A new global ranking from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has named Singapore as one of 13 2018 Innovation Champions. 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.
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 — 45.4%. 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.
“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 US tech trade association and the organiser of CES and CES Asia, conducted a comparative analysis of 38 countries and the EU. The Scorecard uses 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.
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 addition to Singapore, CTA’s Scorecard named Australia, Austria, Denmark, the UK, Sweden, United States, Portugal, Finland, New Zealand, Canada, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands as global Innovation Champions. Although Singapore scores very well in the Scorecard, the country could be more hospitable to the sharing economy. The CTA noted that would-be ridesharing drivers are subject to unnecessary licensing and testing requirements, and short-term renters face federal length-of-stay limits.
Other key international findings, ranked by grade, include:
The countries that have, on average, the fastest and most affordable Internet connections are the UK, Finland, South Korea, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands
The countries with the highest level of entrepreneurial activity are Australia, the UK, New Zealand, the US, 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 UK and the US
In future editions, CTA will expand the scope of the Scorecard and include more countries.
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