Ireland has placed 9th in the European Commission’s annual European Innovation Scoreboard and remains in the group of Strong Innovators, performing above the EU average.
The Scoreboard provides a comparative assessment of the research and innovation performance of the EU Member States and the relative strengths and weaknesses of their research and innovation systems.
Performance in innovation across the EU is assessed using 27 indicators across 10 Innovation dimensions. For the third year in a row, Ireland is top in the EU for both the employment impacts and sales impacts of innovation. Ireland also performs well in human resource, attractive research system, and innovator indicators, having achieved overall scores above 120 percent of the EU average in each of these categories.
This year’s report shows that overall the EU’s innovation performance continues to increase at a steady pace. At the international level, the EU maintains a performance lead over the United States and China, but there is still a gap to close with some competitors including Japan and South Korea. This report is also the first edition published since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and all results for the EU are for the current 27 Member States.
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys T.D. welcomed the result:
It is great to see Ireland’s innovation strengths being recognised among our European peers. As we have already seen this year in the rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic by our scientists, higher education institutes and enterprises, research and innovation is relevant for all of us in our daily lives. Now more than ever, it is beyond doubt that research and innovation will have an essential role in supporting the recovery, improving public services, living standards and the quality of life of all citizens.
Minister of State for Training, Skills, Research and Innovation, John Halligan added:
With countries all over the world looking to research and innovation as a way to address the challenges we all face, it is as critical as ever before that Ireland continues to prioritise investment in our research and innovation capabilities in order to realise our ambition of becoming a Global Innovation Leader.
European Commission announcement:https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_1158