Thursday, March 9 2023 18:53

ArmInfo. According to the Global Innovation Index 2022, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which is considered one of the most reliable and recognized sources for assessing the innovativeness of the economy, Armenia ranks 80th, having lost 19 points over the previous two years.

It should be noted that WIPO experts analyzed the capabilities of  innovation activity in about 132 economies of the world, while noting  their strengths and weaknesses in this area. The index covers about  80 indicators, including those related to the political situation, education system, infrastructure and knowledge creation in each  country.

According to the ranking, the institutional conditions for the  development of innovations in Armenia (politics - regulations -  business) are in 55th place on average, although the political  environment (82) scores significantly lower than the business  environment (44), while the regulatory environment ranks 54th.

Armenia's weakest performance is in Human capital and research. Human  capital ranks 91st, the education- 85th, the higher education -87th,  and the research and development secto100th.   At the same time, infrastructural development in terms of innovative  growth is in 80th place, market conditions (market difficulties) are  in 85th place, "due to" a weak investment component (98th place).   According to the WIPO ranking, the business opportunities for  innovation development in Armenia are also quite low - 84th place. In  this area, there has been a particular "failure" due to the lack of  links between universities and research activities (R&D). At the same  time, the sector of intellectual property protection completely sank  to 122 places.   Nevertheless, the authors of the study assessed the level of  knowledge and technology in Armenia at a relatively high 71st place,  and put the level of creative output at 73rd place.

As well-known Armenian economist, development director of Ameria  group of companies Tigran Jrbashyan, in turn, noted, commenting on  the index on his Facebook page, it is noteworthy that in 2 years  Armenia lost 17 positions in terms of market complexity, 15 positions  in business complexity, 26 positions in knowledge and technology and  17 positions in creative effectiveness.

However, the economist believes that this situation is caused by the  lack of collected data and outdated information. Thus, according to  WIPO, there were no 11 indicators when compiling the ranking of  Armenia. According to the specialist, this means that in general  there are no problems with receiving data, but in specialized  international organizations they are not updated  (GlobalEntrepreneurshipMonitor, Refinitiv,  InternationalLabourOrganization, UNESCO). "I am sure that if these  indicators are updated, Armenia will be able to significantly improve  its ranking in the next edition of the Global Innovation Index,"  Tigran Jrbashyan stressed.   Overall, Switzerland topped the ranking for the 12th time. It is  followed by the USA and Sweden, which this year switched places, the  UK retained the 4th place, and the Netherlands rounded out the top  five in the ranking. Azerbaijan ranks 93rd, Georgia - 74th, Turkey -  37th, and Iran - 53rd. Russia is in 47th place, and Belarus is in   77th.