and economic effects (except on license and patent revenues from abroad). Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, linkages & entrepreneurship and Innovators.
High growth is observed for International scientific co-publications and non-R&D innovation expenditure. The strongest decline is observed for venture capital and community designs. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems and firm investments is well above average.
France is one of the innovation followers with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and finance and support. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure, community trademarks and knowledge-intensive services exports. Growth performance in firm investments and economic effects is well above average.
Italy is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in Intellectual assets and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments and linkages & entrepreneurship.
High growth is observed for new doctorate graduates, non-EU doctoral students and license and patent revenues from abroad. A strong decline is observed for Non-R&D innovation expenditure. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and linkages & entrepreneurship is well above average.
Cyprus is one of the innovation followers with a close to average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, linkages & entrepreneurship and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and Intellectual assets.
High growth is observed for non-EU doctorate students and sales of new products. A strong decline is observed for community designs and license and patent revenues from abroad. growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems and linkages & entrepreneurship is well above average.
Latvia is one of the modest innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, firm investments, Intellectual assets and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, linkages & entrepreneurship and Innovators.
High growth is observed community trademarks and community designs. A strong decline is observed for Innovative SMEs collaborating with others and license and patent revenues from abroad. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Lithuania is one of the modest innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in Human resources and finance and support. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets, innovators and economic effects.
High growth is observed for non-EU doctorate students and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for Innovative SMEs collaborating with others and license and patent revenues from abroad. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Luxembourg is one of the innovation followers with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments and linkages & entrepreneurship.
High growth is observed for International co-publications, most cited publications and R&D expenditure in the public sector. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure and Sales of new products. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Hungary is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for community trademarks and sales of new products. A strong decline is observed for venture capital. Growth performance in human resources, firm investments, Intellectual assets and economic effects is well above average.
Malta is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in Intellectual assets and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, linkages & entrepreneurship and Innovators.
High growth is observed for new doctorate graduates, International scientific co-publications, community trademarks and knowledge-intensive services exports. A strong decline is observed for public-private co-publications and license and patent revenues from abroad. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, Intellectual assets and Innovators is well above average.
The Netherlands is one of the innovation followers with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and Intellectual assets. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments and Innovators.
High growth is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure and community trademarks. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems, firm investments and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Austria is one of the innovation followers with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets. Relative weaknesses are in finance and support and economic effects.
High growth is observed for International scientific co-publications and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for venture capital, SMEs innovating in-house, SMEs collaborating with others, SMEs introducing product or process innovations and SMEs introducing marketing or organisational innovations. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Poland is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, finance and support, firm investments and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for community designs and license and patent revenues from abroad. A relatively strong decline is observed for SMEs innovating in-house and Innovative SMEs collaborating with others. Growth performance in intellectual assets and economic effects is well above average.
Portugal is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, intellectual assets and economic effects.
High growth is observed for R&D expenditure in the business sector, R&D expenditure in the public sector, innovative SMEs collaborating with others, PCT patent applications in societal challenges and community designs. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditures and license and patent revenues from abroad. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems, firm investments and intellectual assets is well above average.
Romania is one of the modest innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, firm investments and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for community trademarks, community designs and license and patent revenues from abroad. Growth performance in finance and support and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Slovenia is one of the innovation followers with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources and linkages & entrepreneurship. Relative weaknesses are in Intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for community trademarks and International scientific co-publications. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Slovakia is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, firm investments, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for new doctorate graduates and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure and license and patent revenues from abroad. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Finland is one of the innovation leaders with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, finance and support and linkages & entrepreneurship. Relative weaknesses are in innovators.
High growth is observed for community trademarks and knowledge-intensive services exports. A relatively strong decline is observed for Innovative SMEs collaborating with others and medium and high-tech product exports. Growth performance in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Sweden is one of the innovation leaders with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources and finance and support. Relative weaknesses are in innovators and economic effects.
High growth is observed for community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for sales of new products. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
The United Kingdom is one of the innovation followers with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and linkages & entrepreneurship. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for Innovative SMEs collaborating with others. A strong decline is observed for sales of new products. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, firm investments and linkages & entrepreneurship is well above average.
Croatia is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, finance and support, innovators and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems and intellectual assets.
High growth is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for PCT patent applications and license and patent revenues from abroad. Growth performance in firm investments is well above average.
Turkey is one of the modest innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, innovators and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in human resources, firm investments and intellectual assets.
High growth is observed for most cited scientific publications, R&D expenditure in the business sector and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for community designs. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and firm investments is well above average.
Iceland is one of the innovation followers with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, firm investments and linkages & entrepreneurship. Relative weaknesses are in human resources and intellectual assets.
High growth is observed for new doctorate students and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for both indicators on PCT patent applications. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and firm investments is well above average.
Norway is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and linkages & entrepreneurship. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, intellectual assets, innovators and economic effects.
High growth is observed for community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for non-R&D innovation expenditure and sales of new products. Growth performance in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems and Intellectual assets is well above average.
Switzerland is one of the innovation leaders with an above average performance.
Relative strengths are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, Intellectual assets and Innovators. Relative weaknesses are in finance and support and linkages & entrepreneurship.
High growth is observed for community trademarks and sales of new products. A relatively strong decline is observed for SMEs innovating in-house and Innovative SMEs collaborating with others. Growth performance in finance and support, firm investments, intellectual assets and economic effects is well above average.
Serbia is one of the moderate innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in firm investments, linkages & entrepreneurship, intellectual assets and Innovators.
High growth is observed for R&D expenditure in the public sector, public-private co-publications, and community trademarks. A strong decline is observed for non-EU doctorate students. Growth performance in finance and support and Intellectual assets is well above average.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is one of the modest innovators with a below average performance.
Relative strengths are in human resources, innovators and economic effects. Relative weaknesses are in open, excellent and attractive research systems, finance and support, linkages & entrepreneurship and Intellectual assets.
High growth is observed for population with completed tertiary education, International scientific co-publications, community trademarks and medium-high and high-tech product exports. A strong decline is observed for Non-EU doctorate students and R&D expenditure in the public sector. Growth performance in human resources, firm investments and economic effects is well above average.
What is its relationship with the Innovation Union Competitiveness Report?
The two reports are complementary in the monitoring of Europe’s research and innovation performance and progress towards the Innovation Union.
The Innovation Union Competitiveness Report is published every two years, with the last edition released in June 2011. It is based on 200 indicators analysing the reasons for, and solutions to, the gaps found in the Innovation Union Scoreboard. It responds to the following two key questions: What are the causes of and remedies for inadequate performance? What strategies can help us reach the objectives?
The Innovation Union Competitiveness Report provides detailed country fiches assessing country specific structural challenges in research and innovation.
Innovation Union Scoreboard 2011 – full report
Source: European Commission
