By Dhel Nazario and Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
The Philippines got its best rank ever when it climbed to 50th spot among 131 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII), after ranking 100th six years ago, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) disclosed Wednesday.
DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Pena said that the agency considers this as major news because it is a testament that DOST’s efforts in spearheading science, technology, and innovation are bearing fruits.
Moving up four notches from 54th in 2019 and scaling up by 23 steps from the 73rd ranking in 2018; the GII report shared that the Philippines performed on innovation above expectations for its level of economic development for the second consecutive year.
The Philippines scored high in all the seven innovation GII pillars – institutions, creative outputs, knowledge and technology outputs, business sophistication, creative inputs, infrastructure, market sophistication, and human capital and research.
Among the seven GII pillars, the Philippines performed best in knowledge and technology outputs.
The country ranked 41st in terms of innovation outputs from 42nd in 2019 and 68th in 2018. Also, this year, the Philippines jumped to 70th in innovation inputs, from 76th in 2019; and 82nd in 2018.
PH’s strength
Specifically, its strengths lie on knowledge absorption (7), knowledge and tech outputs (26), UMS by origin (8), knowledge diffusion (8).
Its weaknesses are in education (114), expenditure on education (106), GERD (percentage of expenditure on R&D) financed by abroad (91) and scientific and technical articles (125).
The Philippines also ranked 4th among the 29 lower middle-income group economies.
Notably, the country ranked 11th among 17th economies in South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
Together with other economies China, India and Vietnam, the Philippines has made the most significant progress in the GII innovation ranking over time.
It also stands out for the innovativeness of its business sector.
The Philippines produce more innovation outputs relative to its level of innovation investments. It is an efficient innovator. It was also ranked higher at 19th on e-commerce.
The Philippines is also well integrated into global trade, ranking first in high-technology imports, 3rd in high technology exports, 8th in ICT services exports and 10th in Creative goods exports.
Among its highest-ranking indicators, productivity growth ranked 6th; firms offering formal training 7th; and utility models by origin ranked 8th globally.
Its innovation profile also topped 25 rankings for indicators such as graduates in science and engineering, Market capitalization, Research talent in business enterprises and High-technology manufacturing.
The ranking helps place innovation firmly on the policy map of economies and can guide leaders in incorporating scientific innovation as part of their
economic strategies.
The GII ranks world economies according to their innovation capabilities and provides rich analysis referencing around 130 economies.
Over the last decade, the GII has established itself as both a leading reference on innovation and as a “tool for action” for economies that incorporate the GII into their innovation agenda.
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.
The Philippines, together with other three economies (China, Vietnam and India), has made the most significant progress in the GII innovation ranking over time. Compared to other economies in Southeast Asia, the Philippines performs above average in two of the seven GII pillars: Business sophistication and Knowledge & technology outputs.
DOST's role
The DOST has strongly supported the growth of our micro, small, & medium enterprises (MSMEs) through projects like the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), making them highly competitive even on the global stage. The department has prioritized initiatives that are proven to be extremely useful during the COVID-19 pandemic such as locally-developed test kits, biomedical devices, disease models, and other useful apps.