Commission launches new innovation indicator

Sweden, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg are the EU member states getting the most out of innovation, according to a new indicator proposed by the European Commission.

The ‘Indicator of Innovation Output’ measures the extent to which ideas from innovative sectors are able to reach the market, providing better jobs and making Europe more competitive. The indicator was developed at the request of EU leaders to benchmark national innovation policies and shows that significant differences remain between EU countries. The EU as a whole performs well in an international comparison, even though it remains behind some of the most innovative economies worldwide, namely Japan, Switzerland and the United States.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said: “The EU must turn more great ideas into successful products and services in order to lead in the global economy. We also have to close a worrying ‘innovation divide’. The proposed indicator will help us measure how we are doing and pinpoint areas where countries need to take action.”

The proposed indicator is based on four components: technological innovation as measured by patents; employment in knowledge-intensive activities as a percentage of total employment; competitiveness of knowledge-intensive goods and services; and employment in fast-growing firms of innovative sectors.

According to the Commission, the top performers in the EU owe their ranking to doing well on several or all of the following factors: an economy with a high share of knowledge-intensive sectors, fast-growing innovative firms, high levels of patenting and competitive exports.

The novelty of the proposed indicator is that it focuses on innovation output and therefore complements the Commission’s Innovation Union Scoreboard and Summary Innovation Index.