Israel is among the ten most innovative nations in the world, the Bloomberg Innovation Index reported in early February.Israel, oftentimes referred to as the "Start-Up Nation," had been among the top ten for the past three years, but it is slowly descending, now given 7th place compared to the 5th it had received just two years ago.
Germany lost the first spot to South Korea, now alleged to be the most innovative country in the world. Berlin is now ranked fourth, below Singapore and Switzerland but above Sweden and Denmark.
The US is in the 11th spot, having lost its place among the top ten.China, the UK, and Japan are 16th, 18th and 12th place, respectively.
Israel did well in the categories of research and development intensity as well as research concentration. It was also noted for hi-tech density. Patent activity went down amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Israel ranked 18th when it comes to productivity, while Iceland took first.
The report noted that many among those high on the index, like Korea, Germany and Israel, also led some areas in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020, No Camels reported.
“The available metrics miss important dimensions of innovation,” NYU Professor Paul Romer told Bloomberg. “Officials in Wuhan showed for the first time that in a couple of weeks, it is feasible to test 10 million residents of a city for coronavirus.