The Most Innovative Country in Europe is…
Quick quiz for you: which country is the most innovative in Europe? Don’t worry we won’t keep you in suspense for long because the answer is Sweden. That’s according to a new innovation indicator launched by the European Commission.
According to the Commission the indicator measures innovation output, which creates better jobs and makes Europe more competitive.
The indicator rates Sweden as the EU member state that gets the most out of its innovation investments, followed by Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg.
Sweden hosts some of Europe’s most successful and innovative companies. They include:
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) – what started in 1947 as a woman’s clothing store has expanded to more than 2,500 stores around the world selling fashionable clothes and accessories at budget-friendly prices
Ikea – the home furnishings colossus was founded in 1943 and now has more than 300 stores in 38 countries.
AstraZeneca – a biopharmaceutical company that develops and manufactures prescription medicines and researches life-saving cures for numerous medical conditions.
Ericsson – a global telecommunications company with more than 104,000 employees worldwide.
Skype – the technology allows people to make free video and voice calls. The company was founded in 2003 by Swede Niklas Zennström and Dane Janus Friis.
Key Characteristics
The Commission says the top-performing EU countries are economies with “a high share of knowledge-intensive sectors, fast-growing innovative firms, and high levels of patenting and competitive exports.”
At the other end of the scale are Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia.
In the main, Europe performs well internationally, at the level of the United States, but is behind the most innovative economies such as Japan and Switzerland.
Reader Comments
Congratulations for the most innovatives countries in Europe: Sweden, Germany, Ireland. I hope that the other nations follow the examples, creating jobs and opportunities for all in a sustainable way.
Posted by on November 6, 2013
Thank you for pointing that out Dieter. I used Europe as a shorthand in the headline and a couple of places in the post, but also did refer to EU member states. With hindsight I should've made the distinction. All the best, Paul.A (IdeaConnection)
Posted by IdeaConnection on November 6, 2013
Well, this article is about countries of the European Union, not Europe. It is like confusing North America with the USA :)
Posted by Dieter Schifferli on November 6, 2013
With profound gratitude and great humility, I agree with this report. But I think that we still have
more job to do in order to adapt to the new situation as the general structure of the industry in Sweden is changing as more disruptive innovations and technologies are kicking in.
Pierre
Uppsala Sweden
Posted by Pierre Ndalamba on November 5, 2013
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