Innovation originates in the ability to think radically and be able to connect elements, seemingly unrelated to each other, coming from different sectors and disciplines, in order to generate New Ideas with significant Added Value.
Tracking the most recent global innovation trends, the GΙΙ finds that innovation investment slowed in 2023, in marked contrast to previous years, making the prospect for 2024/2025 remarkably uncertain.
However, the outlook is not entirely cloudy. Technological progress and adoption in fields as diverse as supercomputing, connectivity, health, sanitation and green technologies continues unabated.
You can see the world map ranking HERE
The Pillars of Innovation
Overall scores in the GII are based on seven (7) underlying innovation pillars, which altogether comprise 78 individual indicators:
- Institutions
- Human Capital and Research
- Infrastructure
- Market Sophistication
- Business Sophistication
- Knowledge & Technology Outputs
- Creative Outputs
The 2024 edition focuses on social entrepreneurship, a model gaining prominence for its role in spearheading innovation, aimed at addressing critical societal challenges. In recent years, an increasing cohort of entrepreneurs has embarked upon ventures that not only strive to achieve meaningful social impact, but also to be sustainable through market-based mechanisms. This innovative paradigm presents novel solutions in domains where traditional commercial enterprises have failed
The Full Report, which you can read HERE, provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of global innovation, revealing a complex landscape subject to economic, geopolitical and technological factors. Findings serve to highlight progress, as well as challenges across four (4) key stages of the innovation cycle: science and innovation investment, technological progress, technology adoption, and the socioeconomic impact of innovation.
In conclusion, while global innovation has remained resilient over the past few years, it faces significant economic and geopolitical headwinds. Despite continued technological progress and growing technology adoption, achieving socioeconomic progress remains a challenge.
The path forward requires sustained investment, the enhanced adoption of breakthrough technologies, and comprehensive strategies to harness innovation for socioeconomic and environmental benefit.
The outlook for 2024 and 2025 remains uncertain, necessitating vigilant monitoring and adaptive strategies to navigate the evolving global landscape.
About the author Dionysis Dasopoulos is a Chemical Engineer, graduated from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and holds an M.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering & Management, from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). He excels at creating sustainable change in process modeling and strategic project management, while aligning social impact with innovative business models. For the last 4 years he works at Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen and has developed skills in business development, R&D innovation, performance management, operational excellence, design optimization and supply chain analytics, applied in real time business challenges.