India Ranked 52nd in Global Innovation Index-2019

• Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal, launched the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2019 in New Delhi, on July 24, 2019.
• India jumped five places to improve its position from 57th last year to 52nd in 2019.
• Referring to GII theme of this year which is Creating Healthy Lives – The Future of Medical Innovation, PiyushGoyal said that Government of India is focusing on not just curative but preventive healthcare where wellness becomes a part of society.
• Switzerland remains number one is the GII index followed by Sweden, the United States of America, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, Singapore, Germany and Israel.

About Global Innovation Index

• The GII rankings are published every year by Cornell University, INSEAD and the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and GII Knowledge Partners.
• This is the 12th edition of the GII rankings of 129 economies based on 80 indicators ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending and scientific and technical publications.
• During the last few years innovation has become central to the Government of India’s economic policy. This is now paying off with India’s rising performance in the GII. India jumped 29 places in five years: India was 81 in 2015, rose to 66^th position in 2016, India was ranked 60^th in GIIin 2017 and in 2018 achieved the 57^th position in the Global Innovation Index.

India’s efforts

• India is consistently among the top in the world on innovation parameters such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), services exports, graduates in science and engineering, the quality of universities and scientific publications, economy-wide investments and creative goods exports.
• India also stands out in the GII ranking of the world’s top science and technology clusters, with Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi featuring among global top 100 clusters.
• In 2016, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion created a high-level Task Force on Innovation to improve India’s innovation system based on the GII metrics. In 2017, the first international consultative exercise was organized to address India-specific data gaps in the GII, and to improve India’s innovation performance. In collaboration with WIPO, the first India innovation index – focusing on ranking Indian states – was conceptualized in 2017 and released a year later.
• At the policy level, India’s Make in India, Start-up India, innovate India and Digital India initiatives were rolled out under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to further leverage India’s innovation performance.
• The partnership between WIPO and the Government of India to refine Indian innovation metrics and sustain India’s innovation agenda has been vital. The DPIIT of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been promoting innovation investments with the aim of fostering long term economic and social development.
• To support this effort and to promote vibrant innovation economies the GII probes and quantifies the state of national innovation ecosystems, including their strengths and weaknesses, thereby providing a critical tool for policy makers across the world.
• DPIIT formulated a comprehensive National Intellectual PropertyRights(IPR)Policyin 2016 that not only stimulates innovation and creativity across sectors but also provides a clear vision regarding IPR issues. DPIIT has in partnership with industry associations conducted IPR awareness programmes in various states, in schools, universities and industries. DPIIT in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has launched an IPR enforcement tool kit for the police. This tool kit aids police officials in dealing with IP crimes, in particular counterfeiting and piracy.
• Judiciary plays a crucial role in strengthening the IP ecosystem and resolving conflicts. DPIIT has conducted sensitization programmes for judges. The Department has also taken various measures to increase transparency and efficiency of IP offices like e-Filing facility of patents and trademark, auto generation for trademark certificates and electronic certificates for patents after grant.
• DPIIT has recruited 458 new technically competent Patent Examiners in various fields of technology in addition to the existing 130. Manpower has been increased in the trademark offices with 57 regular appointments of trademark examiners and 100 more inducted on contractual basis.Patent and trademark rules have been amended, simplified, re-engineered and streamlined so that the process is expedited and pendency of patent applications is brought down.