Türkiye's historical record in the Global Innovation Index
In the Global Innovation Index announced by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Switzerland-based organization of the United Nations, and in which 132 countries compete, Türkiye rose four steps in 2022 to the 37th place. Rising 14 places in the last two years, Türkiye managed to enter the top 40 in the index for the first time. The 2022 Global Innovation Index was announced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Swiss-based agency of the United Nations, with the main theme “What is the Future of Innovation-Driven Growth?”. In the index, which evaluates 132 countries, Türkiye continued its upward trend and reached the best position in its history with 37th place. Türkiye, which has improved by 14 steps in the last two years, also maintained its 4th place among the upper-middle income group countries.
TÜRKİYE RISES 20 PLACES IN CREATIVE OUTPUTS
Among the upper-middle income group countries, Türkiye performed above the group averages in six of the 7 main components. Türkiye's best performing component was “Creative Outcomes”. In this component, Türkiye ranked 15th with an increase of 20 steps compared to last year, ranking first among the North Africa/West Asia group countries. In the “Versatility of Markets” component, it rose 12 places to 37th. This year, Türkiye, which outperformed its inputs in innovation outputs, managed to take place in the top 10 in 6 indicators. Türkiye ranked first among 132 countries in the “industrial designs by origin” indicator.
The report also highlighted that Istanbul and Ankara are home to two leading science and technology clusters. Istanbul moved up four spots to 46th among the best science and technology clusters, overtaking Brussels, Barcelona, and Zurich.
MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY MUSTAFA VARANK: WE HAVE RISEN 14 STEPS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS
Evaluating the Global Innovation Index 2022 Report, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said, “Türkiye is at its highest level in its history. We have moved up 14 places in the last two years, ranking 37th out of 132 countries. The R&D and innovation ecosystem that we have built from scratch in 20 years will continue to write new success stories.” said.
Stating that they have implemented policies and mechanisms that support innovation with the vision of the National Technology Move for Türkiye, and that they have deepened our R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem day by day, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank emphasized that the index is an effective policy tool in evaluating and improving the innovation performance of countries. Varank said in his statement:
“I think the index has 3 main benefits. Firstly, it allows to analyze innovation performance from different angles on an annual basis and with comprehensive indicators. Secondly, it allows to discover potential areas of intervention by seeing the strengths and weaknesses of the ecosystem. Finally, it lays the groundwork for the development of evidence-based structural reforms to address these areas of intervention. In this direction, we have first established the Türkiye Global Innovation Index Task Force. Then, we determined the responsible institutions for the missing or outdated data in the index, and we started the cooperation process with the international organizations that provide data to the index. In order to monitor the developments in the indicators, we have established the Global Innovation Index Coordination and Monitoring Platform. As a result of the policies we have implemented, support mechanisms and initiatives we have initiated, our country has achieved this historic success.”
MINISTER OF TRADE DR. MEHMET MUŞ: WE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION-ORIENTED STUDIES
Evaluating the Global Innovation Index 2022 Report, Minister of Trade Dr. Mehmet Muş made the following assessment:
“Today, innovation is consolidating its place among the main determinants of economic growth and competitiveness in the international arena day by day. From the invention of agriculture and the discovery of the wheel to the present day, when we have smartphones in our hands that have millions of times more powerful operating capacity than the computers in the control room of Apollo 11, which carried astronauts to the moon in 1969, mankind has always been in elbow contact with innovation. With the beginning of the 21st century, the innovation that emerged in many areas such as self-driving tools, artificial intelligence applications and blockchain technologies, big data applications, which we came across in science fiction novels or films a few decades ago, has started to rapidly shape and transform the future of countries and humanity. In innovation, speed is not our enemy, on the contrary, it is our closest friend today, where innovative ideas and practices are faster than ever before. For this reason, Türkiye's reaching the place it deserves in the world in the innovation race is perhaps one of the guarantees of taking firm steps forward to the future as an existential issue. Moreover, I believe that it has become impossible to predict the fate of countries from now on free from the efforts and outputs of innovation and technological development.
The effective innovation requires a strong innovation ecosystem that emerges with the harmonious cooperation and interaction of many stakeholders and elements such as public and private sector institutions and organizations, universities, investors, companies, supportive political and legal infrastructure, resource allocation. Here, in addition to what the public should do, all our companies, especially our exporter companies, Innovative a necessity to make a technology-oriented future planning with a perspective, innovation I think raising awareness is a vital issue. As a matter of fact, the fact that we have started to reap the fruits of our R&D studies in the defense industry has proved to all of us how important this field is. We, as the Ministry, always work with our companies' technology and innovation we see assisting and consulting with their focused efforts as a necessity beyond satisfaction.
When we look at the patent application data of the World Intellectual Property Rights Organization, we see that there is a positive trend in Türkiye's patent applications and that approximately 10 thousand patent applications have been filed annually in recent years. I believe that technology and innovation with the further increase of focused business culture and awareness, our country will rise to much higher ranks in the world in both our R&D expenditures and international patent applications and acceptances.”
TİM CHAIRMAN MUSTAFA GÜLTEPE: WE WILL INCREASE OUR COMPETITIVENESS WITH INNOVATION
TİM Chairman Mustafa Gültepe, who participated in the introductory meeting of the Global Innovation Index 2022 with a video message, said that they lead exporters to adapt to the digital age with innovation. Emphasizing Türkiye's success in innovation, TİM Chairman Gültepe continued:
“Under the leadership of Mr. President, with the support of our Ministries and the contributions of our institutions in the task force, we rose 10 places to 41st in the index in 2021. Last year, we also broke the record in the history of the Republic by reaching 225 billion dollars in exports. With TİM's efforts towards the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and the increasing competitiveness of our companies, Türkiye continued its rise this year. In 2022, we broke the record of 15 years in which the index was published and reached the highest position in our history with the 37th place. Innovation-oriented growth will increase the competitiveness of our exporters and enable them to find a stronger place in global trade.
GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX TÜRKİYE ACTION PLAN AND STRATEGY (2021-2023)
Within the scope of the Investment Environment Improvement Coordination Board (YOIKK) Action Plan, the “Global Innovation Index Action Plan” studies were launched in 2020. At the meeting held under the chairmanship of Vice President Fuat Oktay on June 30, 2020, it was decided to establish a task force to accelerate the work to increase Türkiye's position in the Global Innovation Index. Global Innovation Index Türkiye Action Plan and Strategy (2021-2023) was prepared. The strategy document, which was prepared with the coordination of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the TİM Secretariat and the contributions of 20 different public institutions and organizations, will be presented to WIPO Director Daren Tang this year.