ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new global ranking from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) identifies Singapore is one of 13 countries earning the designation of 2018 Innovation Champion. CTA’s inaugural Innovation Scorecard identifies critical areas of national policy that spur innovation and reveals the areas in which countries may be stunting their own futures and economic growth.
“The trend lines are clear – Innovation is encouraged where governments, such as Singapore’s, are hospitable to new ideas, where people enjoy great freedom and clean environments and where innovators are embraced,” said Gary Shapiro, CEO and president, CTA. “Countries’ futures are tied to innovation, because it will bolster economic growth and provide future generations with the jobs they want. Graduates entering the work force today don’t necessarily want to stay in the factory jobs of previous generations – they want to use their creativity and curiosity to build brighter futures worldwide.”
CTA, the largest U.S. tech trade association, conducted a comparative analysis of 38 countries and the European Union. In addition to Singapore, CTA’s Scorecard named Australia, Austria, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Sweden, United States, Portugal, Finland, New Zealand, Canada, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands as global Innovation Champions.
Singapore earned the fourth-highest composite score in the Scorecard. It was also one of only three countries to receive an ‘A’ grade or higher in Diversity, with the highest percentage of immigrants as a share of its population — a remarkable 45.4 percent. The report also notes Singapore makes no secret of its desire to become a leader in self-driving vehicles, hosting the first-ever self-driving taxi service in 2016.
Although Singapore scores very well in the Scorecard, the country could take actions to be more hospitable to the sharing economy. Would-be ridesharing drivers are subject to unnecessary licensing and testing requirements, and short-term renters face federal length-of-stay limits.
The Scorecard uses several objective criteria including whether governments welcome disruptive business models and technologies such as the sharing economy and self-driving vehicles; how friendly their tax systems are; how well they protect the environment; and issues of perennial importance such as broadband speed and cost. The Scorecard also gauges countries on diversity; the ratio of female-to-male employees in the workplace in key age demographics; immigrants as a share of the national population; and freedom of thought and expression.
Other key international findings, ranked by grade, include:
- The countries that have, on average, the fastest and most affordable internet connections are the United Kingdom, Finland, South Korea, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands
- The countries with the highest level of entrepreneurial activity are Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United States, Singapore, Ireland and Sweden
- The countries leading the way in self-driving vehicle policy are Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States
CTA considered a range of indicators to determine the final roster of countries. The Scorecard evaluates countries that fit two guidelines: the government must be able to influence public policy; and publicly available, verifiable and independent third-party data must exist and can be compared with different nations. In future editions, CTA will expand the scope of the Scorecard and include more countries.
To read more about the Scorecard, visit www.internationalscorecard.com.
