The global innovation index 2017: innovation feeding the world

The 2017 edition of the GII is dedicated to the theme of innovation in agriculture and food systems. Agricultural and food-processing sectors continue to face an enormous rise in global demand and increased competition for limited natural resources. Innovation can be key to maintaining the productivity growth required to meet this rising demand in a sustainable fashion, and it can help enhance the networks that integrate food systems. The 2017 report analyses these demands and the opportunities they present from different angles, including those of data-driven strategies, the impact of biotechnological and digital technologies, effective policies, and strengthened networks, while at the same time suggesting new approaches for both developed and developing countries. Finally, the GII 2017 includes another innovation this year. The GII has long recognized that innovative activity tends to be concentrated in geographic clusters. However, no metrics have existed to measure innovation performance at the cluster level on an internationally comparable basis. The report seeks to take a first step in remedying this measurement gap. It presents a novel approach towards identifying and ranking the world’s largest clusters of inventive activity, drawing on international patent filings. The cluster perspective aims to offer a useful complement to the long-standing country based rankings that will continue to form the core of the GII.