European Innovation Scoreboard
Encyclopedia
The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) is an instrument of the European Commission
, developed under the Lisbon Strategy
to provide a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of EU Member States. The EIS 2007 includes innovation indicators and trend analyses for the EU27 Member States as well as for Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, the US, Australia, Canada and Israel.
. Five EU Member States - Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom
– continue to have a very strong performance as world innovation leaders alongside the US and Japan. Meanwhile, the large majority of other Member States are catching up with the leaders, and three of the newer Member States - Estonia, the Czech Republic
and Lithuania - are on track to reach the EU average innovation performance within a decade. The comparison with the US shows that an important overall lead continues to exist over the EU and that the overall positive catching up process visible in particular in Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) investments, broadband penetration, early stage venture capital
and international patenting has recently slowed down.
Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen
, responsible for enterprise and industry policy said: "The continued improvement in innovation performance across the EU is very encouraging and offers further evidence that the Lisbon process and the broad-based innovation strategy are working. But the apparent slowdown in catching up with the US and in particular the increasing gap in public research and development show that reinforced efforts are needed if we are to create more world class innovation in Europe."
The EIS provides an annual assessment of innovation performance across the EU and with other leading innovative nations. The assessment is based on a wide range of indicators covering structural conditions, knowledge creation, innovative efforts by firms, and outputs in terms of new products, services and intellectual property.
The report shows that countries form four relatively stable groupings based on their performance over a five year period:
The innovation leaders, with Sweden as the most innovative country, and other countries including Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
The innovation followers include Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The moderate innovators include Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Australia.
The catching-up countries include Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia. Turkey is currently at a lower level of performance due to lack of data.
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, developed under the Lisbon Strategy
Lisbon Strategy
The Lisbon Strategy, also known as the Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process, was an action and development plan devised in 2000, for the economy of the European Union between 2000 and 2010....
to provide a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of EU Member States. The EIS 2007 includes innovation indicators and trend analyses for the EU27 Member States as well as for Croatia, Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, the US, Australia, Canada and Israel.
History of the EIS
A pilot version of the European Innovation Scoreboard was published in 2000. Full versions have been published every year since 2001. The latest report, the EIS 2009, was published March in 2010.2007 report
The 2007 EIS shows a continued process of convergence within the EUEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Five EU Member States - Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
– continue to have a very strong performance as world innovation leaders alongside the US and Japan. Meanwhile, the large majority of other Member States are catching up with the leaders, and three of the newer Member States - Estonia, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and Lithuania - are on track to reach the EU average innovation performance within a decade. The comparison with the US shows that an important overall lead continues to exist over the EU and that the overall positive catching up process visible in particular in Information and Communication Technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(ICT) investments, broadband penetration, early stage venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
and international patenting has recently slowed down.
Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen
Günter Verheugen
-Erler:At around the same time, photographs appeared showing him holidaying with Petra Erler, the head of his private office. A Commission spokesman backed him by saying "the private holidays of Vice President Verheugen in Lithuania this summer did not violate the rules applicable to members of the...
, responsible for enterprise and industry policy said: "The continued improvement in innovation performance across the EU is very encouraging and offers further evidence that the Lisbon process and the broad-based innovation strategy are working. But the apparent slowdown in catching up with the US and in particular the increasing gap in public research and development show that reinforced efforts are needed if we are to create more world class innovation in Europe."
The EIS provides an annual assessment of innovation performance across the EU and with other leading innovative nations. The assessment is based on a wide range of indicators covering structural conditions, knowledge creation, innovative efforts by firms, and outputs in terms of new products, services and intellectual property.
The report shows that countries form four relatively stable groupings based on their performance over a five year period:
The innovation leaders, with Sweden as the most innovative country, and other countries including Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
The innovation followers include Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The moderate innovators include Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Australia.
The catching-up countries include Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia. Turkey is currently at a lower level of performance due to lack of data.
2009 report
Switzerland has been ranked as the most innovative country in the 2009 report overtaking Sweden. Among Innovation leaders behind Switzerland are Denmark, Finland, Germany and the UK.External links
- The EIS report and its Annexes, accompanying thematic papers, interactive tables to view results and the indicators’ database are available at Proinno-europe.eu
- EIS 2007 press release: Europa.eu
- EIS 2007 memo: Europa.edu